RATE CHANGE PROMPTS 1-CENT STAMP RUSH

The 1-cent stamp is back in vogue for the first time in two years because of a postal rate increase effective Sunday.

The first-class letter rate is rising to 34 cents. Toni L. Charles, customer service manager for the U.S. Postal Service in Cape Girardeau, said the rush on 1-cent stamps has begun and will worsen next week. If an anticipated shipment doesn't come by Saturday, Cape Girardeau's post office and area stamp vending machines may not have them.

"We don't want to panic the public," she said. "Worst case scenario, if we run out of penny stamps, we can do a meter strip for the penny."

But some postal customers are hoarding the 1-cent stamps, Charles said, slapping $2 on the counter and getting 200 although they may only have a few 33-cent stamps left at home. The result: The post office receives envelopes nearly covered front and back in 1-cent stamps following postage increases.

The last rate increase, which tacked a penny onto the cost of a first-class stamp, was on Jan. 10, 1999.

Customers will get a little extra time to rid themselves of their old 33-cent stamps. Because there is no mail pickup on Sunday, there will be an informal grace period through Monday night before the higher postage rate is enforced.

The three new stamp designs are of the Statue of Liberty, flowers and a flag flying over a farm.

Cape Girardeau's downtown post office bustled with 1-cent stamp buyers on Thursday. One postal clerk said she opened a 5,000-stamp package a few days ago and had to open another one Thursday.

Cape Girardeau resident Grace Smith, treasurer of the Bethany Baptist Church, purchased several. She said she uses a lot of stamps.

"I still had a pretty good supply of the 33-cent stamps on hand," she said.

Citing rising costs and declining revenues, the post office proposed the new rates a year ago. On Nov. 13, the independent Postal Rate Commission approved increases that totaled less than the post office had sought.

The post office's board of governors ordered the increases into effect under protest and has asked the rate commission to reconsider the cuts it made in some of the proposals.

The 1-cent increase in first-class mail was part of the original post office request, but the commission made cuts in other areas such as the price for additional ounces of mail and post cards.

For example, while the first ounce of first-class mail will cost a penny more at 34 cents, each additional ounce will drop to 21 cents, down a penny. The rate for post cards is unchanged at 20 cents, though the post office had sought an increase.

Other rates will also rise, including international mail, Express Mail, Priority Mail, parcel post, periodicals and advertising mail.

The new rate for overseas mail will be 60 cents per ounce for Canada and Mexico and 80 cents per ounce for other countries. Previously international rates had been per half-ounce.

Staff writers Heidi Hall and B. Ray Owen contributed to this report.

POSTAL RATES

History of first-class stamp rates:

Date* Cost (in cents)

1885-1917 2

1917-1919 3

1919 2

July 6, 1932 3

Aug. 1, 1958 4

Jan. 7, 1963 5

Jan. 7, 1968 6

May 16, 1971 8

March 2, 1974 10

Dec. 31, 1975 13

May 29, 1978 15

March 22, 1981 18

Nov. 1, 1981 20

Feb. 17, 1985 22

April 3, 1988 25

Feb. 3, 1991 29

Jan. 1, 1995 32

Jan. 10, 1999 33

Jan. 7, 2001 34

*Date rate increase was effective