Smithsonian National Postal Museum curator Nancy A. Pope tells the fascinating and weird story of "missile mail," a Cold War era mail experiment.

1. Nancy A. Pope, Curator of Postal Operations
Smithsonian National Postal Museum

2. The National Postal Museum
is located in the old Post
Office building next to Union
Station in Washington, D.C.
The museum is open seven
days a week from 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., except December 25.
Admission is free.

5. [The Soviets will be]
dropping bombs on us
from space like kids
dropping rocks onto
cars from freeway
overpasses.
Lyndon B. Johnson,
US Senate Majority Leader, 1957

6. Arthur E. Summerfield,
U.S. Postmaster General

9. September 16, 1958
Regulus II fired from the U.S.S.
Grayback (SSG-547)
May 1, 1959
Regulus I land launch, California

10. Loading Regulus missile aboard USS
Barbero at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 1960.
Photograph courtesy of Ronald Phillipi

11. Loading Regulus missile aboard USS Barbero at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, 1960.
Photograph courtesy of Ronald Phillipi

12. Regulus I missile onboard the
USS Barbero

13. Lt. Cdr. Carlos Dew, Captain of
the USS Barbero and
Postmaster General
Summerfield watch as the
Regulus I missile mail is loaded
aboard the submarine.

14. One of the two
Regulus I missile
containers used on the
June 8, 1959 flight.

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLrA8_5K_Dc
Or
http://tinyurl.com/n2rl4l

18. Postmaster General
Summerfield, flanked by Navy Capt.
Arnold Schade, Lt. Cdr. Carlos
Drew, and Deputy Postmaster General
Edson Sessions.

19. Postmaster General Summerfield and Deputy
Postmaster General Sessions

20. Front and back of
one of the missile
mail envelopes.

22. I have been collecting First Day
Covers for the past 10 years . . .
Being a taxpayer and financing in
part, at least, this historic firing, I
feel that I should be given the
opportunity to obtain one of the
First Day Covers along with the
other 2,999 people.
John Gagliardi, Lyndhurst, NJ

23. I have enclosed 20 cents
to purchase one of these
covers. If that is too
much money, please
keep the rest as my
donation to the efforts.
David Skerry, Medford, MA
My good friend Arthur
Godfrey tells me he is quite
sure if I write you
personally, I would get one.
Wm. C. Notmeyer, San Francisco, CA

25. I believe we will see Missile Mail developed to a
significant degree before man has reached the moon.
Guided missiles may ultimately provide a solution to
problems of swifter mail delivery for international
mails, as well as a supplementary high-priority service to
big population areas.
Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General
June 6, 1959

27. www.postalmuseum.si.edu