The new Postal Manual format rearranged all the essential instructions into eight newly defined chapters: (1) Post Office Services (Domestic), (2) International Mail, (3) Post Office Procedures, (4), Finance, Budgeting, and Accounting, (5) Transportation, (6) Facilities, (7) Personnel, and (80 Organization and Administration. Each of the eight chapters were maintained independently, and this practice will be followed in the digital presentation described here.

Also, the Postal Manual was now to be distributed in a loose-leaf format using a 6” by 9” page and special binder. All distributions of revisions and updates were provided to the holders of the Postal Manual in a format identified as a ”Transmittal Letter”, each the revisions were provided a complete replacement page, that is, when any content on a page changed, a completely new page was provided. This eliminated the need for the postal clerk to “tip-in” or paste these changes onto pages of the publication.

The eight chapters of the Postal Manual were not released simultaneously, but they were phased into usage between 1954 and 1958 as each of the chapters were rewritten. Some chapters were distributed initially as a full or complete chapter, while others were released incrementally, and the latter were then used in conjunction with the relevant previous publications until a full chapter release was distributed. Both the full or complete chapter, and these incremental updates were distributed in the format of these Transmittal Letters.

Each Transmittal Letter consisted of a header page with a description of the changes represented by the update, together with instructions for removing and adding the included pages.

Between 1954 and 1969, a total of 1257 Transmittal Letters were distributed for the Postal Manual, with several chapters having more than 200 revisions. This large number of Transmittal Letters makes it impractical to create composite PDF files of each of these chapters for each version or even by year. Most chapters were re-released several times in the format of a complete chapter, and these were usually followed by a series of incremental revisions distributed between these complete releases.

Because of the dynamic nature of the updates and revisions to this Postal Manual, physical copies of the publication found in institutional and private libraries have a very restricted operational life for the postal historian. Their accuracy and reliability represent only a limited point in time when all information is accurate, as the receipt of the next Transmittal Letter would make some segment of the publication obsolete.

The digital PDF files for the Postal Manual presented here on Stamp Smarter were created using a series of microfilms prepared by the US Postal Service Library, and those were created from their reference file of publications distributed between 1944 and 1969. These publications, representing some 45 bound volumes, included a complete set of the 1257 Transmittal Letters released between 1954 and 1969. Discussions with the USPS Librarian formulated the approach in which these materials are presented.

The general approach was to treat the forerunner publications as separate publications organized in the same manner as found in the USPS Library. When dealing with the Transmittal Letters, the decision was made to maintain each full or complete chapter release as a separate PDF file, and then to create a supplementary file which would include all Transmittal Letter updates for that edition up to the next full release of the chapter.

Before attempting to use these compilations of the Transmittal Letters, the reader is encouraged to examine the description provided in the drawer: Early Postal Manual Editions below: (1) History of the Postal Manual, and (2) Guide to Using the Postal Manual.

The Postal Manual continued to be the primary resource used by postal employees until the Congress enacted the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which disbanded the original United States Post Office Department and replaced it with the United States Postal Service. As part of the preparation for this transition, the USPOD began a revision and reorganization of the current Postal Manual, and they retitled the new publication as the Postal Service Manual. Editions of this new publication may be found here.