US Postal Service Delivers a History of Highlights to the National Postal Museum
August 24, 2006 — For six decades, the US Postal Service and Highlights for Children, Inc. have delighted young readers in America by delivering 1 billion copies of Highlights for Children magazine to help children become their best selves.
This achievement was celebrated today as both organizations presented the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum with one of the very first copies of the magazine, printed in June 1946, and a copy from the 1 billionth print run of the August 2006 issue, printed in June. The magazines will be preserved at the museum where they will complement the museum’s existing anthology of significant postal history, publications and philatelic collections.
With more than 2 million subscribers, Highlights for Children (http://highlights.com) provides a monthly collection of fiction, nonfiction, crafts, puzzles and activities. The publication also includes a mix of letters, drawings, questions and poems submitted by its readers. Each issue delivered by a US Postal Service letter carrier helps encourage children to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning.
“The US Postal Service is proud to join the Highlights for Children, Inc. team and the National Postal Museum to commemorate the billionth delivery in a continuing partnership that has promoted literacy and learning among American children for six decades,” said Postmaster General John E. Potter.
“Reaching this milestone has been a true partnership between Highlights for Children, Inc. and the US Postal Service. When I think about the number ‘1 billion,’ I think of the 1 billion times a US Postal Service letter carrier has placed a copy of Highlights for Children magazine into a family’s mailbox and the 60 years of work Highlights for Children, Inc. and the US Postal Service have accomplished together,” said Kent S. Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Highlights for Children, Inc.
Joining Potter and Johnson at the ceremony were Christine French Clark, editor of Highlights for Children magazine and Allen Kane, Director of the National Postal Museum.
Highlights for Children magazine has been providing “Fun with a Purpose” to children, families, schools, libraries and professional offices nationwide. Through the art of letter writing, children send the editors more than 30,000 letters, drawings, questions and poems each year. Highlights for Children editors respond to every letter received. The publication has been printed by Quebecor World, Inc., in Clarksville, TN, for the past 49 years.
Highlights for Children, Inc. (http://www.Highlights.com) has focused on helping children become their best selves for generations. Highlights magazine celebrated the printing of its one-billionth copy and its 60th anniversary in June 2006.
On the Web, http://www.HighlightsKids.com offers interactive content related to each issue of the magazine, as well as independent activities such as “Click-and-Play Hidden Pictures(R),” e-cards, games, craft activities, “Mystery Messages,” jokes, and riddles.
Devoted to “Fun with a Purpose(R),” Highlights for Children also offers children, parents, grandparents, and educators a broad range of products including the Highlights for Children Book Clubs (Puzzlemania(R), Mathmania(R), Which Way USA?(R), Top Secret Adventures(TM), and Hidden Pictures Playground(R)). Highlights Catalog (http://www.Highlights.com) selects quality toys, games, craft activities, puzzles, and other products for children. Corporate offices are in Columbus, Ohio, and the editorial offices are in Honesdale, Pa.
The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing the largest and most comprehensive collection of stamps and philatelic material in the world. The museum is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit the museum’s Web site at: http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu.