Ramsey County History – Spring 2014: “Neither Posters Nor Stamps: Poster Stamp Advertising in St. Paul”

Neither Posters Nor Stamps: Poster Stamp Advertising in St. Paul
Author: Leo J. Harris

Poster stamps are neither posters nor stamps. They are printed in sheets of various sizes, then gummed, and perforated. In the early 1900s, “poster stamps” became a form of collectible advertising that were attached to a merchant’s packages, letters, envelopes, catalogues, and price lists. Eventually, they found their way into collector’s albums. Poster stamps were used as an advertising device by the City of St. Paul and a number of local retailers and organizations. Two printing companies in the Twin Cities stood out among the others for their fine reproduction of poster stamps. The first was Brown and Bigelow, which not only printed the poster stamps for their customers but also used them for their own advertising. The second major producer was Brown, Treacy and Sperry Company (1901 to 1915), which later became the Brown-Blodgett Company. Harvey A. Blodgett was a St. Paul entrepreneur who was one of the leading promoters and printers of poster stamps in the United States.
PDF of Harris article