ON 8th December 1958 in the town of Ellenton, Florida, a local post known as Gamble Mansion was first put into operation. The service was originated and run by one of our members, Mr. John Millington. The post was established to speed the mails out of Ellenton. At the time the service was inaugurated there was only one collection out of Ellenton, and that was at 5 p.m., which meant that the mails were not handled or dispatched on their way until the late evening or the following morning from Bradenton. In order to avoid this delay, Mr. Millington operated a special service for the carrying of mail from Ellenton to Bradenton to catch the 1 p.m. mail train or plane.

The fee for each letter carried on this local service was 10 cents and labels were printed in singles, imperforate, by the Bradenton Herald Printers. Of the first issue 1,000 copies were ordered, and on the first day of issue 375 first day covers were serviced. The label is orange in color with purple lettering on white-gummed paper, rectangular format. All covers that the author has seen have the local tied to the cover by the postmark of Ellenton, Fla., and the organizer used no special postmark.

Sometime in early 1961 the United States Post Office started a 9 a.m. collection in Ellenton, which resulted in the closing of the Gamble Mansion Local Post. The stamps were designed by Mr. Billington and no proofs or color trials were made of this issue.

Article Donated by Ralph Phillips