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Philately & Postal Service in the North



Yukon Post Office history
A history of all post offices that have operated in the Yukon Territory (now the Yukon) from 1896 to the current day.

Canadian Mail Arrives From the Yukon, 1897
A lengthy article from The Alaska Searchlight (Juneau, Alaska) of February 13, 1897.

Dawson Mail Carrier Nearly Murdered
An article from The Klondike Nugget (Dawson, Yukon Territory) of December 31, 1898, describes the attempted theft of the mails from E. W. Sandison.

Percy De Wolfe goes through the Yukon River ice
An article from The Weekly Star of Friday, May 16, 1919, describes mail carrier De Wolfe's experience, in which he lost 2 valuable horses.

Air Mail in the Yukon: First Flight Covers
Two envelopes carried in 1937 from Edmonton to Whitehorse and Whitehorse to Edmonton.

Alaska's First Free Mail Delivery in 1900
This lengthy article by Fred Lockley describes a unique postal service in Nome.

Exercise Sweetbriar and A.P.O. 949
An illustrated history of the only post-World War II United States Army Post Office (A.P.O.) to operate in the Yukon (during Exercise Sweetbriar in 1950).

Alaska Highway Commemorative Stamps
These stamps were issued in 1992 by the United States Post Office to honor the 50th anniversary of the construction of the "Alcan."

Alpine Club of Canada
Issued on July 19, 2006 to commemorate the centennial of the ACC.

Arctic Explorers
A 1986 issue honouring Peary, Henson, Stefansson, Greely and Kane.

Arctic Submarine Cover
A cover from the first east-west Northwest Passage transit by sub, in 1960.

Bombus Polaris, Arctic Bumblebee
This 5¢ definitive stamps was issued in 2007, one in a series of five stamp showing beneficial insects.

Canadian Semi-postal Air Stamps
When bush planes began replacing sled dog teams in the 1920s, the Post Office wasn't always quick to respond to the increased cost of aircraft on a particular run.

The Canadian Arctic
David Piercey has posted a 1933 cover from Bache Peninsula, and an extremely good article on Northwest Territories postal history.

Christmas at North Pole
In 1996, the U.S. issued their Christmas stamps at North Pole, Alaska, and a local artist created a special poster for the occasion.

Historic Air Mail Plane Returns
In 2001, Fokker Super Universal CF-AAM returned to the Yukon, and special covers were flown on several historic routes.

Huskies on Postage Stamps
Countries all over the world have featured Northern breed dogs on their stamps. An illustrated feature.

International Polar Year
Canada was one of 8 countries to issue official IPY stamps in 2007, but several other countries commemorate the event with stamps as well.

John Philip Clum
A very good biography of Clum, who arrived in Alaska in 1898 as a Special Commissioner for the Post Office, and was very influential until his departure in 1909.

Kluane National Park stamp
A postage stamp issued in 1979.

The Mail Steamer Elsie
In 1891, the North American Commercial Company was awarded an important Alaska mail service contract, and chose the 77-foot 'Elsie' to service it.

Obsolete Aircraft on 1941 Air Mail Stamp
A brief newspaper article from August 1941, with an image of the stamp in question.

RCMP 125th Anniversary Postage Stamps
On July 3, 1998, Canada issued two 45-cent stamps to honour the 125th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Search and Rescue Postage Stamps
A beautiful Canadian issue from June 2005.

Siberian Overprints
This page shows 8 overprints on Russian stamps of 1909-1912 and 1917.

Sled Dog Covers
The Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Association in BC produces beautiful "Carried By Dog Team" envelopes for their annual race.

Surtsey: Iceland's Island of Fire
This article on the volcanic island is illustrated with three icelandic stamps issued to commemorate its 1963 birth.

Tahltan Bear Dog
A stamp was issued to honour this little hunting dog, one of four breeds of dog native to Canada, but now generally considered to be extinct.

Tufted Puffins Stamps
On January 23, 2013, the United States Postal Service unveiled their new 86-cent Tufted Puffins definitive stamp in Seward.

Wiley Post & Will Rogers crash
A pair of envelopes which were flown from Barrow following the dedication of a memorial to Post and Rogers, who were killed while attempting to take off from a tidal lagoon near Barrow on August 15, 1935.

WP&YR - Canadian Commemorative Postage Stamp
This postage stamp and postcard, based on a photo by Paul Austring, were issued in May 2001 as part of the Tourist Attractions series.




Other Philately & Postal Service



Queen Elizabeth II 1977 Silver Jubilee postage stamps
On February 6, 1977, to honour the 25th anniversary of Elizabeth's ascesion to the throne, 56 nations issued commemorative postage stamps, and you can see all the First Day Covers here.