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A Dog's Life

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Our story of a dog named Owney begins on a cold winter night in 1887, in Albany, New York.

"The light was on and the door was open, and he walked in, and it was warm, and the mail 
bags were soft, and he settled down for a nice rest and was found in the morning, and 
allowed to stay and live in the post office in Albany for 9 years."
RUNS :16

Dirk Wales has written a children's book about Owney, called "A Lucky Dog." It was the era 
of the Railway Mail Service, where mail not only traveled by train, but was sorted ON the 
train. One day Owney leaped aboard a mail car for the round-trip to New York City, about
140 miles.

"After that, he went anywhere the mail went -- by himself."
RUNS :04

It's documented that Owney went as far west as Cloverdale in Northern California. And it 
wasn't a simple trip, says Wales.

"From Chicago on the Burlington to Council Bluffs in Omaha and then to the Southern 
Pacific to Ogden, and then the Union Pacific to Oakland, and then across the ferry..."
RUNS :12

...and all of this was by himself. Wales wants to make it clear: This is not fiction.


"We're talking about a real dog, who lived a real life. / This is the real thing, and 
the fact that he could do this 110 years ago, I think is a miracle."
RUNS :05/:10

Owney's legend lives on...

"When he died, they loved him so much and so well in Albany, that they had a taxidermist 
stuff him."
RUNS :07

...and you can see him today at the National Postal Museum in Washington. You can read 
about him in "A Lucky Dog," by Dirk Wales.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
and a link to the book on Amazon-dot-com, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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Download this report as an MP3 sound file.

For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations November 28-29, 2009:

A Dog's Life

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

One day in the winter of 1887, a dog wandered into the Albany, New York, post office, and 
made himself at home. He was adopted by the postal workers. It was the era of the Railway 
Mail Service, where mail not only traveled by train, but was sorted ON the train. One day 
Owney leaped aboard a mail car for the round-trip to New York City, 140 miles away.

"After that, he went anywhere the mail went -- by himself."
RUNS :04

Dirk Wales has written a children's book about Owney, called "A Lucky Dog."


"The furthest that he got west was Cloverdale, California."
RUNS :03

...north of San Francisco. To do that, he changed trains and railroads, and took ferries. 
And all of this travel was by himself. 

"We're talking about a real dog, who lived a real life."
RUNS :05/:10

After he died, Owney was stuffed and mounted. You can see him today at the National Postal 
Museum in Washington. You can read about him in "A Lucky Dog," by Dirk Wales.

And that's stamp collecting this week. I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News.

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