The Musée de La Poste is the museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 of the French postal operator La Poste

La Poste (France)

La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte...

. It specialises in the postal history and philately of France

Postage stamps and postal history of France

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of France.- See also :*Ceres series *French post offices abroad*List of people on stamps of France*Navigation and Commerce issue*Postage stamps of the French Colonies-External links:*...

. Opened in 1946, the museum has been located on two sites in Paris.

Genesis

The idea of a postal museum was first published by philatelist Arthur Maury after scale models of postal rail transportation were exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1889

Exposition Universelle (1889)

The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...

 in Paris. Projects were written at the beginning of the 20th century, but nothing concrete was done.

In 1936, Eugène Vaillé

Eugène Vaillé

Eugène Vaillé was a French postal historian and the first curator of the postal museum of France, now La Poste's Museum, from 1946 to 1955.- Biography :...

, a civil servant at the French posts' library, convinced Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones

Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones (France)

The Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, to which was later added the charge of Telephones , was, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of the French Postal Service and development of the national telecommunication system.The position was occasionally combined with Minister of...

 Georges Mandel

Georges Mandel

Georges Mandel was a French politician, journalist, and French Resistance leader.-Biography:Born Louis George Rothschild in Chatou, Yvelines, was the son of a tailor...

 to relaunch the project. By 1937, establishment in the Choiseul-Praslin hôtel was studied. Although the economic crisis of the 1930s

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 prevented any actual opening, a semi-postal stamp was issued on 6 July 1939 and a ruling council was instituted in 1943 with Vaillé as president. After the war, finance and an inventory by Vaillé of the postal archives permitted the inauguration in 1946.

The Musée postal de France (Postal Museum of France) opened on 4 June 1946 at the Choiseul-Praslin hôtel, in the 6th arrondissement

VIe arrondissement

The 6th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It includes world famous educational institutions such as the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Académie française, the seat of the French Senate as well as a concentration of some of Paris most...

 of Paris. Its first collections were exhibited on 600 square metres and postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s constituted the main part. To help in managing the museum, an association was founded in 1947: the Société des amis du musée de La Poste.

Not large enough, the Choiseul-Praslin hôtel was replaced by a new building of 1,500 square meters. It was built between 1969 and 1972 and was decorated with a front wall designed by André Chatelin. The building is located near the Montparnasse station

Gare Montparnasse

Paris Montparnasse is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris, located in the Montparnasse area in the XIVe arrondissement. The station was opened in 1840, and rebuilt completely in 1969...

, in the 15th arrondissement

XVe arrondissement

The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Rive Gauche of the River Seine and sharing the Montparnasse district with the 6th and 14th arrondissements, it is the city's most populous arrondissement...

 of Paris. The inauguration took place on 18 December 1973.

Collections and activities

Permanent exhibitions present objects connected with correspondence, transport of the mail, work of the postmen and philatelic

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 and marcophilic

Marcophily

Marcophily, occasionally called Marcophilately, is the specialised study and collection of postmarks, cancellations and postal markings applied by hand or machine on mail that passes through a postal system and applied by the postal operator through whose domain they pass...

 items. In 1999, a room was created to exhibit the 3,500 postage stamps of France in chronological and topical order.

Temporary exhibitions on the same topics take place regularly on the ground floor of the museum.

In the upper offices, a philatelic library is available to the public, partly constituted by a loan from the Académie de philatélie

Académie de philatélie

The Académie de philatélie is a French philatelic voluntary association created in 1928. Its goal is to promote philately and philatelic studies....

.

In the entrance, a philatelic counter plays the role of post office, with cancellations inspired by temporary exhibitions.

Sources and references

• Martin Hella (December 2006). "Du Musée postal de France au musée de La Poste » (From the Postal Museum of France to La Poste's Museum). L'Écho de la timbrologie
  L'Écho de la timbrologie
  L'Écho de la timbrologie is a French monthly magazine about philately and stamp collecting. First published in 1887, it is the French oldest surviving philatelic publication. Its subtitle is "La tribune des philatélistes" ....
  
  #1802, pages 38–42.

External links

• Official website.
• Société des amis du musée de La Poste (Society of La Poste's Museum's Friends).