Postal Campaign - Tucson, Arizona and Surrounding Areas

Forest Conservation Stamp Campaign
The Post Office department issued the 4 cent Forest Conservation stamp in Tucson, Arizona on October 27th, 1958. The stamp commemorates the one hundredth birthday of President Theodore Roosevelt, a great conservationist, renowned for greatly expanding the National forest lands in the United States. For the occasion Smokey the Bear visited school children in Tucson and helped with the promotion of the stamp and the U.S. Forest Service.

Zip Code Campaign
With the increase of mail in the United States, a new routing system was devised to aid in speeding delivery. Tucson zip codes were established in 1963, and made mandatory by 1967. This collection shows some of the efforts on the part of the Tucson Post Office to educate people and get them to use zip codes. Some of the campaigns include the national "Mr. Zip" character, and Tucson's own annual "Miss Zip" competition. The Post Office also collaborated with the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Sunshine Climate Club Models.

Mail Early for Christmas Campaign
Every year the holidays are the busiest time for the Post Office. In the 1950's and 60's the Tucson Post Office launched major newspaper and marketing efforts to encourage people to shop early and mail early for Christmas. Deadlines for out-of-state and overseas deliveries were highly publicized. This collection includes models wearing sandwich boards and picketing in the streets to warn people that you will be unfair to Santa Claus if you do not mail early.

Mail Early in the Day Campaign
In 1959 the Post Office launched a campaign with the slogan "Mail before Noon" to try and ease the rush that occurred towards the end of each day. Studies showed that 75% of Tucson's mail was collected after 4 p.m. In order to ease this strain and to drastically speed mail delivery times, especially out-of-state, Tucsonans were encouraged to mail early in the day and to mail often.

Automation and Self-Service
In1966 the first self-service post office was opened in Tucson on September 17th. The new automated post office was in the El Con mall and was open 24 hours a day. Customers could buy stamps, envelopes, and postcards, and weigh and mail parcels. The collection includes the program for the dedication ceremony and photographs of strip-mall marquees advertising the new and exciting services.

Campaign against Obscene Mail
In the late 1950's, Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield launched his "war on smut," and obscene mail became a growing concern to the citizens of Tucson. Summerfield warned that filthy materials had become a half billion dollar industry that would only expand if nothing was done to stamp it out. The main concern was that smut racketeers would target teenage and grade-school children with their mailings. Mrs. Cecil M. Harden, Special Assistant to the Postmaster General visited Tucson in 1960's to rally support to stop smut racketeers.

Morris K. Udall and the Post Office
Morris "Mo" Udall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1961 and served on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. He worked on the Postal Reorganization Act, and was active in Tucson Post Office activities in the 1960s. This collection contains a variety of photographs of Udall at branch dedications and other events.