Antarctica's First Postal Service

Why would there be Antarctica stamps if there was no post office? One day, while Admiral Richard E. Byrd was planning his second expedition to Antarctica, he and President Franklin Roosevelt were discussing the expedition. President Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector, suggested that it would be nice to set up a post office and issue stamps that could be mailed as first day covers from Antarctica. Therefore, the post office went with Admiral Byrd when the expedition left Norfolk, Virginia for the Little America base camp in Antarctica.

President Roosevelt suggested the design for the first 3-cent Byrd Antarctic Expedition II Commemorative stamp, issued October 9, 1933. It was a vertical navy blue and white stamp with a large globe showing several of Byrd's flights. To offset the cost, a 50 cent surcharge was added to the price of the stamp. After all, it would make the trip twice. A 3 Cent Byrd Antarctic Expedition II Souvenir sheet of six stamps was offered this week on eBay.

Much of the mail went with the expedition in October, 1933. Another barge went by regular steamer to New Zealand where it caught up with the Byrd expedition.

Leroy Clark, a member of the expedition, was in charge of operations but it was more than he could handle. He asked the Post Office Department for help. Charles F. Anderson, a postal specialist in canceling first-day covers, was sent to help. He left the States with another 40,000 letters, canceling machines, and other supplies. Anderson canceled the covers that had arrived a year earlier and those he had brought. He and the mail returned with the expedition. An estimated 240,000 letters had been postmarked at the Little America Post Office, which was officially discontinued on May 31, 1935.