Nashville, Tennessee Owney tag

Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. His owner was likely a postal clerk who let the dog walk him to work. Owney was attracted to the texture or scent of the mailbags and when his master moved away, Owney stayed with his new mail clerk friends. He soon began to follow mailbags, first onto mail wagons and then mail trains. Owney began to ride with the bags on Railway Mail Service (RMS) trains across the state . . . and then the country! The Railway Mail Service clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot.

Postal workers and others began to mark Owney’s travels by placing tokens, tags, and medals on his collar. These items included baggage check and hotel room key tokens, dog licenses, and numerous items given to the dog by a variety of individuals and organizations.

Owney received this shield-shaped metal tag on April 9, 1892, while visiting Nashville, Tennessee. The tag was imprinted by Southern Rubber Stamp Works of Nashville. While the tag is labeled Railway Mail Service and is shaped like a badge, it was not an actual RMS badge. Typical RMS badges can be viewed on this website in the Employees section under Postal Operations.

Markings:
RAILWAY / MAIL / SERVICE / APL 9.1892 / NASHVILLE TENN.

Museum ID: 0.052985.106