Image : US Postal Service

Americans have been buying up stamps in an attempt to keep the U.S. Postal Service afloat during the current crisis, but you know what’s more fun than stamps and is also sold by USPS? These scale models of past and present delivery trucks.


First, here’s what’s going on with the post office: Last week, it was revealed that USPS is in real trouble. Business is down by a third, thanks to the cononavirus, and could be down as much as sixty percent by the end of the year, according to NPR. The Postal Service is facing an uphill battle when it comes to maintaining its existence, despite being an essential service for American life.

Congressman Connolly says the next coronavirus rescue bill should provide a cash infusion of $25 billion to the Postal Service and forgive the agency’s debts, which House Democrats had pressed for but failed to get in the last funding package, after objections by Senate Republicans and the White House. He notes that lawmakers provided about $50 billion in that bill to help the airline industry. “The Postal Service has been struggling for 14 years, and it is an essential service we all count on,” Connolly says. “And if the airline industry qualified for assistance, it is time for Congress and the White House to address their needs.” Without that assistance, he warns, the Postal Service could run out of cash by June.﻿




President Trump threatened to veto the next $2 trillion coronavirus aid package if it includes funds to save the storied institution. (Because honestly, why would you include funds to save the employer of more than 2 million Americans in a U.S. stimulus package?) Citizens have been stepping up and buying extra stamps so that USPS has the funds to make it to the other side of this crisis.



I don’t know about you, but I haven’t really needed stamps since sending out Thank You cards after my wedding last year. But the Postal Service is absolutely worthy of saving, however. The USPS handles 48 percent of all of the mail sent in the world, according to their internal facts sheet, and processes 6.6 million passport applications a year. This is a required service for our democracy, even more so now that there is a possibility we might all be voting via mail-in ballot in the up coming election in November.

But many of us now pay our bills and communicate with businesses, as well as one another, online. Many of us just don’t need a ton of stamps hanging around. If you want to do your part to save the post office, while scratching your head trying to coming up with uses for a thick book of stamps, I have some good news for you. The USPS doesn’t just sell postage, it also sells scale models of past and present postal vehicles and they definitely spark way more joy than their low price tags would have you believe. Like this scale 1:64 model of a 1971 right-hand drive USPS Jeep with real rubber tires:


Or how about a Postal Police Crown Vic:


Or maybe a heavy-duty letter hauler is more your style:


There are options to satisfy whatever flavor your inner-child is craving today. They even have a few straight-up American muscle cars available, like this 1967 Shelby Cobra GT500 with real tiny chrome accents:


These would all be great buys for younger kids who often get obsessed with the daily ritual of mail delivery but, let’s face it, you could buy these for yourself and be just as happy as a squealing 3-year-old who waits by the window for the mail truck every day. And when your spouse inevitably asks if you really needed yet another model car, you can enthusiastically say ‘Yes!’ and explain how your tchotchkes acquisition is saving a vital American service.