When first day of Issue stamps are put in circulation, there is usually a press event that is attached to the release. This often happens in the post office that is tied by location to whatever the stamp’s image is. Releasing stamps commemorating human flight, for instance, frequently happened in and around Kittyhawk, NC.

Additionally, pre-printed covers are also usually included with first day of issue stamps. These can be purchased by collectors. They often have a cachet that describes the stamp, event, object or person it is commemorating and why that event, object or person has significance.

The price of a stamp was $0.03 in 1948 which would be around 52 cents in todays price.  

Fun fact: January 1, 1948 was the 1st Thursday of that year. It was also the 1st day and 1st month of 1948 in the Georgian calendar. The next time you can reuse 1948 calendar will be in 2032.