History of United States postage rates

Seal of the former U.S. Post Office Department (1792–1971), predecessor to the USPS

Initial United States postage rates were set by Congress as part of the Postal Service Act signed into law by President George Washington on February 20, 1792. The postal rate varied according to "distance zone", the distance a letter was to be carried from the post office where it entered the mail to its final destination. Rates were adopted in 1847 for mail to or from the Pacific Coast and in 1848 for mail sent from one place in the west to another place in the west. There were double and triple rates as a letter’s size increased. There were ship fees which were also added (i.e. mail to Hawaii). The ship fee, including the ship rate on letters for delivery at the port of entry, were on a per letter basis, rather than weight. The United States issued its first postage stamps in 1847. Before that time, the rates, dates and origin of the letter were written by hand or sometimes in combination with a handstamp device.^[1]

Since enactment of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, postage rates have been set by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Historical rates

Historical trend

Nominal and inflation adjusted first-class postage rates in the US

Taking the above data and plotting it yields the graph shown to the right. The dark plot is the nominal issued price of the stamp and the light plot is the price adjusted for inflation and is shown in 2016 US cents.

This plot shows that, despite the rise in the nominal cost of a first-class stamp, the adjusted cost of the stamp has stayed relatively stable. The large jumps in the early 1900s are because a change by a single penny was large compared to the cost of the stamp. For example, the price increase from $0.02 to $0.03 on July 6, 1932 was a 50% increase in cost. Additionally, while the cost of the stamp itself remained fixed, the adjusted price in 2016 dollars was not fixed over time which added to larger jumps in adjusted prices.

Historical notes

Domestic parcel post service was adopted in 1913, 25 years after the Post Office had agreed to deliver international parcel post packages pursuant to the Universal Postal Union treaty and various bilateral agreements with other nations.^[7] Initially, there were no or few postal regulations governing packages mailed by parcel post. E.g., to construct a bank in Vernal, Utah, in 1916, a Salt Lake City company ascertained that the cheapest way to send 40 tons of bricks to the building was by parcel post.^[8]

Bulk postal rates were restructured in 1996:

• Second Class became Periodicals
• Third and Fourth Class Mail became Standard Mail (A) and (B)
• Special Fourth Class Mail was renamed Special Standard Mail

In 2007, First Class Mail was restructured to include variable pricing based on size, not just on weight. Shape-based postage pricing is a form of dimensional weight. Also at that time, International Parcel Post air service was re-branded as Priority Mail International, and Parcel Post surface service was discontinued for international destinations.^[9]

Regular Air Mail service began in 1918 and over the years rates varied considerably depending on distance and technology. Domestic Air Mail, as a class of service, officially ended May 1, 1977. By that time all domestic First Class Mail was being dispatched by the most expeditious means, surface or air, whether or not the Air Mail postage had been paid.

Additional charges for Special delivery existed from 1885 to 2001. Today, Express Mail Overnight is the most similar service level.

During the summer of 2010 the USPS requested the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise the price of a first class stamp by 2 cents, from 44 cents to 46 cents, to take effect January 2, 2011. On September 30, 2010, the PRC formally denied the request, but the USPS filed an appeal with the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington DC.^[10][11]

On September 25, 2013, the USPS announced a 3 cent increase in the First Class postal rate, to be effective January 26, 2014, increasing the price of a stamp to 49 cents. Bulk mail, periodicals, and package service rates were also increased by 6 percent. A loss of US$5 billion during the 2013 fiscal year was the reason given for the increase.^[12]

The legislation which set the price to 49 cents was enacted as a temporary measure and as an "exigent surcharge for mailing products and services".^[13] However, this legislation was set to expire in April 2016. As a result, the Post Office retained one cent of the price change as a previously allotted adjustment for inflation, but the price of a first class stamp became 47 cents: for the first time in 97 years, the price of a stamp decreased.

See also

• United States postal abbreviations
• United States Postal Service creed

Unions of the U.S. Postal Service:

• American Postal Workers Union
• National Association of Letter Carriers
• National Postal Mail Handlers Union
• National Rural Letter Carriers' Association

History:

• Post Office Murals
• American Letter Mail Company
• Postage stamps and postal history of the United States of America

References

Sources

• First Class Mail Prices, 2010
• Rates for Domestic Letters Since 1863
• Rates for Stamped Cards and Postcards
• Consumer Price Index data
• Nondenomination Stamps FAQ
• Paying the Postage in the U.S., 1776–1921

Further reading

Beecher, Henry W. and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz. U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872–2011. Bellefonte, Pa.: American Philatelic Society, 2011. ISBN 9780933580787