Friday, January 26, 2024
This California retiree collects — and returns — old postcards
Lowell Joerg says he ‘likes to send history’ through the mail
Like a lot of people, Lowell Joerg collects old postcards, except he doesn’t hold onto them.
The 95-year-old Stockton, CA, retiree mails his finds to the places they depict — a longtime hobby he calls his “redistribution of happiness” project.
“I have seen lots of changes over the last century. I like to send history,” Joerg said.
Last year, Joerg came across a postcard that shows the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC. The building once served as the Post Office Department’s headquarters, so Joerg mailed it to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“I said to myself, ‘By golly, I think I’ll send it back to where it can be appreciated. Heritage is important,’” Joerg wrote.
DeJoy wrote back and thanked Joerg, who was surprised — and delighted.
“Maybe 2 out of 10 people will reply to me,” he said.
Joerg remembers growing up in the 1930s, when postcards were in their heyday.
“Sending postcards in those days was the thing to do,” he said. “Businesses and buildings were depicted on postcards. Lots of people used to save these postcards in their scrapbooks.”
In the 1980s, Joerg began collecting vintage postcards of “beautiful buildings” when he lived in Minnesota with his wife. Now a widower, he continues the hobby — except the joy now comes from returning the postcards to their place of origin.
He has mailed postcards to churches, schools, museums, hospitals and other places across the nation, occasionally receiving coverage in blogs and the news media, which has dubbed him the “Postcard Man.”
Each vintage postcard is accompanied by a letter from Joerg in which he writes, “I hope it brightens your day.”
Heroes
Lunchtime rush
An employee responded to a customer’s medical emergency
Retail Associate Holly Smith was recently eating lunch in the break room at the Northeast Harbor, ME, Post Office when she heard a customer calling her name from the lobby.
The customer was helping a man who appeared to be showing signs of a possible stroke.
Smith called 911. She also noticed the man’s nose was running heavily and grabbed a box of tissues while talking to him to try and keep him alert.
When the ambulance arrived, Smith reported the man’s symptoms to the paramedics. He was taken to a nearby hospital.
Later that day, Smith received a call from him.
He had been discharged after learning he hadn’t suffered a stroke but rather had a reaction to a prescribed medication, coupled with dehydration. He thanked Smith for everything she did for him.
Postmaster Patrick White said the man “continues to praise” Smith for helping him.
People
Delivering a bit of history
A rural carrier associate helps promote a stamp and a Detroit technician marks 50 years with USPS
A rural carrier associate made a special delivery on Jan. 17 when he dropped a greeting card adorned with last year’s Black Heritage stamp into a residential mailbox in Chester, CT.
The card was addressed to the current owners of a house that Constance Baker Motley — the legal pioneer who will be featured on this year’s Black Heritage stamp — used as a seasonal home for 40 years.
The card was mailed by employees at the Chester Post Office to help promote the Black Heritage series.
“I am excited about the new stamp coming out,” said Jaysen Tyrseck, the rural carrier associate who made the delivery. “It makes me proud to work in Chester.”
Motley chose the town of about 3,700 residents for her vacation home because it offered some tranquility from the fast-paced judicial work she was doing in Manhattan.
The current owners purchased the house, built in 1745, nine years ago.
The stamp featuring Motley will be released Wednesday, Jan. 31.
A golden run
Placida “Cid” Arthur, a business mail technician for Michigan 1 District, recently celebrated a half century of civil service.
Arthur began her government career in 1973 working for the Internal Revenue Service in Detroit. She next applied for a job at what was then a new entity, USPS, and eventually became a letter-sorting machine operator at the Detroit Processing and Distribution Center.
“We were offered extra incentives to learn schemes for delivery offices and I saw this as another good opportunity,” she said, leading to stints at several stations in the Detroit area.
In 1990, she moved to the Detroit Business Mail Entry Unit and has been there since.
“It’s been a good career, but I do plan to retire in February,” she told family and co-workers at a recent ceremony to toast her impressive run.
“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.
History
Black Heritage: Stamps with staying power
The popular series debuted 46 years ago
The idea for the longest-running stamp series in USPS history is credited to a prominent cultural activist.
According to the American Philatelic Society, in the mid-1970s, Clarence L. Irving, founder of the Black American Heritage Foundation, suggested that the Postal Service increase African American representation on U.S. stamps.
By the end of the decade, a philatelic institution was born.
Fittingly, Harriet Tubman led the way. She graced the first Black Heritage stamp, which USPS released Feb. 1, 1978.
“A richly deserved honor,” John D. Silvera wrote in a glowing piece in Florida Today.
Tubman was followed by Martin Luther King Jr. and Benjamin Banneker.
Other honorees have come from all corners of American culture, including politics (Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm), education (Mary McLeod Bethune), journalism (Gwen Ifill) and the performing arts (Lena Horne, Gregory Hines).
Perhaps the Black Heritage stamp drawing the most commentary on its release was that of Malcolm X in 1999. The consensus was it was a good choice — and a bold one — for USPS to make.
“There was a time when the idea of a postage stamp for Malcolm X, one of the most controversial African-American leaders of the 1960s, would never have made it out of the U.S. Postal Service’s conservative bureaucracy,” The Washington Post reported.
However, the stamp was announced to “much praise,” The Post continued, including backing from former critics of the activist.
While African American representation on stamps has increased significantly in recent decades, only one honoree is chosen for the Black Heritage series each year.
The stamp honoring this year’s selection, legal pioneer Constance Baker Motley, will be released next week.
The “History” column appears occasionally in Link.
February 2, 2024
Datebook
EAP orientation
The USPS Employee Assistance Program will hold its next online orientation on Friday, Feb. 2, from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
The orientations, held on the first Friday of each month, offer information on how Postal Service employees and their families can use the program.
Employees must register in advance on the EAP website.
Latest Postal Bulletin includes election guide
Postal Bulletin’s latest edition, published Jan. 25, features a guide to Election Mail and Political Mail.
Updates to USPS policies, procedures and forms are also included.
Employees can go to usps.com to read and download the latest Postal Bulletin, along with past issues.
View past printouts
Printout details
What's included
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This California retiree collects — and returns — old postcards
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Heroes
Lunchtime rush
An employee responded to a customer’s medical emergency
-
People
Delivering a bit of history
A rural carrier associate helps promote a stamp and a Detroit technician marks 50 years with USPS
-
History
Black Heritage: Stamps with staying power
The popular series debuted 46 years ago
-
February2Datebook
EAP orientation
-
Brief
Latest Postal Bulletin includes election guide