Incredible Old Photos Show How Hard Mail Delivery Really Is
Turns out, getting mail to everyone everywhere in the country is no small task.
The United States Postal Service is currently experiencing a national crisis, which really sums up much of its history. It was created in the 1770s with the intention that it would be a neutral carrier of all information, which at the time meant newspapers, regardless of their politics.
The post office moved up the ranks within the government between 1775 and 1892, culminating in being a cabinet-level department before becoming an independent agency in 1970. It is legally required to carry mail to every single citizen, which has led to some pretty unorthodox methods of delivery, and means that the stodgy old post office is one of the largest employers in the country.
On a normal day, their task of delivering mail is a massive logistical undertaking, and longstanding budget problems and competition from private carriers have threatened the efficacy of the post office. In recent weeks, questions have been raised about the readiness of the post office to handle an influx of mail-in ballots in time for the November election, as a result of decisions from the newest postmaster to cut costs.
Here, we take a look back at the golden age of the post office, when innovations in technology made delivery easier, and most people still depended on their postal carrier for news from the outside world.
The post office at the East Boston Airport in Boston on July 1, 1926. In addition to selling stamps, the airport had just opened its airmail service where local businesses could send and receive packages transported by plane.
Charles Lindbergh loads his first sack of airmail in April 1926.
An American mail carrier checking the weather from his window, 1955.
Mail carrier T.J. Oufnac delivers mail by Louisiana swamps around the Lake Verret area near Napoleonville, Louisiana, on July 14, 1948.
A mail carrier delivering a mail to a woman, Leslie County, Kentucky, 1961.
Horse-drawn American mail vans.
US Mail Team at Camp 88, Alaska Engineering Commission Railway, circa 1918.
New motorcycle carriers replace six horse-drawn vehicles, Norfolk, Virginia, April 26, 1914.
Four special delivery mail carriers for the US Postal Service try out new scooters, mid-1910s.
United States Post Office officials at Hazelhurst Field on Long Island with a sign on a vehicle announcing the new air mail schedule between New York and San Francisco, Garden City, New York, 1924.
Left, mail carrier Arthur LeBlanc from Berlin, New Hampshire, delivering post from his horse-drawn sled, 1950. Right, a woman receives a letter, 1940.
A large group of mail carriers leaving the General Post Office early in the morning to start their rounds in New York City at Christmas, 1955.
A post office department dealing with parcels too badly packed to be delivered normally, 1926.
Huge mounds of mail arrive in Denver, Dec. 25, 1952.
Unsorted mail at the General Post Office, New York City, 1914.
Two members of the Women's Army Corps identifying incorrectly addressed mail for soldiers, Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, Nov. 30, 1943.
Postal workers sort mail in a freight car, Minnesota.
A view of the first automated post office, 1961.
Self-service automatic post office that provides 24-hour service for buying stamps, postcards, and mailing packages, 1964.
A mail carrier stationed outside a post office in Washington, DC, collects tax returns from car drivers who are rushing to beat the midnight deadline, April 15, 1965.
Left: A post office in the Pacific Northwest, 1939. Right: A mail wagon advertises mailboxes, 1916.
A girl getting mail in Oklahoma, February 1940.
People queue in front of a giant mailbox booth installed by the US post office in several places in New York so that residents could quickly drop off their Christmas cards, Dec. 15, 1961.
A mail carrier works during a snowy winter, Hingham, Massachusetts, 1970.
UPDATE
Two images in this post have been updated to better reflect the time period.
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Kate Bubacz is the Photo Director for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Kate Bubacz at kate.bubacz@buzzfeed.com.
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