Owney, canine mascot postage stamp

Tucson: Canine mascot honored on new postage stamp, lookalike contest

from the press release

Special Tucson postmark available Wednesday, July 27

The official canine mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the late 1800s, “Owney,” is being honored with a new U.S. commemorative postage stamp on Wednesday, July 27, and the Tucson Post Office is joining with local train enthusiasts, school children and the community to celebrate.

A special Tucson postmark and collectible envelopes will be offered along with the Owney stamps from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Postal History Foundation, 920 N. 1st Ave, in Tucson. Museum exhibits detailing Owney’s adventures will be displayed and a storyteller will recount the dog’s brave journeys for children of all ages.

From 5 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1, the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, 414 N. Toole Ave., will host an event featuring the Owney stamp to support the “Dog Days of Summer” food drive benefiting the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA). In addition to accepting pet food donations benefiting area pet shelters, Owney-stamped items will be available for sale and a display of memorabilia will be exhibited, thanks to the Postal History Foundation.

The HSSA, USPS and Spectrum Printing are also hosting an Owney look-alike contest – entrants may submit pictures of their dogs to ttruelsen@hssaz.org before 5 p.m. on Friday, July 29. The winner will be presented with an enlargement of the Owney stamp artwork at Monday night’s event.

In the late 1800s, a tramp dog adopted the mail clerks in the Albany, NY, Post Office. Over time and with the care of the postal employees, Owney began catching rides in Railway Post Offices cars and would be gone for days and months at a time. Upon the dog’s death, the mail clerks took up a collection and sent Owney to a taxidermist. Today, Owney is displayed at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Animal Events, Animal News, Dogs, Canines, Fun with Fido, Barking Encouraged. Tags for this post: dog postage stamp, Owney, Tucson pet food drive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.