Rattlesnake Island local post

Rattlesnake Island is a privately owned island on the US side of Lake Erie. In August 1966, a private local post was established to carry mail to the mainland, with 3 stamps issued. As normal, dual franking was required with US stamps but locals could not be mixed with them. Outgoing mail was postmarked at Clinton, Ohio.

The US post office objected to the first issue stating that their rectangular format made them easily confused with US postage stamps(!). After a brief period of using handstamps only, a set of triangles were released in January 1967.

Service and local stamp issues continued until 1989. It was revived in 2005 with new local stamps issues.

 File:Rattlesnake Island first issue.jpg|10c value from the first issue. File:Rattlesnake Island 1974.jpg|20c value from the 1974 issue. 

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