Major advances in the early- to mid-20th Century Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

The 20th Century in the United States was marked by rapid change and progress, and the realm of passport security and policy was no exception. Let’s delve into this era in U.S. passport history.

In the early 20th century, the United States State Department embarked on a series of progressive passport policies.

In 1925, a significant development occurred as married women were given the choice to include their maiden name followed by the phrase “wife of” on their passport. Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

By 1926, a transformation in passport design took place with the introduction of a hard-covered booklet-type passport. These booklets were printed on blue-tinted safety paper with ink sensitive to water and light. This innovation led to the printing of separate booklets for each agency, insular possession, and the Foreign Service.

During the same year, the League of Nations organized its second passport conference, aiming to establish a standardized passport format and a $2 visa fee.

Modern Booklet-Form Passport

In that very year, 1926, the State Department issued its first modern booklet-form passport, and this issuance was accompanied by the Act of July 3, 1926, which repealed all previous passport laws. Furthermore, the Division of Passport Control underwent a name change, becoming the Passport Division. Under this new arrangement, the Secretary of State was authorized to designate diplomatic and consular officials to issue passports.

To enhance passport security, the State Department started employing a machine to perforate a legend across the lower part of the photograph once it had been attached to the passport. Moreover, to build on these improvements, they also developed an electrically operated seal press and legend machine tailored specifically for passport usage. Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

As the 1930s arrived, notable changes continued in passport policies. The fee for a passport was reduced from $9 to $5, and passports could be renewed for periods of two years, with a final expiration date not exceeding six years from the original issue date.

In 1932, a new passport design was introduced to combat fraud. Knots of the thread binding the passport were placed inside the cover to prevent them from being untied, and the inside cover sheet was printed on safety paper and directly affixed to the cloth cover.

The mid-20th Century witnessed further evolution of the U.S. Passport, its security features, and the expansion of passport offices and policies.

In 1956, the 14 categories of passports in use were consolidated into five categories, and traditional glue pots and brushes were replaced by a more efficient gluing machine. Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

Special Electric Typewriter

A machine was introduced to mechanically record all financial transactions related to passport applications. Additionally, the first specially designed electric typewriter was introduced to expedite the processing of descriptive information in the passport document.

In 1955, the passport application underwent revision, transitioning from a legal-sized form to a letter-sized 4-page form.

By 1957, the routine mailing of passports by registered mail was discontinued, resulting in significant cost savings in postage.

In 1958, the Passport Office became the first U.S. government office to utilize color photographs for identification purposes. Tape-driven automatic passport writing machines were installed to enhance the speed of processing passport documents and reduce errors.

Extended Validity Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

Starting in 1959, passports included a section requesting the name and address of a person to be notified in case of an emergency. In the same year, the initial validity of the passport was extended from two to three years.

In 1961, a new series of passports was introduced, featuring 16 major physical improvements. These included covers made of Lexide to withstand wear and tear and resist stains. The covers were color-coded to indicate three categories: blue for regular, maroon for official, and black for diplomatic. Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6

The organization adopted a new numbering system, perforating the passport number through the front cover and the first 10 pages as a security measure. They positioned the descriptive data page and photograph pages face-to-face to ease identification by immigration officials without requiring them to turn pages.

Additionally, the “occupation” block was removed, as it was deemed irrelevant to the citizenship and identity of the passport holder.

I will wrap up this series by recounting the creation of a new perforated passport numbering system, a new validity period, a new message from the Secretary of State and—last but not least—the launch of the U.S. Next Generation Passport.

Sources/References: Origins of the United States Passport: Part 6
– “The American Passport – Its History 1898, Washington Government Printing Office”
– “The United States passport: past, present, future 1976 –U.S. Dept. of State – Passport Office”
– “The Passport In America – The history of a document, Craig Robertson, Oxford University Press Inc., 2010”
– “U.S. Diplomacy & Passport History – A guideline for passport collectors by Tom Topol”

Passport-collector.com, founded in 2010 by passport historian Tom Topol, is a leading resource on passport history. The site features over 1,000 researched articles on the origins, evolution, and cultural significance of passports. It serves collectors, historians, and anyone interested in how travel documents reflect national identity and global events. Passport history, passport collector, collecting passports, passport fees, vintage passport collector, collectible documents, passport collection, diplomatic passport, passport office, celebrity passports, travel document, vintage passports for sale, old passports for sale, Reisepass, passport fees, most expensive passport in the world, passport colors, passport prices around the world, passport cost by country, cost of passports around the world, passport fees by country, Third Reich passport