Owney (dog)

Owney (ca. 1887 – June 11, 1897) was a terrier mix adopted in the United States as a postal mascot by the Albany, New York, post office about 1888. The Albany mail professionals recommended the dog to their Railway Mail Service colleagues, and he became a nationwide mascot for nine years (1888–1897). He traveled over 140,000 miles throughout the 48 contiguous United States and around the world as a mascot of the Railway Post Office and the United States Postal Service. He was the subject of commemorative activities, including a 2011 U.S. postage stamp.

Owney belonged to a clerk at the Albany post office who would often come with him to work. Owney seemed to love the smell of the mail bags and would often sleep on them. The clerk quit the Albany post office but knew that Owney was happier there with the mail bags.

Owney continued to sleep on the bags and would ride on trains wherever they were taken. He was considered to be good luck by postal railway clerks, since no train he rode on was ever in a wreck. He was a welcome addition in any railway post office; he was a faithful guardian of railway mail and the bags holding it, and would not allow anyone other than mail clerks to touch the bags.

This was an important duty and Owney was well-situated for it, as the Albany train station was a key division point on the New York Central railroad system, one of the two largest railroads in the U.S. at that time. Mail trains from Albany rolled eastward to Boston, south to New York City, and westward to Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, and points further west. As a contemporary book recounted: "The terrier 'Owney' travels from one end of the country to the other in the postal cars, tagged through, petted, talked to, looked out for, as a brother, almost. But sometimes, no matter what the attention, he suddenly departs for the south, the east, or the west, and is not seen again for months." In 1893 he was feared dead after having disappeared, but it turned out he was involved in an accident in Canada.

As Owney's trips grew longer, the postal clerks at Albany became concerned for his safety. To ensure that he could be returned if he became lost, they bought him a dog collar with a metal tag that read: "Owney, Post Office, Albany, New York". Other post offices would attach tags of their own to his collar as he visited them. The collar and tags made the mixed-breed terrier the unofficial mascot of the U.S. Railway Mail Service, and as shown by the 2011 postage stamp issued in his honor, his identifications became an essential element of his identity.

Owney received tags everywhere he went, and as he moved they jingled like sleigh bells. As the tags accumulated, he was given a jacket to hold them so that their weight would not injure his neck or shoulders. Once the tags became too heavy for Owney to carry even with the help of the jacket, clerks adding tags would remove others and forward them to Albany or Washington D.C. for safekeeping. One source suggests that 1,017 medals and tokens were bestowed upon the mascot, but the exact number is unknown. Some of these tags did not survive; the National Postal Museum currently has 372 Owney tags in its collections. Other Owney tokens, trinkets, and medals are also in the NPM collection and are displayed there.

One of Owney's more famous trips was to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city postmaster kept him in a kennel, incurring a total expense of $2.50 for his care and feeding, and sent a request to Albany for reimbursement. Once the money had been collected, Owney was sent home.

The Universal Postal Union was created by treaty in 1874 to standardize the shipping and handling of international mail; adherence to this pact by an increasing number of countries around what was then called the "civilized world" made it possible to extend Owney's horizons a bit. In 1895, the terrier enjoyed an around-the-world trip, riding with mail bags aboard trains and steamships. Starting from Tacoma, Washington, on August 19, he traveled for four months throughout Asia and across Europe, before returning to New York City on December 23 and from thence to Albany. Upon his return during Christmas week, the Los Angeles Times reported that he visited Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Another report claimed the Emperor of Japan awarded the dog two passports and several medals bearing the Japanese coat of arms. Owney's triumphant return to American shores was covered by newspapers nationwide. Owney became world famous after the trip, even though he broke no speed records in doing it.