For more than three hundred years, the history of our postal service been closely linked with the development of Canada. Postal communications have helped Canadians keep in touch from the days when letters were passed from hand to hand by travellers, to the lightning fast electronic mail of today. Special Delivery: Canada's Postal Heritage is a lavishly illustrated hard cover book with historic, artistic, architectural, and philatelic content. The history of the postal service is covered from the very beginnings through the colonial era, Confederation, and the World Wars through to the computer era. Archival photographs and illustrations accompany pictures of unique antiques and artifacts from the collection of the Canadian Postal Museum including pens, inkwells, and furniture. For more than one hundred and fifty years, Canadian postage stamps have illustrated the history, people, and events important to this country. The book covers about twenty stamps representative of our heritage. The illustrations and stories of these diminutive works of art will appeal to both the neophyte collector and the dedicated philatelist. Canada's Postal Service fuels the nation's economy and delivers hundreds of millions of communiqués and contributes billions of dollars to the economy. Special Delivery shows the history of how this mail is, and was, transported. Whether delivery was by foot, sled, coach, boat, train, plane, or modem, ingenuity and adaptability have been the keys to overcoming Canada's many diverse climatic and geographic obstacles. Throughout our country the distinct architectural styles of our post office buildings reflect our heritage. Whether located in a small general store or an imposing granite edifice, the post office is a focal point for the community it serves. Special Delivery examines the architecture, location, and function of the buildings that symbolize our postal heritage. From horseback and canoe to courier and electronic services, the people who move our mail have relied on the best available ways of delivering mail. But past or present, it is those individuals that are the most important element of the postal service. For hundreds of years our postmasters, letter carriers, sorters, drivers, and other dedicated employees have delivered not only letters, but medicine, fruit, dynamite, tools, and all manner of material vital to Canadians. Special Delivery: Canada's Postal Heritage is the first major illustrated history of our postal system. It is one of those very few "must have" items this season for anyone interested in Canadian heritage.

Chantal Amyot is the Head of Public Programs at the Canadian Postal Museum. She holds degrees in Art History and Museum Studies and has worked with the Canadian Postal Museum for twelve years. In her position there, she has taken part in several major projects, such as the installation of the Canadian Postal Museum in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the production of a CD-ROM and the development of numerous exhibitions. She has also written specialized articles which have been published in several journals.

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Bianca Gendreau holds master’s degrees in history and museum studies. She joined the Canadian Postal Museum team in 1990 and has been the curator of the collection since 1995. She has organized several exhibitions at the Museum, including both travelling and virtual exhibitions. She has also published articles and given conference papers on the subject of postal history.

Bianca Gendreau's profile page

John Willis is Curator of Economic History at the Canadian Museum of History. A graduate of Université Laval, with a doctorate in historical geography, Dr. Willis has worked on the history of labour relations, the mail-order catalogue, postal communication, migration and industrialization. His current work focuses on the history of the Canadian–American border. He is editor of the Mercury Series and an adjunct research professor of History at Carleton University.

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Francine Brousseau is the Director of the Canadian Postal Museum. An art historian, she holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and has worked in the area of heritage and museum studies since 1975. The author of several volumes, articles, and exhibition projects, she was also responsible for moving the Canadian Postal Museum to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. She is a member of the board of directors of the International Association of Transportation and Communication Museums and is the vice-president of the Canadian Museum Association.

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