The Cost of Postage

I received these lovely stamps from Emilie at Pie Post. They are interesting to me because they are from the decade I was born in. Correct me if I am mistaken but the center stamps look Greek to me. They are my only stamps from Greece and therefore of special interest. The others are American and sparked my curiosity about the cost of stamps in the sixties. I wondered if these stamps were first class, post card, or otherwise. I can remember when a first class stamp went from 18 cents to 20. Gasp!

A little research led me to Johnston's Archive where I found this chart. You can see that in the 1860's a letter cost relatively as much to send as it does now. The most expensive time to send a letter was at the turn of the twentieth century. With this newfound perspective I will cease regretting postal price hikes and be glad that I can send a letter anywhere in the country for a mere 49 cents. That is an excellent bargain considering how much it would cost me to deliver it myself. Thank you, USPS for a job well done.

year	first class postage rate, cents (current)	first class postage rate, cents (2015 $)	CPI
1866	3	45.7	15.4
1867	3	49.3	14.3
1868	3	51.0	13.8
1869	3	53.4	13.2
1870	3	55.5	12.7
1871	3	59.7	11.8
1872	3	59.7	11.8
1873	3	60.7	11.6
1874	3	64.0	11.0
1875	3	66.5	10.6
1876	3	67.7	10.4
1877	3	69.1	10.2
1878	3	72.6	9.7
1879	3	72.6	9.7
1880	3	71.2	9.9
1881	3	71.2	9.9
1882	3	71.2	9.9
1883	2	48.4	9.7
1884	2	49.4	9.5
1885	2	50.5	9.3
1886	2	51.6	9.1
1887	2	51.0	9.2
1888	2	51.0	9.2
1889	2	52.8	8.9
1890	2	53.4	8.8
1891	2	53.4	8.8
1892	2	53.4	8.8
1893	2	54.0	8.7
1894	2	56.6	8.3
1895	2	58.0	8.1
1896	2	58.0	8.1
1897	2	58.7	8.0
1898	2	58.7	8.0
1899	2	58.7	8.0
1900	2	58.0	8.1
1901	2	57.3	8.2
1902	2	56.6	8.3
1903	2	55.2	8.5
1904	2	54.6	8.6
1905	2	55.2	8.5
1906	2	54.0	8.7
1907	2	51.6	9.1
1908	2	52.8	8.9
1909	2	53.4	8.8
1910	2	51.0	9.2
1911	2	51.0	9.2
1912	2	50.0	9.4
1913	2	47.4	9.9
1914	2	47.0	10.0
1915	2	46.5	10.1
1916	2	43.1	10.9
1917	2	36.7	12.8
1918	3	46.6	15.1
1919	2	27.1	17.3
1920	2	23.5	20.0
1921	2	26.2	17.9
1922	2	28.0	16.8
1923	2	27.5	17.1
1924	2	27.5	17.1
1925	2	26.8	17.5
1926	2	26.5	17.7
1927	2	27.0	17.4
1928	2	27.5	17.1
1929	2	27.5	17.1
1930	2	28.1	16.7
1931	2	30.9	15.2
1932	2	34.3	13.7
1933	3	54.2	13.0
1934	3	52.6	13.4
1935	3	51.4	13.7
1936	3	50.7	13.9
1937	3	48.9	14.4
1938	3	50.0	14.1
1939	3	50.7	13.9
1940	3	50.3	14.0
1941	3	47.9	14.7
1942	3	43.2	16.3
1943	3	40.7	17.3
1944	3	40.0	17.6
1945	3	39.1	18.0
1946	3	36.1	19.5
1947	3	31.6	22.3
1948	3	29.2	24.1
1949	3	29.6	23.8
1950	3	29.2	24.1
1951	3	27.1	26.0
1952	3	26.6	26.5
1953	3	26.4	26.7
1954	3	26.2	26.9
1955	3	26.3	26.8
1956	3	25.9	27.2
1957	3	25.1	28.1
1958	3	24.4	28.9
1959	4	32.3	29.1
1960	4	31.7	29.6
1961	4	31.4	29.9
1962	4	31.1	30.2
1963	5	38.4	30.6
1964	5	37.9	31.0
1965	5	37.3	31.5
1966	5	36.2	32.4
1967	5	35.1	33.4
1968	6	40.5	34.8
1969	6	38.4	36.7
1970	6	36.3	38.8
1971	8	46.4	40.5
1972	8	44.9	41.8
1973	8	42.3	44.4
1974	10	47.6	49.3
1975	10	43.6	53.8
1976	13	53.6	56.9
1977	13	50.4	60.6
1978	15	54.0	65.2
1979	15	48.5	72.6
1980	15	42.7	82.4
1981	18	46.5	90.9
1982	20	48.7	96.5
1983	20	47.1	99.6
1984	20	45.2	103.9
1985	22	48.0	107.6
1986	22	47.1	109.6
1987	22	45.5	113.6
1988	25	49.6	118.3
1989	25	47.3	124.0
1990	25	44.9	130.7
1991	29	50.0	136.2
1992	29	48.5	140.3
1993	29	47.1	144.5
1994	29	45.9	148.2
1995	32	49.3	152.4
1996	32	47.9	156.9
1997	32	46.8	160.5
1998	32	46.1	163.0
1999	33	46.5	166.6
2000	33	45.0	172.2
2001	34	45.1	177.1
2002	37	48.3	179.9
2003	37	47.2	184.0
2004	37	46.0	188.9
2005	37	44.5	195.3
2006	39	45.4	201.6
2007	41	46.4	207.3
2008	42	45.8	215.3
2009	44	48.2	214.5
2010	44	47.4	218.1
2011	44	45.9	224.9
2012	45	46.0	229.6
2013	46	46.4	233.0
2014	49	48.6	236.7
2015	49	49.0	234.8