These are probably the only words of approbation to be found in the daily press among the host of comments upon these stamps, which by the terms of the contract were to be ready on the first of February, 1869. Messrs. Butler & Carpenter, of Philadelphia, had claimed to be entitled to the award on the ground that they had submitted a better bid than the National Bank Note Co., which resulted in delay and the appointment of the commission above mentioned.
However, in March, 1869, the greater part if not all the values were printed and ready for issue, but were distributed to the public only as the stock of the old issue was exhausted. About the end of April they began to appear, and even in September only the 1, 2, 3 and 6 cents were to be obtained in the larger post offices. Already the public demanded that they should be replaced, and this was done in April, 1870. As late as March, 1870, the 90 cents of the previous issue was on sale in some of the offices.
This unfortunate issue was generally received with approval by the Philatelic press. It is certainly well engraved, and forms an interesting and handsome series for the most part, and is an adornment to the collectors' album. But it is hardly so well suited to the practical requirements of a postage stamp. It was announced that the series was intended in some sort, to portray the history of the Post Office in the United States, beginning with Franklin, the Continental postmaster, and the post rider of the early days, followed by the locomotive of a later day, and the Ocean Steamer carrying the mails which had become so important a branch of the postal service, the most important scenes in the early history of the country, its triumphant arms, and Washington its first and Lincoln its last President. But hardly had it been issued before its doom was sealed.
In August the New York Tribune says:
"The greater part of the stamps sold at the Post Office in this city are worthless, and have not sufficient gum to make them stick to letters. One can be amused, or become indignant, in watching people who buy stamps, demanding a little mucilage from the clerk, in order to fasten the stamp on their envelopes. It appears that the invention of embossing which is continued in this emission, while it spoils the stamps, does not increase their adhesive properties as was pretended."
Other papers pronounced the stamp too small. The comic papers exhibited caricatures in which the people were looking for their stamps in their pocket books with powerful microscopes.
The Evening Telegram says:
"The new United States postage stamps have a very un-American look."
The Evening Mail says: