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United States Postal Museum
Did you know that John Lennon was a philatelist? He was. His
collection is on display until April 10 at one of the Smithsonian’s
most unsung pleasures: the Postal Museum. Located across the street
from Union Station, this interesting museum has something for
everyone. Check out War Letters: Lost and Found, a display of
letters home dating back as far as the Civil War. In honor of
National Card and Letter Writing Month, come to the museum on April
18 or 20 from 1-3pm and make a greeting card for someone special.
Bring your preschooler to Listen, Look and Do!! The Letter Home from
Monday April 17 through Friday April 21, 10:30 to 11:15. Kids will
listen to the story A Letter Home by Timothy Decker, then do a craft
related to the story. Reservations are required for this event. Call
202-633-5535 for more information.
Before You Go
Have the children write letters (the old fashioned kind, with
envelopes and stamps) to far-off friends and relatives who will be
willing to write them back. Send away for something from the back of
a candy bar or cereal box and check the mail every day together to
see if it has arrived.
• Ages 5-9
Take them with you to the local post office and talk about all the
different things that people do there, from mailing packages to
other countries to picking up letters from postal boxes and getting
money orders. Have them help you pick out some interesting stamps.
• Ages 9-13
Show them an assortment of stamps and ask them how the subjects are
selected. What would they like to see on a stamp?
On The Way There
Ask them how the mail gets delivered to places cars can’t drive to,
and how it was delivered before there were cars. Tell them about a
special letter you received or sent. How many pieces of mail do you
think are delivered every day? What kinds of things come in the mail
besides letters? There was a time when the mail was the only way to
communicate. Tell them abut the stagecoach lines that delivered mail
across the nation and the Pony Express. Remind them that we didn’t
always have telephones, the internet and email, and people wrote
letters to the people they loved who were far away. A trip from
Memphis, Tennessee to San Francisco, California could take up to 25
days! Have them imagine mailing a letter and not getting a response
for almost two months!
When You Get There
Go into the old Post Office building across the street from Union
Station and continue inside until you see the entrance to the
museum. Enter through the lobby of the building; escalators will
take you down to the floor level of the museum’s 90 foot high
atrium. The atrium houses three suspended airmail planes and is one
of the five exhibit galleries that tells the story of postal history
in America.
In addition to one of the world’s largest collections of stamps, the
Postal Museum boasts postal history material that pre-dates the use
of stamps, vehicles used to transport mail, mail boxes and bags, and
postal uniforms.
Your Kids Will Really Like
The wide collection of interesting postage stamps on display at the
museum. A series of rotating exhibits highlight some of the best
stamp collections in the world.
The National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue
Washington, DC 20002
202-633-5555
Website:
www.postalmuseum.si.edu
Admission: Free
Time needed Ages 5-9: one hour; Ages 9-13: two hours or more
Food: Nothing on the premises, but an excellent food court across
the street in Union Station
Rest rooms: On site
Baby changing facilities: None
Hours: 10-5:30 every day except Christmas
Tips on how to get there: Take the Metro to Union Station
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