Advocacy long reflected on labels: U.S. Stamp Notes

By John M. Hotchner

Advocacy is a facet of the American character that is reflected in philately. We see evidence on envelopes with messages, such as the “America Yes! Communism No!” example shown nearby. Agree or disagree — you can come up with your own label to state your case.

The label from the Young Liberal Campaign with the message “Fight Bureaucracy! Refuse to use you Postal Code” leaves me scratching my head. Because it is not on cover, I don’t know the date it was produced or used. However, the wording leads me to believe it predates ZIP codes. 

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The message makes no sense to me. Without the postal code, the post office would be less efficient; needing more employees to sort and direct the mail. How would that fight bureaucracy? Perhaps that is why this campaign never took off.

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