United States Postal Service - "Rain, hail, sleet or snow..."

Uniformed letter carriers pose with their satchels in Newark, New Jersey, in 1888. The carrier shown at center is likely Louis A. Sears. According to an 1893 article in The New York Times, Sears was the first letter carrier in Newark to use a bicycle to deliver the mail. African Americans delivered mail in cities by 1869, just six years after the start of free city delivery.

    ~collection of National Archives and Records Administration

I was poised to write a post about the USPS going the way of the Pony Express - with the current discussions in Congress about whether to cut back on postal services. Well I got sidetracked with my own research when of all places I came upon the Postal Service's own website that has the most marvelous history on all things postal. The photo galleries alone are worth the visit. USPS Photo Galleries link

I think more people need to know that this valuable information exists. May I suggest that next time the USPS does a little mailing to their Residential Customers that they include this information - and for the rest of you here you go, click away USPS - Our History

In 1775 Benjamen Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress but the first postage stamp was not issued until 1847. No, that doesn't mean you could mail for free - letters were taken to the post office and the clerk would collect the amount due and note it on the corner of the envelope. 

On April 3,1860 the Pony Express was begun, spurred by the threat of Civil War and the need to provide faster communication with the West. For all its fame it really was only around for nineteen months, ending operation on October 24, 1861. I would image though that my own great-grandfather received a letter or two on his California ranch that came via Pony Express.

The USPS gets a bit of a bad rap I think. If you look at its 236 year history I think you will find this it has been one of the most adaptive governmental agencies we've had. Imagine when it first began people were penning letters using a quill pen and today most material contained within the trusty mailing envelopes have no doubt been computer generated.

Admittedly now, for me, most of the mail I receive I would label junk. I don't want my brother to read that however, because his carefully handwritten letters he sends via USPS are most welcomed, even if I have to dig through grocery store ads to find his sweet letter. 

I doubt that the postal service will ever shut down completely, it will just continue to evolve to fit in with the times. There will always be someone somewhere that requires the service and as the USPS proclaims:

"The history of the United States Postal Service is rooted in a single, great principle: that every person in the United States – no matter who, no matter where – has the right to equal access to secure, efficient, and affordable mail service."