Judge — June 27, 1931 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

JUDGE WHY WE HAVE POSTAGE STAMPS Printing by Gurney Williams « ny must we ha ®” n asked me yes- terday as we walked down the street. “I have one when I need it, the stuff on the back tastes like nd—" “Well,” I began, but he wasn't lis- tening. “every time I have my vest pressed,” he continued, “I leave a couple of stamps in the pockets where tl sealed by steam from the presser “It's like this,” I said, but the fellow paid me no heed never A bad case of licker There are enough stamps stuck in that vest to take it special delivery to Hong Kong,” he went on, “and my worst fear is that a postman. will snatch it from me some day and send it there. Then where would I be, with winter only five or six months off? Well,” I began again, “it's like this—'? but he disappeared in the crowd and I haven't seen him since. However, here's the story, anyway. ack in the days when the pioneers trekked across the country there Guy who left stamps in his vest gets mailed vest. Engraving by George Lichtenstein was no need of postage stamps because there was no postal system such as we have today, with pictures on the front and a space for messages on the back and all, and the carly settlers were very emphatic in their refusal to buy stamps until the government organ- ized the post-office department. They communicated with h other by tacking their letters to a post by the roadside, where they were picked up by the addressees; hence the expres- sion “posting a letter.” Later on it became the custom to step on the envelope before posting it so the letter would be identified by Posting the mail or left at the post. the distinctive hobnail marks of the correspondents. This was known as stamping the letter, and you've got to do it today or your letters won't get to first base. rLL, the government finally estab- lished the postal system and de- veloped what we call the “stamp,” which is today issued in many colors to suit every taste, provided you don’t lick them. Each letter required a stamp to help cover the cost of mailing, ete. and at first the government si broke even at the end of the 3 The system has been so nic ized, however, that nearly every year now there is a tremendous deficit, and the first thing a bunch of youngsters do when they get together is play post wn Licker—the curse of the Nation. office, so you can see what a tremendously popul thing our postal syste has become. Just remem- ber this the next time a mail truck folds up one of your mud guards and, if you have a spark of patriotism in your make-up, you'll laugh it off. The patriotism, I mean, T" money order, par- 1 post, and registry ons are all out- growths of the great sys- tem, and the other day while I was standing at a registered mail window a palooka walked up and said he wanted to regi: ter a complaint. “I can’t even register surprise,” said the hard- boiled clerk, but I left before any- thing happened. Some people have made and used erfect copies of postage stamps cle Sam has been feeding them for years, but I'd advise you to buy your own stamps and stop grousing about the expensi ause the gov- ernment is very jealous of its post- age business, which it holds tically a monopoly in this coun- over So if the guy who asked me about this will please return my watch, which he stole while I was only try- ing to do him a favor, why no ques- tions will be asked, and I will be very glad to fix him so he can go home without being recognized. comicbooks.com