As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm reading How the Post Office Created America. It's interesting, although it is not a page turner. I will attempt an abbreviated Cliff Notes of a book report.
Feel free to send me any corrections if I write something that is garbled or incorrect.
Prior to postal systems, only wealthy people could hire couriers to deliver messages/mail. Illiterate people did not need mail service - and there were plenty of illiterate people. As the colonies grew and realized that they needed to break free from England, they also realized that they needed a unified postal system. There were a few postal options within individual states, but nothing that was going to work long term and if the locals were going to start a revolution, it wouldn't make sense to send messages through postal services that might have connections to the British system. British postal workers would just open the mail and read it.
Ben Franklin ran the first official postal department. Because the states had, as individual entities, already established their own ideas on how governing should work, it was no surprise that it took four years (after the end of the war) for the 13 colonies to agree on how to balance the needs of the individual states with the needs of the united states and figure out the constitution. A federal postal system was one of the essentials for the new system.
The movers and shakers in the young country realized that there was a need for efficient transfer of information. People needed to know what was going on politically and the newspapers were the only source of information. People were more comfortable moving west if they knew they could depend on the post office to stay in touch with others and have the news arrive promptly.
Originally, the post office was supposed to generate enough income to operate on its own without funds from the government. They tried and almost succeeded but there were complications. Revenue from the remote areas was never going to be enough to cover expenses so they had to depend on the more densely populated areas to make up the difference. As always, city folks resented the country folks. The disputes are endless though out the book. Most of them are the same disputes we are currently hearing about.
Another problem, to get things rolling, the PO had to depend on contract workers which was complicated and opened the door to all kinds of shady dealings. Plus, the law did not prohibit independent mail services which allowed for some stiff competition. And then there was the layering of politics. Loyal postal workers would lose their jobs when a different party took office and chose to give jobs to their people. Layers upon layers of challenges. There were no ATM machines so people had to mail money which necessitated a whole branch of the postal service to deal with the criminals.
While the banking industry was growing, people did not always trust banks and the ATM machine was a long way off - so the postal money order system became a vital part of the organization. There were all kinds of issues that led to unions. Montgomery Wards and Sears & Roebuck were instrumental in getting the Parcel Post off the ground - as there were no shopping centers or malls until halfway into the 20th century. It's ironic that we are returning to mail-order as the primary way to shop.
The chapter about the advent of airplanes was very interesting. In some ways, the perpetual interest in speedy service contributed to all kinds of wild adventures establishing airplanes as an integral part of the mail system. Believe it or not -- people were not wildly excited about personal air travel in the beginning. The number of planes that crashed was alarming.
The idea of commemorative stamps was an immediate success. People loved them and started collecting them and the post office realized the added value of people buying stamps that would never be used. Here is an early commemorative from 1898. If you wanted to buy one today - I saw this one on Etsy for $90.
I really enjoyed the book.
The following passage jumped out at me. I have some envelopes in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Postal Museum (assuming they never throw anything out). The words are a bit mushy. But, I think we've all had a warm fuzzy through the mail at one time or another.
Messenger of Sympathy and Love
Servant of Parted Friends
Consoler of the Lonely
Bond of the Scattered Family
Enlarger of the Common Life
Carrier of News and Knowledge
Instrument of Trade and Industry
Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance
of Peace and Goodwill
Among Men and Nations
“The Letter” by Charles William Eliot,
as revised by President Woodrow Wilson. Inscription from the façade of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, formerly the city’s main post office in the companion building to union station
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I deeply regret that I have not kept up on all the opportunities to be active in current USPS issues.
I have a ton of information to share - but have been consumed with house stuff. Hopefully, when I get to my 3 week sabbatical in Chicago, I will be able to devote some serious time to USPS activities.
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