Bouton's City Dispatch Post, New York, N.Y., 2¢ Black on Gray Blue, Dots in Corners (18L2), large to full margins, tied by red "PAID/BOUTON" two-line handstamp, red "New-York 5cts. 24 May" (1848) integral-rate circular datestamp on folded letter to York, Pennsylvania, May 27 answer docketing

Very Fine. A beautiful example of Bouton's City Dispatch Post stamp tied on an attractive cover.

The only United States stamps to depict a presidential candidate are the "Rough and Ready" designs issued by Bouton's City Dispatch Post and its successor firm, Swarts City Dispatch Post, which operated local mail services in New York City. The design is a profile portrait of Zachary Taylor, the Whig Party candidate in the 1848 election, with the campaign slogan "Rough and Ready." The earliest examples of the stamps are dated shortly before Taylor's nomination on June 7, 1848.

Bouton created the first design--one with leaf ornaments in the corners (Scott 18L1) and the other with dots in the corners (18L2). When Bouton sold out to Aaron Swarts in January 1849, Swarts continued to use Bouton's stamps until he could have his own printed. For a brief period, the name "Swarts" was written in pen across some of the Bouton stamps used under Swarts's ownership (136L13). By June 1849, after Taylor took office, Swarts was selling his own "Rough and Ready" stamps, modified by changing the name and deleting the "2 Cents" denomination, giving him flexibility to charge a different rate if necessary. Over the life of the "Rough and Ready" issues, Taylor was a presidential candidate, president-elect, sitting president, and finally a deceased president.

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