Thanks for visiting postofficefans.com. People often ask what it means to document a post office. My attempt to demystify this as it relates to Post Office Fans, is the purpose of this page.
Let’s start with the basics. Our site is built on WordPress which uses categories and tags. This is important for several reasons. When I create each article I assign it categories and tags. This becomes important when you are searching for something specific. Here is an example. This page explains how we use Tags in WordPress on our site.
Let’s say you are looking for the name of a mural you found at a local post office. You may notice we use the word “mural” as a tag. If you use the search feature of our site and look for mural, the results will return New Deal Murals as well as other non-New Deal Murals. In addition if you use select the tag “Mural” from the tag cloud or drop down search you will also get results for New Deal, and non-New Deal murals.
My hope is that if you have a better idea and example of how I use these terms and tags, it will enable you to find what you are looking for quicker. This method also keeps the articles and material organized.
New Deal artwork is only one example of what we document during our site visits. Over the years I’ve also discovered, dedication plaques, honor plaques. and various artifacts. These are all examples of things we like to record and share with you. Here are the tags we use along with their definition as it relates to Post Office Fans.
We also tag each article with the artist name, I’ve not listed each artist name here as that is on the lengthly “To-Do” list. Eventually, I’d like to have a page or article for each artist.
Tags
Aluminum Cast – This tag includes any art that has been classified as being created in aluminum.
Aluminum Panel – This tag includes any art that has been classified as being an aluminum panel. For an example of this please visit the Janesville, Wisconsin post office article.
Announcements – Any article with this tag is something we are announcing here on Post Office Fans website. An example of this would include press releases.
Artifacts – We use this tag to identify any building which has additional important items. For example some buildings have old photographs, or old newspaper articles on display in the bulletin boards. Other buildings may have display cases with items like uniforms, record books and so on. The tag “Artifacts” includes sites that have these additional items. For an example of this please visit the Arcadia, Florida post office article.
Artists – Rather than list the names of each artists I’ve decided it was easier to just explain how I use this tag. For every article that has artwork I will also include the name of the artist. This means each article will be tagged with the actual name of the artists. This is beneficial to you, in that you can search the site for a specific artists. The quickest way to do this, is using the tag selector at the footer of our site.
Artwork – I use this tag to identify any building that has New Deal art, as well as any building that has art that is not considered New Deal art. I’ve run across several buildings that fall into this situation and thought it was appropriate to include “Artwork” as a tag item. The Erwin, Tennessee post office article is an example of this. The mural here is painted in the 1970’s not during the Depression.
Cornerstone – Appropriately enough these are often found on the corner of the buildings. It indicates when the building was constructed. This becomes important when classifying the building and era it was built. Sadly, some of these were covered when the disability ramps were added. For more information on cornerstones you may be interested in this article.
Dedication Plaque – If a building has a dedication plaque the article will have this tag. One of the unique discoveries I’ve made over the years are the variations of dedication plaques in our nations post offices. Dedication plaques can be found in the lobby of the building or even on the outside.
Former Post Office – Unfortunately, this tag is becoming more populated. As the USPS increases their efforts to sell old buildings. I’m finding myself adding to this tag more often. “Former Post Office” is the tag you see at the bottom the home page.
Help – Any article with this tag is something I’m needing assistance with. I tend to only use the “Help” tag if there is something specific I’m looking for. Of course comments on any article are always appreciated and helpful. If you have something to share in regards to any of the buildings or images you see, we’d love to hear from you. Please comment on the appropriate page for all to enjoy. I’m looking for the lost mural titled “Rural Mail” by Gerritt Sinclair, which was installed in the Federal Building / Post Office in Wausau, Wisconsin. This would be an example of an article I’ve tagged with Help.
Historic – I use this tag for any building I find that has a “Historic” plaque or National Register of Historic places designation. Here is the challenge with this tag. Some buildings have been recognized by the National Park Service (NPS), while other buildings have been designated by local historical societies or local communities. I use the “Historic” tag for both situations. Since some buildings may not have a plaque I’m hesitant to use the term “Historic Plaque” even if they are historic buildings. Reedsburg, Wisconsin has a nice historic plaque on the building.
Honor Plaque – If a building was named in honor of someone and has a plaque in the lobby. I’ll use this tag to identify it. This is another pleasant surprise when I started documenting post offices. The Clinton, Illinois post office was dedicated to Gene Vance and has an example of a honor plaque.
Limestone Relief – This tag includes any art that has been classified as being limestone relief.
Metal – This tag includes any art that is classified as having a medium consisting of metal.
Mural – The majority of New Deal buildings I come across have large murals. By definition the word “mural” indicates a large piece of art. There are some buildings which only have smaller murals or what I would define as paintings. Any building that has a mural or painting is tagged and categorized with “Mural”.
New Deal – This tag is used for any article which includes “New Deal” buildings or art as it relates to post offices. For example, I have articles for New Deal buildings that do NOT contain art. I will still tag the article “New Deal” if the building is from this era.
Plaster Relief – This tag includes any art that is classified as a plaster relief. The art in the Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin post office would be an example of this.
Portrait Bust – This tag includes any art that is classified as a portrait bust. The bust of Admiral Albert Gleaves for the former Nashville post office would be an example of this.
Post Office – This is the default tag for all articles on Post Office Fans. There are a handful of exceptions such as announcements, and products but for the most part if it relates to a building or any form of art, then it will most likely have this tag.
State – There is tag for each state. Self explanatory but in order to eliminate any discrepancy’s, I’m including a definition here. Any post office in Illinois will have a tag, “Illinois”. Seemed silly to list each state separately with the explanation so I’m just referring to the tag for each state as a “State” as it relates to this definition page. Does that make sense?
Stone Relief – This tag includes any art that is classified as a stone relief.
Survey Markers – Another surprise I found after visiting so many different buildings was the presence of US Geological Survey markers. Since I started this project it never occurred to me that I should look for these. I have a limited number of articles with the “Survey Marker” tag since I wasn’t aware of these initially. The former Tipp City, Ohio post office would be an example of this.
Terra Cotta Relief – This tag includes any art that is classified as terra-cotta relief.
Wood Carving – This tag includes any art that is classified as a wood carving.
Wood Relief – This tag includes any art that is classified as a wood relief.
Wood Sculpture – This tag includes any art that is classified as a wood sculpture.