Local Post

Greetings Fellow SB Boarders
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RATTLESNAKE ISLAND LOCAL POST -- STAMP No. 2
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The modern history of Rattlesnake Island began with the purchase of the island about 1929 by Herbert Bennett, the owner of the Toledo Scale Company, who developed the island by putting in a lodge, harbor, and east-west landing strip. A second north-south landing strip was added in the 1950's by a Catholic order. In 1959, the island was sold to James P. Frackelton, M.D., a Cleveland surgeon and owner of the Cleveland Stamp and Coin Company, and Robert C. Schull, a stockbroker. Subsequently, Dr. Frackelton applied to the U. S. Post Office Department under Title 18 for the establishment of a local post for the island, as repeated requests for regular mail service had been denied.
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The history of local posts (private mail-carrying entities) in the United States goes back to colonial times. Their popularity peaked in the first half of the 19th century. By the early 1860's, the expanding Post Office Department had made them largely obsolete. Arguably, the most famous of them all was the Pony Express, which existed from April, 1861, to October, 1862, replaced by the telegraph. The story of modern local posts began with the success of Herman "Pat" Hearst's Shrub Oak Local Post, Shrub Oak, New York, in 1953. Since then, there have been at least 127 others documented, including Rattlesnake Island Local Post.
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In the early days, mail was delivered to the island by boat in the summer, and horse-drawn sleigh in the winter. Many a harrowing story was associated with these methods. By 1959, Ralph Dietrick, a veteran World War II pilot, and owner of Island Airways, was providing mail service to North, Middle, and South Bass Islands utilizing the famous Ford Trimotor, or "Tin Goose," as it was affectionately known. This service was enlisted by Rattlesnake Island Local Post upon it's inception, adding not a little bit of philatelic and aeronautical romance to the story. So much so, in fact, that the 1966, 1967, and later the 20th Anniversary stamps all pictured the Ford Trimotor on them, as well as one of the rubber handstamps applied to most mail.
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Approval from the Post Office Department was finally obtained in 1966, and the first stamps, rectangular in shape, were issued on August 27th in three denominations:     five cents for postcards, ten cents for letters, and 25 cents for bulk postage - all three in perforate and imperforate form, a practice which was to continue with each years' issue. The five-cent stamp (black and light gray with red text) depicted a map of the island; the ten-cent stamp (pale green with black text) depicted the Ford Trimotor approaching the island; and the 25-cent stamp (pale blue with black text) depicted a boat at the island's dock.  Of course, additional U. S. postage had to be applied to each item in order to effect entrance into the U. S. postal system at Port Clinton, Ohio (the 1st class letter rate was then five cents).
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Respectfully,

Gordon Lee