The Canadian Postal Museum was a museum once housed within the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. It was described by the Smithsonian Museum as being one of the five largest postal museums in the world, ranking second in annual attendance. The museum was not primarily about postage stamps, although it has a first-class collection that numbered in the tens of thousands. Rather, it presented the broader story of Canada’s postal heritage, including the social and economic importance of postal communications throughout the country’s history. It also explored international themes relating to postal communications.CollectionsThe museum’s collections included a writing desk that belonged to Sandford Fleming, designer of Canada’s first postage stamp; Canadian and foreign letter boxes and postal uniforms; mail bags and rural mail boxes; post office signs and sorting equipment. Among the museum highlights was Reflections of Canada: the National Stamp Collection, which included examples of every postage stamp ever issued in Canada. In addition to its public exhibitions, the museum had a mandate to collect, preserve and interpret material objects relating to Canada’s postal heritage.
