Friday, April 12, 2024
A new TV drama focuses on Benjamin Franklin
The eight-part series debuts April 12
The nation’s first postmaster general is getting the prestige TV drama treatment.
“Franklin,” an eight-part limited series starring Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin, will debut Friday, April 12, on Apple TV+.
The series will chronicle a secret mission that Franklin embarked upon in December 1776, after he concluded his term as postmaster general. With the fate of American independence hanging in the balance, he traveled to Paris and persuaded the Kingdom of France to militarily support the fledgling United States’ rebellion against the British.
Stephen Kochersperger, the acting USPS historian, said this might have been “the finest” period in Franklin’s life.
“His mission to France was extremely delicate, but without French support, the war for independence would have failed,” Kochersperger said.
“Franklin” is based upon “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” a 2005 book by Stacy Schiff. The series was filmed in 2022 and also stars Noah Jupe as Temple Franklin, Benjamin’s grandson and secretary.
Apple TV+ will release the first three episodes of “Franklin” on April 12, followed by one new episode every Friday through May 17.
People
Making her mark
An employee creates a mailable memento and another promotes USPS to college students
Like other communities in the path of this week’s total solar eclipse, the village of Sycamore, OH — population 800 — took steps to make the most of their moment out of the sun.
Residents welcomed eclipse enthusiasts from out of town, including some who arrived in Sycamore a week early to ensure they had a good view of the rare celestial occurrence.
At the Sycamore Post Office, Postmaster Nicole Goist erected a temporary eclipse “selfie wall” and offered a special pictorial postmark for customers who wanted a mailable memento.
The postmark — designed by Erin Sherwood, a Sycamore retail associate — featured an outline of Ohio, with the eclipse path shaded and a star marking Sycamore’s location in the northwestern part of the state.
“I’m always designing stuff so doing it was a natural thing,” Sherwood said. “I’ve always been a crafty person.”
School’s in
A USPS employee represented the organization during a recent event in Raleigh, NC, for professors and students from historically Black colleges and universities.
Lauren Banks, a marketing specialist, encouraged professors to include direct mail in their curriculums and urged students to consider the Postal Service as a prospective employer.
“As a marketing specialist for USPS, I look forward to continuing to find new ways to elevate the value of mail for customers,” Banks said.
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History
One for the ages
The first Forever stamp was issued April 12, 2007
Who says nothing is forever anymore?
The Postal Service’s first Forever stamp — the Liberty Bell — was issued on April 12, 2007, and dedicated that day at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
By July of that year, 1.2 billion had been sold.
The subject of the stamp was fitting, as the stamp liberated USPS and its customers from the accounting complications of denominated stamps.
And like the Liberty Bell, it has stood the test of time.
The Forever stamp’s purpose was to streamline price changes for the organization and eliminate the need for customers to add catch-up low-denomination stamps whenever postage rates went up.
It also did away with the need for “rate-change” stamps.
In the inflationary mid-1970s, the lag time between the announcement of a price change and its review by the Postal Regulatory Commission prompted USPS to release rate-change or “alphabet” stamps in the interim. These unloved issues were not denominated but cost customers the new postage rate.
The first rate-change stamp was “A”; the last of these stopgap measures was “H,” issued in 1998.
In 2006, postal officials requested a new form of stamp resembling those the United Kingdom had been producing for years, which simply used “1st” or “2nd” for classes of mail.
The Forever stamp was the answer: It would forever be equal in value to the current single-piece First-Class Mail 1-ounce price, with no catch-up or alphabet stamps required.
However, all other stamps remained denominated.
In 2010, more Forever stamp issues were released, including one featuring a set of holiday evergreen-themed designs and another that showed the Statue of Liberty and U.S. flag.
Finally, in 2011, the Postal Service made all new First-Class Mail 1-ounce commemorative stamps Forever stamps.
In 2012, a few days before a new price change took effect, The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio summed it up this way:
“Monday’s first-class stamp-price hike might be the last time people have to worry about a certain tricky issue — mailing a letter with an old stamp on the weekend before a price increase.
“Using Forever stamps means that won’t be a problem anymore.”
The “History” column appears occasionally in Link.
News Quiz
Repeat business
Test your recall of these Link stories
“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.
1. True or false: Under USPS ethics rules, employees are permitted to also work for other delivery organizations.
a) True
b) False
2. Which stamp was the runner-up in the recent USPS Stamp Showdown on social media?
a) Bluegrass
b) Carnival Nights
c) Pinback Buttons
d) Winter Whimsy
3. Fill in the blank: The (blank) Post Office offered a special pictorial postmark to commemorate the recent total solar eclipse.
a) Hamburg, NY
b) Hopkinsville, KY
c) Loveville, MD
d) Sterling, NY
4. What topic did the “Mailin’ It!” podcast cover in its April 2 episode?
a) Cybersecurity
b) Environmental sustainability
c) Investment scams
d) Philately
5. Match the “Heroes” subject in Column A with the heroic act he or she performed in Column B.
Column A
a) Juan Carlos Aviles, Escalon, CA, retail associate
b) Kendra Bjork, Traer, IA, letter carrier
c) Carolyn Norton, McKinney, TX, rural carrier
d) Michael Ray Tibbals, Spokane, WA, customer services supervisor
Column B
I) Caught a customer who collapsed
II) Found $10,000 in cash and turned it in
III) Performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking co-worker
IV) Saw a motorbike being stolen and called police
Answers: 1) b. 2) c. 3) a. 4) b. 5) a. I., b. IV., c. II., d. III.
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A new TV drama focuses on Benjamin Franklin
The eight-part series debuts April 12
-
People
Making her mark
An employee creates a mailable memento and another promotes USPS to college students
-
History
One for the ages
The first Forever stamp was issued April 12, 2007
-
News Quiz
Repeat business
Test your recall of these Link stories