Post Office in Paradise: Mail and Postage Stamps of Nineteenth Century Hawaii

You are at a site dedicated to the study and sharing of information about the stamps and postal history of Hawaii in the years before it became a territory of the United States on June 14, 1900. “Stamps” include postage stamps, revenue stamps, foreign office stamps, private issued stamps, postal cards and postal stationery. This category includes studies of counterfeit stamps. “Postal history” is the study of stamps used on their original “covers” (envelopes or other mail pieces) to show the routes covers used to their destinations and the rates paid for the service. This category also includes the postmarks and service marks applied by post offices or by other people, such as forwarders or expresses, who handled mail.

Henry Whitney, Hawaii's first postmaster and the man who conceived and produced the famous Missionary stamps of Hawaii, showed Hawaii's place in the world on a map included in his 1890 Guide to Hawaii. The Hawaiian Island chain stretches across the top of the North Pacific along a nearly two thousand mile arc, but the eight inhabited islands depicted c.1890 in Barnes' Hawaiian Geography are the Hawaiian Islands we connect with their stamps and postal history.

This site is intended to operate in the nature of a study group. Use of the site for commercial purposes is inconsistent with the collaborative research purpose of this site. You are welcome to share information, questions, discoveries and perplexities. Please sign in the Guestbook to register your interest. Post Office in Paradise is unaffiliated with the United States Postal Service and is not sponsored by the USPS or the postal service of any other country.

If you are new to stamp collecting or if you are thinking about adding Hawaii to your existing collection, see the page Tips for Beginners. There you will find some information about how and where to get started collecting Hawaii.

For a list of some societies and clubs a collector of Hawaiian stamps and postal history should consider joining, please go to Societies and Clubs. If you need to have a stamp or cover examined to be sure it is genuine and as described, expert services to contact for a certificate are listed at Expert Services. For a general bibliography of important treatises and auction catalogues frequently referenced in this site, please go to General Bibliography.

Pages are being updated constantly as newer information becomes available. Before using any page you may have offloaded, be certain you have the latest version by comparing its date with the current update shown on the website page.
Post Office in Paradise thanks the several organizations and publications who have honored it with recognition. In addition to the Federation Internationale de Philatie and Stamps2.com awards displayed at the top of this page, other awards and honors can be seen on the Recognitions page. By clicking on the image, you can learn more about the award and the organization that conferred it. These recognitions are truly gratifying, but the feedback, support and encouragement of those who find Post Office in Paradise promotes their enjoyment of the hobby is why the site has been a joy to create and maintain.

Hawaii's postal history is rich and varied. To enter the domain, please go to the Site Map and select the topics of your choice.

This site last updated: 11 January 2025