The
Jordan’s Bicycle Express was the project by the students of the Jordan Junior High School in Palo Alto, California.
It was organized by Dr. Judah Landes clinical psychologist, who teaches a course entitled "The Western Cover Project”.
The Jordan Bicycle Express (JBE) was designed to help the students understand early California history through its mail and
independent express activities.
There were 600 stamps printed on gummed
paper and issued in Sheets of two. In addition, 200 legal and 200 letter size envelopes were printed bearing the Express
cachet. Dr. Landes decided test the reaction of the USPS to the use of the JBE stamps by having members of a medical
group post covers along their travels in Europe. A total of 32 covers were nested and delivered from England, Switzerland,
France, Hungary, Greece and Germany. The postmaster of Mountain View, south of Palo Alto (California), saw one of the covers.
He checked with postal authorities in San Francisco and received a reply that the stamps and cancellation could violate
postal regulations and "should not be accepted" for mailing. The Mountain View postmaster quickly notified the Palo Alto postmaster.
Dr. Landes was contacted and requested not to post any more envelopes bearing the JBE markings.
The official first day was set for April
1, 1975 (appropriately called April Fool's Day). A team of seven students picked up approximately 100 envelopes addressed
to fellow classmates and containing a. copy of the Vertical Team Newsletter. The envelopes were all delivered that day. An
additional 50 first day covers were posted via the USPS mails and bear a San Francisco postmark. Again, Dr, Landes was contacted,
this time by the Mountain View postmaster himself. He was threatened with a cease and desist order if he continued to violate
the various postal regulations, Dr. Landes decided not to press the issue and agreed not to use the stamps in the mails ...for
the time being!
Plans
call for 25 special covers to be prepared and cancelled at WESTPEX. These covers will not actually enter the mails.
EDITORS NOTE: Reprinted
from the May 1975 issue of the Bulletin, original newsletter of the Local Post Society.
