This one might not, scratch that, probably will not excite anyone as much as it did me. But I’ll try to explain. This DPW (Department of Public Works) stamp is on the east side of Bingham Street between Eureka and Prospect. It’s a little worn, but that is definitely 1927.

Why does that matter? It’s not even close to the earliest DPW stamp I’ve found, so that’s not it. No, it matters because I previously had not seen this style of stamp used with a date this early. Stamps I had collected from 1918 through the early 1940s had used a different style. I already knew there was some overlap, in that the earliest style (call it “Style A”, with a larger typeface reading “DEPARTMENT OF / PUBLIC WORKS”) can be found on stamps as late as 1942, and the style I think of as the 1940s-50s style (call it “Style B.,” with a smaller typeface reading “LANSING D.P.W.”) had previously turned up on stamps as early as 1936. This stamp pushes the earliest date for Style B backward almost another decade. As Popeye would say: “I kin not savvy.”

Looking north on Bingham. The stamp is on the nearest full slab. The nearest partial slab has a sneak preview of a Minnis & Ewer stamp that is definitely going to show up here at some point. It’s not an accident that I got the house with the nice holiday lights in this shot too.

The many species and subspecies of DPW stamps deserve a full taxonomy. Unfortunately I don’t have the time for that just now, but I am planning on doing it soon.