Nearly a century after riding the rails and protecting the mail, the canine mascot that provided good luck to clerks of the Railway Mail Service today returns to life in the form of 60 million “Owney the Postal Dog” Forever stamps.To celebrate the news, Owney — now a stay-at-home resident of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum — is back with a taxidermal makeover for the opening of a new exhibit chronicling his adventures.
“For almost 10 years, Owney was the much-beloved and well-travelled mascot of the Railway Mail Service,” said Mary Anne Gibbons, general counsel and executive vice president. “With his new stamp and through the efforts of the National Postal Museum, Owney’s legacy will transcend time, becoming as much a part of the Postal Service of the 21st century as he was more than 100 years ago.”
Railway clerks believed Owney brought them good luck, since not a single train he rode was in an accident. During his life, Owney traveled by some estimates more than 140,000 miles. He even visited other countries representing the U.S. Post Office.”
Joining Gibbons in dedicating the stamp were Allen Kane, director, National Postal Museum; Owney stamp artist William Bond; author Dirk Wales and Stephen Kearney, manager, Stamp Services.
No comments:
Post a Comment