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Home , Airmail, Ebenezer Hazard, Express mail, General Post Office, George Shultz, Horatio King

The Postal Service An American History 1775 – 2006 he history of the United States Postal Service is an ongoing story of enormous depth and breadth, rooted in a single, great principle: that every Tperson in the United States — no matter who, no matter where — has the right to equal access to secure, efficient, and affordable service. For more than 231 years, the Postal Service has delivered on that promise, transforming itself to better serve its customers. The United States Postal Service: An American History tells this story and introduces you to people, events, and developments affecting postal and national history.

For centuries, our universal mail system has strengthened the bonds of friendship, family, and community. Our system has encouraged civil discourse, disseminated information, and bolstered the national economy — both as the hub of a vital and as a trusted of the nation’s and world’s business.

The Postal Service has seized upon and immediately investigated new technology to see if it would improve service — mail distribution cases in the 18th century; steamboats, , and automobiles in the 19th century; and planes, sorting machines, and automation in the 20th century. Today, computerized equipment helps sort and distribute hundreds of millions of pieces of mail each day.

We have worked with customers to better understand and serve their changing needs and to keep them informed of how best to utilize our services. We want to provide quick, easy, and convenient service. This history gives you a look into what that has entailed over the years.

Above all, the history of the United States Postal Service is about the men and women whose daily efforts have provided our nation with the finest, most efficient mail service in the world. United States postal workers take pride in processing, transporting, and delivering the mail to the people of our great country.

I hope you will enjoy reading this history of the United States Postal Service. It is a story that we continue to write every day — together.

Sincerely,

John E. Potter General Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 3 Transformation ...... 56 Measuring Improvement 56 Colonial Times ...... 4 Transformation Plan 57 Partnering with Customers and Competitors 57 The Postal Service Begins ...... 6 President’s Commission on the Postal Service 58 Early Postal Legislation 6 Budget Impacts of 2003 Legislation: The Constitution and the 7 Escrow Fund and Service Benefits 58 , Postmaster of 7 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act , First 8 of 2006 59 , Postmaster 9 Dealing with the Unimaginable 59 Other Famous Postal Workers 9 Medal of Freedom 59 Everyday Heroism 60 The Postal Role in U S. . Development . . 10 Delivering Despite Disaster 60 Alexis de Tocqueville 11 Protecting the Mail ...... 62 Moving the Mail ...... 12 Extending Mail Service 62 Steamboats 12 Cleaning the Mailstream 63 The 13 The De Autremont Holdup, 1923 64 The Confederate Post Office Department 14 Pursuing Rogues and Robbers 64 Mail by Rail 15 Protecting the Innocent 65 , Mascot of the 17 Star Routes 18 The Office of Inspector General . . . . 66 Discovering Savings 67 Reaching Out to Everyone ...... 20 Free 20 General ...... 68 City Delivery Pioneer 21 (RFD) 22 Statistics: Pieces & Post Offices . . . . .70 Postmasters in the Mid-19th Century 23 U.S. Postage Stamps 26 Significant Years in U S. . ...... 72 The 20th Century ...... 28 28 Delivery in : A Visual Timeline . . .74 29 29 How A Letter Travels ...... 76 New York to 31 Airmail Pilot Bill Hopson 32 Research Sources ...... 78 ZIP Code 33 New Deal Art: Eager and Alive 34 Bibliography ...... 80 Post Office Names 36 Post Office Buildings: All Shapes and Sizes 37 Notes ...... 82

Postal Reorganization ...... 38 Postal Insignia ...... 84 Reform Proposal 38 Postal Reorganization Act 39

United States Postal Service ...... 40 Finances and Rates 40 Personnel 40 Labor-Management Relations 40 Transportation 40 Pay 41 Postal Mechanization and Early Automation 41 Rates for Domestic Letters 41 ZIP+4 Code 43 The Automation Age 44 Sorting Letters Better 44 Processing Flats 47 Processing Parcels 49 Automating Mail Handling and Acceptance 49 Giving Customers Greater Access 50 Intelligent Mail 50 The Postal Service Board of Governors 52 Governors of the Postal Service 53 Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 54

An American History 1775–2006  n July 26, 1775, members of the Second Continental OCongress, meeting in , agreed

That a postmaster General be appointed for the United Colonies, who shall hold his office at Philada, and shall be allowed a salary of 1000 dollars per an: for himself, and 340 dollars per an: for a secretary and Comptroller, with power to appoint such, and so many deputies as to him may seem proper and necessary. That a line of posts be appointed under the direction of the Postmaster general, from Falmouth in New to Savannah in , with as many cross posts as he shall think fit.1

This simple statement signaled the birth of the Post Office Department, the predecessor of the United States Postal Service and the second oldest federal department or agency of the United States of America.

An American History 1775–2006  Colonial Times

n early colonial times, correspon- Central postal organization came dents depended on friends, to the colonies only after 1692, when Imerchants, and Native Thomas Neale received a 21-year grant to carry among the colonies. from the British Crown, whose settle- However, most correspondence ran ments dominated the Atlantic seaboard, between the colonists and England, for a North American postal system.2 the , or — their Neale never visited America. Instead, he mother countries. It was largely to appointed Governor Andrew Hamilton handle this mail that, in 1639, the first of New as his deputy postmaster official notice of mail service in the general. Neale’s franchise cost him only colonies appeared. The General Court six shillings and eight pence a year but of designated Richard was no bargain. He died heavily in Fairbanks’ tavern in as the offi- debt in 1699 after assigning his interests cial repository of mail brought from or in America to Andrew Hamilton and sent overseas, in line with the European another Englishman, Robert West. practice of using coffee houses and tav- In 1707, the British erns as mail stations. bought the rights to the North American Local authorities operated post routes postal system from West and Andrew within the colonies. Then, in 1673, Hamilton’s widow. The government Governor Francis Lovelace of New York then appointed Hamilton’s son John as set up a monthly post between New York deputy postmaster general of America. and Boston. The service was short-lived, He served until 1721, when he was suc- but the post rider’s trail became known ceeded by John Lloyd of Charleston, as the Old Boston Post Road, part of . today’s U.S. Route 1. In 1730, Alexander Spotswood, a Governor William Penn established former lieutenant governor of , ’s first Post Office in 1683. became deputy postmaster general of In the South, private messengers, usually America. The appointment of Benjamin slaves, connected the huge plantations; a Franklin as postmaster of Philadelphia in hogshead (a barrel 43 inches high and 26 1737 may have been Spotswood’s most inches in diameter) of tobacco was the notable achievement. Franklin, only 31 penalty for failing to relay mail to the years old at the time, was a successful next plantation. As plantations expanded printer, publisher, and civic leader. He inland from port , so did the would later become one of the most communications network. popular men of his age.

18th Century Tavern In colonial times, overseas mail often was brought to taverns and coffee houses.

 The United States Postal Service Two other Virginians succeeded cause of the colonies. Shortly after, Spotswood: Head Lynch in 1739 and William Goddard, a printer, Elliot Benger in 1743. When Benger publisher, and former postmaster, set up died in 1753, Benjamin Franklin the Constitutional Post for intercolonial and William Hunter, postmaster of mail service. Colonies funded it by sub- Williamsburg, Virginia, were appointed scription, and net revenues were to be by the Crown as joint postmasters gen- used to improve mail service rather than eral for the colonies. Hunter died in to be paid back to the subscribers. By 1761, and John Foxcroft of New York 1775, when the succeeded him, serving until the out- met at Philadelphia, Goddard’s post was break of the Revolutionary War. flourishing, and 30 Post Offices operated During his time as joint postmaster between Williamsburg and Portsmouth, general for the Crown, Franklin made . important and lasting improvements The Constitutional Post required in the colonial posts. He began to each postmaster to hire only reputable reorganize the service, setting out on . Each post rider had to swear a long tour to inspect Post Offices in to secure his mail under lock and key. the North and as far south as Virginia. As for the Crown’s service, Goddard New surveys were made, milestones warned: were placed on principal roads, and new and shorter routes were laid out. Letters are liable to be stopped & opened Benjamin Franklin For the first time, post riders carried by ministerial mandates, & their Contents by Charles Willson Peale, 1787 mail at night to speed service between construed into treasonable Conspiracies; and The last known portrait of Franklin. Philadelphia and New York. News Papers, those necessary and important Thanks in large part to Franklin’s vehicles, especially in Times of public Danger, efforts, the colonial posts in North may be rendered of little avail for want of America registered their first profit in Circulation ...3 1760. When Franklin left office, post roads operated from to The Constitutional Post afforded and from New York to . Mail security to colonial messages and pro- between the colonies and the mother vided a communication line that played country operated on a regular schedule, a vital role in bringing about American with posted times. independence. ■ The Crown dismissed Franklin in 1774 for actions sympathetic to the

18th Century Post Route Map A version of this map appeared in Herman Moll’s Atlas Minor, published in in 1729. The map’s legend, “An account of ye Post of ye Continent of Nth America,” describes weekly mail service to and from the 13 Post Offices, including “the 3 Great Offices … Boston, New York & Philadelphia.”

An American History 1775–2006  The Postal Service Begins

hree weeks after the battles of ing through the same as may be requisite to Lexington and Concord, the defray the expenses of the said office … TSecond Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May 1775 to Postmaster General Ebenezer plan for the defense of the colonies Hazard, serving from 1782 to 1789, against British aggression and “to created new east-west post routes as the take into consideration the state of population expanded westward, includ- America.”4 The conveyance of let- ing a route to serve the frontier of ters and intelligence was essential to . Although he devoted most the cause of liberty. A committee, of his energies to developing inland ser- chaired by Benjamin Franklin and vice, Hazard also reestablished monthly including Samuel Adams, Richard mail service to , which the war Henry Lee, Philip Livingston, had disrupted. Thomas Lynch, and Thomas Willing, Authorized by Congress in 1785 was named to consider the creation to contract with stagecoach companies of a postal system. to carry mail on heavily traveled routes, The committee reported back Hazard established a regular mail route to Congress on July 25, 1775. The via stagecoach between Boston and Continental Congress agreed to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire. President committee’s recommendations on the George criticized Hazard following day, creating the position when he substituted riders on horseback of Postmaster General, and naming on some routes to improve service and Franklin to it. , Franklin’s reduce costs. Washington supported the son-in-law, was named comptroller, use of postal allocations for subsidiary and William Goddard was appointed purposes and looked at coaches as giv- surveyor. ing “a facility to the means of traveling Under Franklin and his immediate for strangers … a circumstance highly successors, the postal system mainly car- beneficial to any country.”5 ried communications between Congress During Hazard’s tenure the entire and the armies. Postmasters and post postal headquarters staff consisted of riders were exempt from military duties himself, a secretary/comptroller, an so service would not be interrupted. inspector of dead letters, three surveyors, Benjamin Franklin served as and 26 post riders. He wrote a friend Postmaster General until November about his job’s demands: 7, 1776. He was in office when the Declaration of Independence created … I have not had time for proper relax- the United States in July 1776, making ation, and, in three years past, have not Franklin the first Postmaster General been to the distance of ten miles from this of the United States. America’s present city. I once hired a clerk, but found my sal- Postal Service descends from the system ary was not equal to that expence in addi- Franklin placed in operation. tion to the support of my family, and was obliged to dismiss him.6 Early Postal Legislation In 1781, Congress ratified the Articles At Hazard’s suggestion, Congress of Confederation. Article IX addressed passed the Ordinance of October 18, postal issues: 1782, revising and codifying postal laws and regulations. The ordinance gave The United States in Congress assembled the federal government a monopoly on shall also have the sole and exclusive right mail, restricted censorship to times of and power of … establishing or regulat- war or when specifically ordered by the ing post offices from one State to another, Postmaster General or Congress, and throughout all the United States, and allowed post riders to carry exacting such postage on the papers pass- at moderate rates.

 The United States Postal Service The Constitution and the Post Office In June 1788, the ninth state rati- fied the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” in Article I, Section 8. A year later, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), continued the Post Office and made the Postmaster General subject to the direction of the President. Four days later, President Washington appointed as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. A population of almost four million was postal officials from opening letters. Stagecoaches served by 75 Post Offices and about Later legislation enlarged the duties Beginning in 1785, the Continental 2,400 miles of post roads. of the Post Office, strengthened and Congress encouraged the use of The Post Office received two one- unified its organization, and provided stagecoaches to transport mail year extensions by the Acts of August 4, rules for its development. The Act of between Post Offices to subsidize 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and March 3, 1791 May 8, 1794 (1 Stat. 354), continued the growth of stagecoach lines. (1 Stat. 218). The Act of February the Post Office indefinitely. Although more costly and sometimes 20, 1792 (1 Stat. 232), continued the The Post Office moved from less suitable for mail transport than Post Office for another two years and Philadelphia in 1800 when Washington, a rider on horseback, stagecoaches formally admitted newspapers to the D.C., became the seat of government. were favored when awarding mail , gave Congress the power to Two horse-drawn wagons carried all transportation contracts until 1845. establish post routes, and prohibited postal records, furniture, and supplies. ■

Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster of New York

Ebenezer Hazard was postmas- I shall only observe, that the of these I have followed him; and I ter of New York from October 5, word ‘incidents’ used in our quar- am sorry I have reason to say, that 1775, until about January 1777, terly accounts … certainly can mean so little attention has been paid when he was appointed surveyor nothing more than those incidents to me as a gentleman, or respect of the (national) Post Office. which are usual in time of peace; shown to the Congress’s commis- On November 14, 1776, such as office rent, firewood, sion with which I am honoured, that Postmaster Hazard peti- sealing-wax, etc., and can- I have been obliged to follow him on tioned the Continental not justly be construed to foot. I do not mean even to hint a Congress for a salary include the extraordinary reflection upon the General, whom increase, noting his expenses occasioned by I esteem and respect. Furnishing previous year’s salary the present war, which me with a horse did not belong to was “by no means a could not have been his department; but those whose compensation for his foreseen at the time of business it was have not treated services” due to the the institution of a Post me genteelly. However, lest it extraordinary costs Office by Congress. should be said that I was unfaith- associated with the … The necessity of ful in my office, and to convince his war.7 Hazard hoped that keeping the office near Excellency of my readiness to oblige his friend, the Reverend Head-Quarters arose from him, and serve the publick, I submit- John Witherspoon, a member the importance of the General’s ted to this indignity, and the fatigue of the Continental Congress, would despatches, and his being near the consequent upon it, although it was intercede on his behalf, and wrote centre of the Army, who are almost not my business, as a Postmaster, to Witherspoon of the financial and the only persons for whom letters to follow the Army like a sutler.8 physical challenges he faced. The now come per post. The General general Hazard refers to is George has doubtless informed Congress A sutler was a peddler who fol- Washington. of his different removals. In each lowed an army and sold to it.

An American History 1775–2006  Benjamin Franklin, Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin veying post roads and Post Offices Franklin left school at age 10 to from Virginia to . First Postmaster work in his father’s candle shop.9 In 1764, Franklin returned to General In 1718, Franklin apprenticed to London, where he represented the his brother James, a printer and interests of several colonial govern- founder of Boston’s New England ments. In 1774, judged too sympa- Courant. Franklin read voraciously, thetic to the colonies, he was dis- contributed anonymous articles to missed as joint postmaster general. his brother’s newspaper, and man- aged the paper while his brother was First Postmaster General under imprisoned for a political offense. At the Continental Congress 17, Franklin ran away and ended up Back on American soil in 1775, in Philadelphia, where he found work Franklin served as a member of the as a printer. Franklin started his own Second Continental Congress, which print shop by 1728 and purchased appointed him Postmaster General The Pennsylvania Gazette. His wildly on July 26 of that year. With an successful Poor Richard’s Almanack annual salary of $1,000 and $340 for secured his fortune. a secretary and comptroller, Franklin was responsible for all Post Offices Postal Career Begins from Massachusetts to Georgia and Franklin was appointed postmaster had authority to hire postmasters as of Philadelphia by the British Crown necessary. Post in 1737. Newspaper publishers often served as postmasters, which Founding Father of a New Nation helped them to gather and distribute In 1776, Franklin worked with the com- news. Postmasters decided which mittee that created the Declaration newspapers could travel free in the of Independence, then left for mail — or in the mail at all. to secure French support for the war Postmaster General Elliott Benger with England. The treaty of alliance he added to Franklin’s duties by mak- negotiated in 1778 was vital to the suc- ing him comptroller, with financial cess of the American Revolution. Later, oversight for nearby Post Offices. Franklin helped negotiate the peace Franklin lobbied the British to suc- treaty with Great Britain. ceed Benger when his health failed Franklin returned to Philadelphia in and, with Virginia’s William Hunter, 1785. He attended the Constitutional was named joint postmaster general Convention in 1787 and lived to see for the Crown on August 10, 1753. the Constitution adopted. He died Franklin surveyed post roads April 17, 1790. and Post Offices, introduced a Franklin was a man of many tal- simple accounting method for post- ents. He helped establish a library, masters, and had riders carry mail fire company, academy, philosophi- both night and day. He encouraged cal society, militia, hospital, and postmasters to establish the penny better streets and street lighting in post where letters not called for at Philadelphia. His scientific contribu- the Post Office were delivered for a tions included a study of electric- penny. Remembering his experience ity and lightning, theories of heat with the Gazette, Franklin mandated absorption, measurement of the Gulf delivery of all newspapers for a small Stream, and invention of the light- fee. His efforts contributed to the ning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin Crown’s first North American profit stove. in 1760. Biographer Carl Van Doren wrote: In 1757, while serving as joint postmaster general, Franklin went to In any age, in any place, Franklin London to represent Pennsylvania’s would have been great … (N)umerous government. In 1763, back in the as his achievements were, they were colonies, he traveled 1,600 miles sur- less than he was.10

 The United States Postal Service Abraham Lincoln, Two postmasters became U.S. sock, he poured the contents on Presidents later in their careers­— the table and proceeded to count Postmaster Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman. the coin, which consisted of such Truman held the title and signed silver and copper pieces as the papers but immediately turned the country-people were then in the position and its pay over to an assis- habit of using in paying postage. tant. Lincoln was the only President On counting it up there was found who had served as a postmaster. the exact amount, to a cent, of On May 7, 1833, 24-year-old the draft, and in the identical coin Lincoln was appointed postmaster which had been received. He of New Salem, . Lincoln served never used, under any circum- until the office was closed May 30, stances, trust funds.”11 1836. The United States Official Register, published in odd-numbered years, dutifully records A. Lincoln as Other Famous receiving compensation of $55.70 in Postal Workers the 1835 volume and $19.48 for one quarter’s work in the 1837 volume. John Brown Besides his pay, Lincoln, as post- Abolitionist, postmaster, Randolph, PA master, could send and receive per- Bing Crosby Singer and actor, clerk, Spokane, WA sonal letters free and get one daily Walt Disney newspaper delivered free. Producer, substitute carrier, , IL Mail arrived once a week. If an Charles R. Drew addressee did not collect the mail, Scientist and surgeon, part-time special as was the custom, Lincoln delivered delivery messenger, Washington, DC it personally — usually carrying the William Faulkner mail in his hat. Even then, Lincoln was Novelist, postmaster, University, MS “Honest Abe.” Samuel L. Gravely According to Lincoln’s biographer, First African-American admiral, railway mail clerk Benjamin P. Thomas: Will Hays President, Motion Picture Producers and Dr. A. G. Henry, one of Lincoln’s Distributors of America, Postmaster closest friends, and himself post- General master for a time at Sangamontown, Sherman Hemsley told Isaac N. Arnold that when the Actor, clerk, Philadelphia, PA, and New Salem office was discontinued New York, NY Lincoln had on hand a balance of Conrad Hilton some sixteen or eighteen dollars which Businessman, postmaster, San Antonio, NM he brought with him to Springfield. Harry Hooper Baseball Hall-of-Famer, postmaster, Perhaps the Post Office Department Capitola, CA overlooked this small sum, for not Rock Hudson until months later did an agent call on Actor, letter carrier, Winnetka, IL Lincoln to collect it. During the inter- Sidney Lanier vening time Lincoln had been finan- Poet, clerk, Macon, GA cially hard-pressed, and Dr. Henry, who was present when the agent called, Aviator, contract airmail pilot was afraid that Lincoln might not have Bill Nye the money. Henry told Arnold: Humorist, postmaster, Laramie, WY “I was about to call him aside Knute Rockne and loan him the money, when Football coach, clerk, Chicago, IL he asked the agent to be seated Adlai E. Stevenson Vice President, First Assistant a moment, while he went over to Postmaster General Library of Congress his trunk at his boarding house, Noah Webster Lithographed and published and returned with an old blue sock Lexicographer, special agent by Edw. Mendel. with a quantity of silver and cop- Richard Wright per coin tied up in it. Untying the Author, substitute clerk, Chicago, IL

An American History 1775–2006  The Postal Role in U .S . Development

he 19th century saw the growth in 1860. Post roads (roads on which of the United States. The Post mail travels) increased from 59,473 TOffice Department, the commu- miles at the beginning of 1819 to nications system that helped bind the 84,860 by the end of 1823. By the end nation together, developed new services of 1819, the Department served citizens that have lasted into the 21st century in 22 states, including the newest states and subsidized the development of of Illinois (1818) and (1819). every major form of transportation. These new and states, Between 1789, when the federal gov- as well as established communities, ernment began operations, and 1861, pressed the Post Office Department when civil war broke out, the United for more routes and faster delivery. States grew dramatically. Its The Department met these needs, extended into the Midwest in 1787 expanding its service and developing through the Northwest Ordinance, ways to move mail more quickly. By reached down the River 1822, it took only 11 days to move and west to the Rocky Mountains after mail between Washington, D.C., and the Purchase in 1803, and Nashville, . stretched to the Pacific coast by the In 1828, there were 7,530 Post 1840s. The country’s population grew Offices and 29,956 postal employees, from 3.9 million people in 1790 to mail contractors, and carriers, making 31.4 million in 1860. the Department the largest employer The Post Office Department grew in the executive branch. Because the too. The number of Post Offices Department awarded a large number increased from 75 in 1790 to 28,498 of jobs and contracts, the Postmaster

The United States in 1857

10 The United States Postal Service General’s power grew as well. President erate enough revenue to pay for them- Andrew Jackson recognized the selves or to operate in the black. The potential for patronage and, in 1829, Department struggled with this issue. invited William T. Barry of With congressional support and keep- to become the first Postmaster General ing fiscal responsibility firmly in mind, to sit as a member of the President’s the Department ultimately made deci- Cabinet. Barry’s predecessor, John sions in the 19th century that reflected McLean of , had been the first public service as its highest aim. It Postmaster General to refer to the funded post routes that supported Post Office, or as national development and instituted it sometimes was called, as the Post services to benefit all residents of the Office Department, but the organiza- country. tion was not specifically established as The Post Office Department also an executive department by Congress simplified rates in the middle of the until June 8, 1872 (17 Stat. 283). 19th century. Before that time, postage By 1831, postal employees accounted was based on the number of sheets in for 76 percent of the civilian federal a letter and the distance a letter trav- workforce. Postmasters outnumbered eled. Families, friends, or businesses soldiers 8,764 to 6,332 and were the further distant paid more to keep in most widespread representatives of the touch. For instance, from 1799 to federal government. 1815, it cost: As the country grew, people in Library of Congress new states and territories petitioned 8 cents/sheet sent 40 miles or fewer Congress for even more post routes, regardless of their cost or profitabil- 10 cents/sheet sent 41 to 90 miles Alexis de ity. The Post Office Department, and Tocqueville thus the federal government, had to 12 1/2 cents/sheet sent 91 to 150 miles decide whether to subsidize routes that In 1831, Frenchman Alexis de promoted settlement but did not gen- 17 cents/sheet sent 151 to 300 miles Tocqueville began his travels in America, a journey that led to 20 cents/sheet sent 301 to 500 miles his classic book, Democracy in America. He wrote of the mail: 25 cents/sheet sent more than 500 miles I traveled along a portion of In 1845, the Department began the frontier of the United States charging rates essentially based on in a sort of cart, which was weight and whether a letter was going termed the mail. Day and night more than or fewer than 300 miles. we passed with great rapidity In 1855, the rate structure was three along the roads, which were cents for a letter weighing a half-ounce scarcely marked out through and traveling up to 3,000 miles, which immense forests. When the included most of the United States and gloom of the woods became its territories. Letters going farther than impenetrable, the driver lighted 3,000 miles were charged postage of ten branches of pine, and we jour- cents per sheet. neyed along by the light they The Act of March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. cast. From time to time we came 704), based postage for a letter on its to a hut in the midst of the for- weight and eliminated all differences est; this was a post-office. The based on distance, thus providing uni- mail dropped an enormous versal service to customers no matter bundle of letters at the door of where they lived in the country. this isolated dwelling, and we The act also created three classes pursued our way at full gallop, of mail: First-Class Mail, which leaving the inhabitants of the embraced letters; second-class mail, neighboring log houses to send which covered publications issued at reg- for their share of the treasure.12 ular periods; and third-class mail, which included all other mailable matter. ■

An American History 1775–2006 11 Moving the Mail

Steamboats transit across the isthmus, but a speedier In 1811, cutting-edge technology met up method was needed to move mail. with the nation’s mail system, and there As early as 1848, some overland mail was no looking back. Fast-moving steam- reached , if erratically, via the boats began traveling the rivers, replac- military. Scheduled, semiweekly over- ing packet boats, rowboats, and rafts as a land service began September 15, 1858, means to carry mail. with a contract to John Butterfield’s Beginning in 1815, operators of Overland Mail Company, using steamboats and other craft had to deliv- the 2,800-mile southern stage route er the letters and packets they carried to between Tipton, , and San local postmasters within three hours of Francisco. The specified running time docking in daylight or two hours after was 24 days, but it often took months. sunrise the following day. By the 1820s, Californians felt their isolation. more than 200 steamboats regularly For example, learned served river communities, and the Post California was admitted to the Union Office Department issued contracts six weeks after the fact. Three years for these vessels to carry mail. In 1823, later, an article attributed to the Los Congress declared waterways to be post Angeles Star (October 1, 1853) asked its roads. Use of steamboats to carry mail readers: peaked in 1853 prior to the expansion of railroads. Can somebody tell us what has become Even before gold was discovered of the U.S. mail for this section of the world? in California in 1848, the Post Office Some four weeks since it has arrived here. Department had awarded contracts to The mail rider comes and goes regularly two steamship companies to carry mail enough, but the mailbags do not. One time between New York and California. The he says the mail is not landed in ; aim was to get a letter from the East another time there was so much of it the don- Coast to California in three to four key could not bring it, and he sent it to San weeks, but this goal often was missed. Pedro on the steamer — which carried it up Mail traveled by from New York to San Francisco. Thus it goes wandering up to Panama, moved across Panama by and down the ocean … canoes and mules, then went on to San Francisco by ship. When the Panama Faster transportation to the Pacific Railroad was completed in 1855, it eased coast was needed.

Steamboat Carrying mail, passengers, and freight, the City of Providence traveled the from St. Louis to from 1880 to 1894.

E. B. and N. Philip Norman Collection, Mss. 1084, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, LA

12 The United States Postal Service The Pony Express on a not to cuss, fight, or abuse American transportation pioneer their animals and to conduct them- William H. Russell advertised for hos- selves honestly. tlers and riders to work on the Overland On April 3, 1860, the Pony Express Express Route via in began its run through parts of Missouri, March 1860. , , , , Russell had failed repeatedly to get , , and California. On aver- the backing of the Senate Post Office age, a rider covered 75 to 100 miles and Post Roads Committee for an daily. He changed horses at relay sta- express route to carry mail between tions set 10 to 15 miles apart, swiftly St. Joseph, Missouri — the westernmost transferring himself and his mochila (a point reached by the railroad and saddle with four pockets or can- telegraph — and California. St. Joseph tinas for mail) to the new mount. was the starting point for the nearly The first mail by Pony Express from 2,000-mile central route to the West. St. Joseph to Sacramento took ten days, Except for a few forts and settlements, cutting the overland stage time via the the route beyond St. Joseph was a vast, southern route by more than half. The unknown land, inhabited primarily by fastest delivery was in March 1861, when Native Americans. President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Many thought that year-round trans- was carried from St. Joseph to portation across this area was impossible Sacramento in 7 days and 17 hours. because of extreme weather conditions. On July 1, 1861, the Pony Express Russell organized his own express to began operating under contract as a prove otherwise. mail route. By that time, the Central With partners Alexander Majors and Overland California and Pike’s Peak William B. Waddell, Russell formed Express Company was deeply in debt. the Central Overland California and Though it had charged as much as $5 Pike’s Peak Express Company. They a half ounce for a letter at a time when built new relay stations and readied ordinary U.S. postage was no more than existing ones. The country was combed ten cents, the company did not make its for good horses — hardy enough to operating expenses. challenge deserts and mountains and The Pony Express officially ended to withstand thirst in summer and ice October 26, 1861, after the transconti- in winter. Riders were recruited hastily nental telegraph line was completed, and but, before being hired, had to swear became an enduring legend.

The Pony Express The Pony Express rider galloping across the Plains and through far-flung settlements holds a permanent place in the American imagination even though the Pony Express ran for only 18 months, from April 1860 to October 1861.

An American History 1775–2006 13 The Confederate Post Office Department

The Post Office Department of the Many accepted and brought along Confederate States of America was their expertise, as well as copies of established February 21, 1861, by postal reports, forms in use, postal an act of the Provisional Congress maps, and other supplies. of the Confederate States. On In May 1861, Reagan issued March 6, 1861, the day after a proclamation stating that he ’s appointment officially would assume control of by President Abraham Lincoln as the Post Office Department of the Postmaster General of the United Confederate States on June 1, States, former U.S. Congressman 1861. Postmaster General Blair John Henninger Reagan was responded by ordering the cessa- appointed postmaster general of tion of United States mail service the Confederate States of America throughout the South on May 31, by Jefferson Davis, President of the 1861. Confederate States. Although an able administrator South Carolina, Mississippi, headed the Confederate Post Office John Henninger Reagan Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Department, its mail service was Louisiana, and already had continuously interrupted. Through a to an end. By November 15, 1865, seceded from the Union. In the fol- combination of pay and personnel 241 mail routes had been restored, lowing months, Virginia, , cuts, postage rate increases, and and by November 1, 1866, 3,234 , and most of streamlining of mail routes, Reagan Post Offices out of 8,902 in the Tennessee followed suit. Reagan eliminated the postal deficit that South were returned to federal instructed southern postmasters to existed in the South. But blockades control. continue to render their accounts and the invading Northern army, as Postmaster General Reagan was to the United States as before until well as a growing scarcity of post- arrested at the end of the war but the Confederate postal system was age stamps, severely hampered later was pardoned and eventually organized. Meanwhile, he sent job postal operations. made it back to Congress, where he offers to southern men in the Post Federal mail service in the South became chairman of the Committee Office Department in Washington. gradually resumed as the war came on Post Offices and Post Roads.

The DeWitt Clinton The DeWitt Clinton, the first train in New York to carry passengers and one of the first locomotives built in the United States, ran from Albany to Schenectady, a 17-mile distance, in less than an hour on August 9, 1831. The Post Office Department was quick to use this new technology to move mail.

14 The United States Postal Service Mail by Rail mail as early as November 30, 1832, Some three decades before the Pony when stagecoach contractors on a Express galloped into postal history, the route from Philadelphia to Lancaster, “iron horse” made its formal appear- Pennsylvania, were granted an allow- ance. In August 1829, an English- ance of $400 per year “for carrying built locomotive, the Stourbridge Lion, the mail on the railroad as far as West completed the first locomotive run Chester from December 5, 1832.”13 in the United States on the Although the Department apparently and Hudson Canal Company Road awarded several contracts for rail trans- in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The next portation as a part of stagecoach routes month, the South Carolina Railroad in succeeding years, the Postmaster Company adopted the locomotive as its General listed only one railroad com- tractive power. pany as a contractor during the first In 1830, the & Ohio’s six months of 1836, for Route 1036 Tom Thumb, America’s first steam loco- from Philadelphia to Mauch Chunk, motive, successfully carried more than Pennsylvania. 40 people at over ten miles per hour. The Department appointed the first This beginning was considered less than route agent, John Kendall, nephew of auspicious when, in late August 1830, Postmaster General , to a stage driver’s horse outran the Tom accompany the mails between Albany Thumb on a parallel track in a race at and Utica, New York, in 1837. An Act Ellicott’s Mills, . Later, how- of July 7, 1838, designated all United ever, a steam locomotive reached the States railroads as post routes, and rail- unheard-of speed of 30 miles per hour road mail service increased rapidly. in an 1831 competition in Baltimore. In June 1840, two mail agents were The Post Office Department rec- appointed to the Boston-Springfield ognized the value of rail to move route, “to make exchanges of mail, attend to delivery, and receive and forward all unpaid way letters and packages received.”14 The route agents opened the pouches from local offices, separated mail for other local points on the line for inclusion in the pouches for those offices, and sent the balance to distributing Post Offices for further sorting. Gradually, the clerks began to make up mail for connecting lines and New York Central New Railroad York local offices, and the idea of sorting mail on the cars evolved. In 1862, William A. Davis, head clerk of the St. Joseph, Missouri, Post Office, began the first experiment in distributing mail in railroad cars on the Hannibal-St. Joseph run. Although this practice expedited the connection with the overland stage at St. Joseph, it was discontinued in January 1863. On August 28, 1864, the first U.S. (RPO) route was established officially when George B. Armstrong, Chicago’s assistant postmaster, placed a car equipped for general distribu- tion in service between Chicago and Clinton, , on the Chicago and North Western Railroad. Similar routes were established between New York and Washington, D.C.; Chicago and Rock Island, Illinois; Chicago and Quincy,

An American History 1775–2006 15 Illinois; and New York and Erie, post office, which operated between Pennsylvania. New York and Washington, D.C., on When railway mail service began, Penn Central/Conrail, made its final the cars were equipped primarily to run on June 30, 1977. sort and distribute letter mail. By about Highway and air congestion and an 1869, other mail was being sorted. increase in the weight of catalogs and Parcel Post service, added in 1913, soon during the 1980s led to outgrew the limited space aboard trains. renewed rail use. carried mail Terminals, established adjacent to major on many trains, and freight trains pulled railroad stations, allowed parcels to be flatcars holding trailers full of mail. In sorted then loaded into mail cars and 1993, Amtrak and the Postal Service RPOs for transport to cities and . reintroduced the RoadRailer®, special In 1930, more than 10,000 trains intermodal equipment that could travel moved mail. Following passage of the on highways and on rails without hav- Transportation Act of 1958, which ing to be hoisted onto a railroad flatcar. allowed the discontinuance of money- Following the terrorist attacks of losing passenger trains, mail-carrying September 11, 2001, rail transportation passenger trains began to decline rap- of mail helped close the gap caused by idly. By 1965, only 190 trains carried temporary disruptions to commercial mail, and by 1970, the railroads carried air service. virtually no First-Class Mail. Although Amtrak stopped carry- On April 30, 1971, the Post Office ing mail in October 2004, the nation’s Department terminated seven of the freight railroads continue to carry mail eight remaining routes. The last railway through their intermodal service. ■

The Mississippi The Mississippi, an early steam engine, was built in 1834.

16 The United States Postal Service Owney, Mascot of the Railway Mail Service

On an autumn day in 1888, a shaggy General presented pup took his first step toward becom- Owney with a little jacket to distrib- ing a postal legend when he crept ute their weight more evenly. into the Albany, New York, Post Owney took to traveling farther Office. Postal employees allowed him and staying away longer, eventu- to stay and named him Owney. ally visiting Mexico, Canada, At first, Owney stayed close to , , Singapore, the Post Office, but he soon began Suez, Algiers, and the riding mail wagons to the train depot Azores. and then rode the railway mail car While being shown off to down to and back to an Ohio newspaper reporter, Albany. As Owney traveled farther, Owney bit the postal clerk who his friends at the Albany Post Office was handling him. The postmaster feared he might wander too far had Owney put down on June 11, away to find his way home again so 1897. Railway mail clerks chipped they purchased a leather collar with in money to have a taxidermist pre- a tag reading “Owney, Post Office, serve Owney’s body, which then Albany, N.Y.” The railway mail ser- was sent to postal headquarters in vice clerks recorded Owney’s travels Washington, D.C., for exhibit. by attaching metal baggage tags to In 1911, the Post Office his collar to identify the rail lines he Department entrusted Owney to the traveled on. . Since 1993, He was soon weighed down by Owney has been part of the National his collection of tags. Postmaster in Washington, D.C.

Catching Mail A railway mail service clerk operates a catcher arm to grab a mailbag from a mail crane alongside the tracks as his train races past, 1913.

An American History 1775–2006 17 Star Routes Post riders on horseback were the stagecoaches were preferred on first contractors to carry mail between certain routes.16 Post Offices. In 1773, post road Postmaster General ’s surveyor Hugh Finlay noted that a 1859 Annual Report criticized the stagecoach driver held a contract “enormous sums” paid to stagecoach to carry semi-weekly mail between companies to transport mails, “some Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and of which [were] so light as scarcely to Boston, Massachusetts. In 1785, the yield a revenue sufficient to defray the Continental Congress authorized the expense of carrying them on horse- Postmaster General to award mail back.” He declared, “In advertising transportation contracts to stage- for the new lettings, ‘Star Bids’… will coach operators, in effect subsidiz- alone be invited … without any des- ing public travel and commerce with ignation of modes of conveyance.”17 postal funds. Despite their higher The 1860 Annual Report is the last costs and sometimes lower efficiency, to discriminate between “coach” and stagecoach proposals were preferred “inferior” modes of service.18 over horseback. Contractors had to be at least 16 An Act of March 3, 1845, took years old until 1902, when the age steps to reduce mail transporta- limit was raised to 21. Subcontractors tion costs. Congress abandoned its or carriers could be 16. Contractors preference for stagecoaches, with were bonded and took an oath of contracts to be awarded to the low- office; subcontractors and carriers est bidder for what “may be neces- also took the oath. sary to provide for the due celerity, From 1802 to 1859, postal laws certainty and security of such trans- required carriers to be free white per- portation.”15 These were known as sons. Violators were fined. The typi- “celerity, certainty and security” bids. cal four-year contract did not provide Postal clerks shortened the phrase to payment for missed trips, regardless three asterisks or stars (***). The bids of weather conditions. Unexcused became known as star bids, and the service failures could result in fines up routes became known as star routes. to three times the trip’s price. In 1845, more than two-thirds Regular schedules made carri- of the Post Office Department’s bud- ers easy targets for thieves. Criminal get was for transportation. By 1849, punishment was harsh. Anyone found the Department cut transportation guilty of robbing carriers could receive costs on all routes — horseback, five to ten years of hard labor for the stage, steamboat and railroad — by first offense and death for the sec- 17 percent, from $2,938,551 in 1844 ond. Meanwhile, some carriers faced to $2,428,515. Route distances rose the hazards of snow, avalanches, ice 20 percent for the same years, packs, cliff-hugging roads, seas of from 35.4 million miles to 42.5 mil- mud, and dangerous waters. Mail by Mule lion miles in 1849. Star routes were Contractors provided their own The contract mail route to the largely responsible for the savings as equipment. A -era Post Office Havasupai Indian Reservation, contractors switched to horseback, Department memo quotes Harry Supai, , far below the cutting per-mile costs 38 percent, Elfers, who transported mail ten miles southern rim of the Grand from 7.2 cents to 4.5 cents. from Sandusky, Ohio, to Kelleys Island Canyon, is the last mule train Still, throughout the 1850s, the in Lake Erie. In bad weather, he would delivery in the United States. Department continued to favor sail from the island to Marblehead, the Helicopters and mail drops are impractical here, so a mule stagecoaches over horses on certain closest mainland point, only four miles train makes the 6- to 8-hour routes. In 1852, Postmaster General away. That could take 20 minutes or round trip 5 days a week, Samuel D. Hubbard instructed 8 hours, depending on the weather. bringing everything from food contract bidders to state the type of Either way, his pay was the same. to furniture to the reservation. conveyance “if a higher mode than Elfers recalled the specialized equip- horseback be intended,” noting that ment he used:

18 The United States Postal Service When I was a youngster I was hovercraft in . Dog sleds were resulting from speculators who under- out in a boat about all the time. Now used in Alaska until 1963. Today, bid tried-and-true carriers by just a I don’t care for ordinary sailing but mail is dropped by parachute on few dollars. Congressman Thomas J. battling with the ice has a fascination some Alaskan routes. During the Murray of Tennessee explained: for me. As soon as the ice begins winter, snowmobiles carry mail in to form, I feel eager to get out one the highlands of Utah, Colorado, I think when a star-route contrac- of the ‘ironclads’ and fight my way and . tor has carried the mail for 20 to 25 across. An ‘ironclad’ is a flat-bot- In The Story of Our Post Office, years … it is unjust and unfair for tomed skiff. There’s a sail in the bow Marshall Cushing writes about Mrs. him to be deprived of his contract to carry us through the water or over Clara Carter, who, while carrying mail for another 4-year term by cut-throat the ice when conditions are right. between Maine’s West Ellsworth and bidding.21 There are two iron-shod runners on Ellsworth Post Offices around 1892, the bottom so the boat may be used also delivered mail to customers on Star routes declined in the 1950s as a sled. The sides are sheathed the route.20 Such unofficial arrange- as unnecessary and duplicate service with galvanized iron. This is very ments were formalized beginning was eliminated. However, the 1960s important, because thin ice will cut a July 1, 1900, when some contracts saw growth as the Highway Act of boat like a knife.19 provided for delivery to and collection 1958 improved highways while rail from rural mail erected along service declined. Between 1960 and Most star route carriers traveled the routes. By 1918, some contracts 1970, star-route miles more than by horse or horse-drawn vehicle also permitted the sale of stamps, doubled. In the 1970s, star routes until the early 20th century. Boats, money orders, and officially became known as highway sleds, snowshoes, and skis also along routes. contract routes, although popular were used. Today’s contractors use In 1948, Congress allowed the usage of the older term continues. trucks, tractor trailers, and automo- Postmaster General to renew four-year At the end of 2006, the Postal biles or whatever it takes — mule contracts with satisfactory service pro- Service had 16,707 highway contract trains into the Grand Canyon, viders rather than award a new con- routes. About 45 percent of these flat-bottomed pole boats in the tract to the lowest acceptable bidder provided delivery to customers along Louisiana bayous, and airplanes and to prevent the many contract failures the routes.

Mail by Sled Star route contractors have a history of employing any means necessary to transport the mail. This carrier transported mail into the mountains of via horse-drawn sled circa 1920. His horses wore special snow shoes.

An American History 1775–2006 19 Reaching Out To Everyone

Free City Delivery By June 30, 1864, free city deliv- Before 1863, postage paid only for the ery had been established in 65 cities delivery of mail from Post Office to Post nationwide, with 685 carriers deliver- Office. Citizens picked up their mail, ing mail in cities such as Baltimore, although in some cities they could pay Boston, , Chicago, , an extra two-cent fee for letter delivery , , New York, or use private delivery firms. Among the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and postal reforms suggested by progressive Washington, D.C. By 1880, 104 cities Postmaster General Montgomery Blair in were served by 2,628 letter carriers, and his 1862 report to the President was free by 1900, 15,322 carriers provided service delivery of mail by salaried letter carriers, to 796 cities. which he felt would “greatly acceler- Postmasters, groups of citizens, or ate deliveries, and promote the public city authorities could petition the Post convenience.”22 He reasoned that if the Office Department for free delivery ser- system of mailing and receiving letters vice if their city met population or postal was more convenient, people would use revenue requirements. The city had to it more often, and pointed to increas- provide sidewalks and crosswalks, ensure ing postal revenues in England, which that streets were named and lit, and already had adopted free city delivery. assign numbers to houses. Congress agreed. An Act of Congress Initially, carriers hand-delivered of March 3, 1863, effective July 1, 1863, mail to customers. If a customer did provided that free city delivery be estab- not answer the carrier’s knock, ring, lished at Post Offices where income or whistle, the mail remained in the from local postage was more than suf- carrier’s satchel to be redelivered when ficient to pay all expenses of the service. the customer was home. By 1912, new For the first time, Americans had to put customers were required to provide street on their letters. mail slots or receptacles, and postmas-

New York City Fifth Avenue, 1913. Library of Congress

20 The United States Postal Service City Delivery Pioneer ters were urged to encourage existing 15 days of leave per year. In 1888, Joseph William Briggs, a customers to provide them as well. As Congress declared that 8 hours was Cleveland, Ohio, postal late as 1914, First Assistant Postmaster a full day’s work and that car- clerk, often is credited General Daniel C. Roper estimated that riers would be paid for addi- with conceiving the a letter carrier spent 30 minutes to an tional hours worked per day. idea of free city hour each day waiting at doors where The 40-hour work week delivery while con- there was person-to-person delivery. As began in 1935. templating long of March 1, 1923, mail slots or recep- Carriers walked as many lines of custom- tacles were required for delivery service. as 22 miles a day, carry- ers trying to keep By the 1930s, as a convenience to ing up to 50 pounds of warm as they customers living on the margins of a mail at a time. They were inched toward city, letter carriers began delivering to instructed to deliver letters his window in the customers with “suitable boxes at the frequently and promptly winter of 1862. curb line.”23 In the ensuing decades — generally twice a day to Many were women American suburbanization, which homes and up to four times hoping for news of exploded in the 1950s, brought an a day to businesses. The second loved ones in the Civil increase in curbside mailboxes. The residential delivery was discontin- War. Briggs enlisted local Department introduced curbside clus- ued on April 17, 1950, in most cities. businesses to serve as staging ter boxes in 1967. Their use has been Multiple deliveries to businesses were areas for sorting customers’ mail, increasingly encouraged in recent phased out over the next few decades as and he began delivering mail to his decades to promote efficiency and changing transportation patterns made patrons free of cost. economy of service. most mail available for first-trip delivery. In 1864, Briggs wrote Originally, letter carriers worked 52 The weight limit of a carrier’s load was Postmaster General Montgomery weeks a year, typically 9 to 11 hours a reduced to 35 pounds by the mid-1950s Blair, suggesting improvements day from Monday through Saturday, and remains the same today. to the free letter carrier system, and if necessary, part of Sunday. An In 2006, 224,400 letter carriers deliv- launched in 1863. Blair liked Briggs’ Act of June 27, 1884, granted them ered mail in the nation’s cities. ideas, brought him to Washington, and appointed him special agent in charge of superintending the opera- tion of the letter carrier system, a role he performed until his death on February 23, 1872. A 1921 postal committee charged with determining who should be credited with the estab- lishment of free city delivery, after examining the available evidence, reported to Postmaster General Will Hays that “no one individual can be considered the author or originator of this service …” The committee said, “Mr. Briggs cannot be properly credited as the author of the City Free Delivery Service, but the evi- dence seems sufficient to warrant the statement that he was the first letter carrier in the city of Cleveland, Ohio.”24 A plaque in the Cleveland Post Office commemorates Briggs’ service as that city’s first free let- ter carrier and his contributions to establishing the service nationwide.

An American History 1775–2006 21 Rural Free Delivery (RFD) social as much as to anything else,” In 1890, nearly 41 million people — Wanamaker wrote in 1891.26 He pro- 65 percent of the American popula- posed that rural customers receive free tion — lived in rural areas. Although delivery. many city dwellers had enjoyed free On October 1, 1890, Congress home delivery since 1863, rural citi- authorized funding of $10,000 to test zens had to pick up their mail at the the “practicability” of delivering mail Post Office, leading one farmer to ask: to small towns, defined as those hav- “Why should the cities have fancy mail ing populations of from 300 to 5,000 service and the old colonial system still people, and nearby rural districts.27 For prevail in the country districts?”25 the experiment, it was suggested that Postmaster General John Wanamaker, each postmaster hire a man or boy for who served from 1889 to 1893, was a an hour or two a day to deliver the merchant who became one of the most mail or that school teachers give the innovative and energetic people ever to mail to pupils for delivery to parents or lead the Post Office Department. He neighbors. However, only adults were thought it made more sense to have one employed. Twelve communities were person deliver mail than to have 50 peo- selected for what was called free ple ride into town to collect their mail. delivery. The results were satisfactory He cited business logic and social phi- although some customers returned losophy as reasons to give rural dwellers to collecting their mail from the Post free delivery. Businesses could expand Office by choice when the novelty their markets. Rural customers paid the wore off. People farther away from same postage rates as city people. Rural more heavily populated areas still had people needed the important informa- no delivery. Rural Carrier, Rural Route tion provided by newspapers yet did not In January 1892, Congressman No. 2, Rochester, always have time to walk or ride to the James O’Donnell introduced “A Bill Although a uniform has never been Post Office. Young people might stay on to Extend the Free Delivery System prescribed for rural carriers, some, the farm if correspondence and maga- of Mails to Rural Communities,” but such as this carrier, chose to wear zines eased their isolation. the House Committee on Post Office one. When it was established in “I think the growth of the Farmers’ and Post Roads balked at the proposed October 1900, this carrier’s route Alliance movement and the other farm- $6 million price tag. An amendment was 35 miles long and served 1,000 ers’ movements in the past few years has bringing the figure down to $100,000 customers. been due to this hunger for something also was rejected.

22 The United States Postal Service Postmasters in the Mid-19th Century

In 1860, postmasters took the to the postmaster’s primary occu- following oath: “I, ______, do pation, such as storekeeper. swear/affirm that I will faithfully The postmaster had to keep perform all the duties required of the Post Office open during nor- me, and abstain from everything mal business hours and, if mail forbidden by the laws in rela- was delivered on a Sunday, for tion to the establishment of the one hour after the delivery of mail. Post Office and post roads within If a church service was going on, the United States. I do solemnly the postmaster had to wait until swear/affirm that I will support the it concluded and then open the Constitution of the United States.” office for an hour. This decision Postmasters had to post a dated back to the 19th-century bond and reside in the community controversies over the drivers of where the Post Office was locat- mail wagons blowing on a horn ed. The postmaster was exempt or a trumpet as the wagon came from militia duty but could be into town. Some ministers com- called upon to work on the roads. plained that the men would rise The job of postmaster was up, leave the church, and head an important one — candidates for the Post Office, where they for the job were proposed by the would visit with each other and outgoing postmaster, the local even play cards. community, or local congressmen. The decision to keep the Post Beginning in 1836, postmasters Office closed during services at the largest Post Offices were was a compromise. However, the appointed by the President and Postmaster General refused to usually received the job as a politi- stop mail wagons from running cal plum. The Postmaster General on Sundays, since this would continued to appoint postmasters delay the mail too much. at smaller Post Offices. The Post Office often was kept as a sideline

Francis E. Bush, Postmaster Postmasters often were pillars of their communities. Francis E. Bush, 95, served two terms as postmaster of Standing Stone, Pennsylvania, from 1875 to 1889 and then from 1901 to 1929.

Postmasters’ Convention Postmasters met in Waco, Texas, on July 12, 1899, for the first convention of the Texas Postmasters Association.

An American History 1775–2006 23 Rural Carrier, Harbor Springs, , circa 1910 Rural free delivery stimulated road improvement nationwide, since passable roads were a prerequisite for establishing new delivery routes. Rural carriers supplied their own transportation — from horses and buggies to bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles — to deliver the mail. They were allowed to use automobiles on their routes as early as 1907, where roads and topography permitted.

A year and two months later, on gers be discontinued and that rural free March 3, 1893, a bill introduced by delivery be established in their place in one-term Georgia Congressman Tom Carroll County, Maryland. County-wide Watson passed. It appropriated $10,000 delivery proved viable. for experimental rural free delivery. On Judged a success, rural free delivery March 6, 1893, Wilson S. Bissell was became a permanent service effec- sworn in as Postmaster General. He did tive July 1, 1902. The word “free” was not pursue the experiment, citing the dropped in 1906, since it was under- pressure of more important concerns stood. and the need for at least $20 million to During the six experimental years inaugurate rural free delivery, a figure before rural delivery became a perma- later identified as a guess. Instead, he nent service, customers sent more than recommended establishing additional 10,000 petitions asking that routes be Post Offices where needed. established. The Department had time Bissell was succeeded by William L. to evaluate the extent to which RFD Wilson on March 1, 1895. Wilson agreed could replace small, fourth-class Post with his predecessor that rural free deliv- Offices and star routes, whether it could ery was not practical but was willing to be used to offer services such as money attempt the experiment if Congress orders, and what national RFD service made money available. That year, would cost. The Department also had Congress appropriated $20,000 for the an opportunity to see what else was experiment and another $10,000 in needed to make the service successful: 1896, bringing the total to $40,000 — good roads, standardized mailboxes, enough for the Post Office Department and a “great army of rural carriers” to begin its rural free delivery experi- — about 8,500 in 1902. The Post Office ment. Department claimed that, “as a class On October 1, 1896, rural free there are no more faithful employees in delivery service began in Charles Town, the Government service.”28 Halltown, and Uvilla in , The backing of the National Grange, Postmaster General Wilson’s home state. National Farmers’ Congress, and State Within a year, 44 routes were underway Farmers’ Alliance was important to in 29 states. rural delivery’s establishment and suc- Just 5 days before Christmas in 1899, cess, as was the enthusiastic response of the Post Office Department decided to rural customers. Although one Kansas experiment with extending RFD across farmer expressed concern that rural an entire county. Postmaster General people would become lazy if they did ordered that 63 not have to pick up their mail, more small Post Offices and the routes of 35 typical were reactions such as those of star route contractors and mail messen- the Colorado woman who was glad to

24 The United States Postal Service “have our mail fresh instead of stale” character” first mentioned by the Post and the Arizona citizen who wrote: Office Department in its Annual Report of 1902, with Bridgeport, , I am more than ever proud of being an cited as an example.31 Rural carriers American citizen. … I live three and a half served suburban areas until these areas miles from the Tempe post-office, and have were annexed by an adjacent city postal been sick for a week past, yet my mail is district. Carriers supplied their own brought to my door every morning, except transportation — usually horses and Sunday. … It looks as if “Uncle Sam” had wagons until, in 1929, the Post Office at last turned his eye in our direction.29 Department noted that improved roads had led to “almost a complete change Farmers helped by putting out boxes in rural delivery from horse-drawn for the rural carriers — everything from vehicles to motor cars.”32 lard pails and syrup cans to old apple, Although rural carriers could deliver soap, and cigar boxes. Postal officials packages weighing up to four pounds, decided a standardized would by law the Post Office Department improve service and, in 1901, asked could not deliver heavier packages, manufacturers to design boxes to the which had to be mailed using private following specifications: express companies. Beginning in 1904 the Department asked Congress for The box must be made of metal, 6 by 8 authorization to experiment with the by 18 inches, and weather-proof. delivery of larger packages. In 1911, Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock Boxes should be constructed so they can recommended that Congress allow be fastened to a post at a height conve- such service in rural and urban areas nient to the carrier without alighting. and requested a total of $150,000 for such an experiment, with the thought Keys for customers’ boxes should be easy of paving the way for a general Parcel to use by a carrier with “one gloved Post. hand in the severest weather.”30 The increase in the number of rural delivery routes led to a decrease in the Manufacturers stenciled the words number of small Post Offices. In 1901, “Approved by the Postmaster-General” the Post Office Department operated on satisfactory boxes. In 1902, the Post the largest number of Post Offices in Office Department required customers American history, 76,945. The next to have these boxes in order to receive year, there were 1,000 fewer Post rural free delivery. Boxes could be Offices. Despite a growing population square, oblong, circular, or semicircular and more mail, the number of Post but had to protect mail from rain, snow, Offices continued to drop each subse- and dust. quent year, with the exception of 1947 Rural carriers sold stamps and and 2001. money orders, registered letters, and, in In 2006, almost 37 million homes short, served as traveling Post Offices. and businesses were served by the Postal They were the vanguard for delivery Service’s rural letter carriers. Rural deliv- in suburban areas, a “middle terri- ery continues to provide a vital link tory, neither distinctly city nor rural in between urban and rural America. ■

Early Rural Mailboxes Until the Post Office Department standardized specifications for rural mailboxes, a variety of boxes and containers were used.

An American History 1775–2006 25 U.S. Postage The Post Office Department issued its Andrew Jackson stamp was added first postage stamps on July 1, 1847. in 1863. has Stamps Previously, letters were taken to a Post appeared on more U.S. postage Office, where the postmaster would stamps than any other person. note the postage in the upper right cor- Until government-issued stamps ner. The postage rate was based on the became obligatory January 1, 1856, number of sheets in the letter and the other payment methods remained distance it would travel. Postage could legal. be paid in advance by the writer, col- lected from the addressee on delivery, or paid partially in advance and partially The first printed stamped upon delivery. were issued July 1, 1853. They have always been produced by private con- The First Postage Stamps tractors and sold at the cost of post- In 1837, Great Britain’s Sir age plus the cost of manufacture. With proposed a uniform rate of postage for the exception of manila newspaper mail going anywhere in the wrappers used from 1919 to 1934, and prepayment by using envelopes watermarks have been mandatory for with preprinted postage or adhesive stamped- paper since 1853. labels. On May 6, 1840, the stamp The watermarks usually changed with that became known as the Penny every four-year printing contract to Black, covering the one-penny charge help identify the envelope and paper for half-ounce letters sent anywhere in manufacturers. the British Isles, became available in Austria issued the first postal facilities. in 1869. The United States followed in May 1873. Postal cards, known today United States Postage Stamps as stamped cards, are produced by Alexander M. Greig’s City Despatch the government and carry preprinted Post, a private New York City carrier, postage, unlike privately produced issued the first adhesive stamps in the , which do not bear post- United States on February 1, 1842. age. The 1873 Annual Report of the The Post Office Department bought Postmaster General noted: Greig’s business and continued use of adhesive stamps to prepay postage. As predicted, they have been favor- After U.S. postage rates were ably received. They have supplied a standardized in 1845, New York City public want, and have made a new Postmaster Robert H. Morris, among and remunerative business for the others, provided special stamps or Department.33 markings to indicate prepayment of postage. These now are known as Postal cards were sold at face Postmasters’ Provisionals. value until January 10, 1999, when On March 3, 1847, Congress a charge for the cost of manufacture Clockwise from upper right: authorized United States postage was added. 1847, first U.S. stamps, stamps. The first general issue post- George Washington and age stamps went on sale in New Commemorative Stamps Benjamin Franklin; 1907, York City, July 1, 1847. One, priced In 1893, the first U.S. commemora- Pocahontas; 1993, Elvis at five cents, depicted Benjamin tive stamps, honoring that year’s Presley; 1940, Booker T. Franklin. The other, a ten-cent stamp, World Columbian Exposition in Washington; 1998, Breast pictured George Washington. Clerks Chicago, were issued. The sub- Cancer Research, the first used scissors to cut the stamps ject — Columbus’s voyages to semipostal stamp. from pregummed, nonperforated the New World — and size of the sheets. Only Franklin and Washington stamps were innovative. Standard- appeared on stamps until 1856, when sized stamps were too small for a five-cent stamp honoring Thomas engraved reproductions of paintings Jefferson was issued. A two-cent that portrayed events connected to

26 The United States Postal Service Columbus’s voyages. The stamps provide round-the-clock service with- self-adhesive would not permit stamps were 7/8 inches high by 1-11/32 inches out extra workhours. Machines were to be soaked off. An additional secu- wide, nearly double the size of previ- also planned for hotels, train stations, rity feature placed slits in the stamps ous stamps. newsstands, and stores. Twenty- to foil attempts to peel them off. Over the years, commemorative five different vending machines were Unfortunately, the stamps cost three to stamps have been produced in many tested, with six chosen for tests in the five times more to produce than regu- sizes and shapes, with the first trian- Baltimore, , New York, lar postage stamps, they could still be gular issued in 1997 Washington, D.C., and soaked off and reused, and stamps in and the first round stamp in 2000. Post Offices. Both coil stamps and the hands of collectors started to self- The first stamp honoring an imperforate sheets were produced destruct. American woman was the eight- for vending machines, with the latter In 1989, the Postal Service again cent Martha Washington stamp of receiving a variety of distinctive perfo- experimented with self-adhesive 1902. The first to honor a Hispanic rations and separations. stamps, this time with emphasis on American was the one-dollar Admiral customer convenience. The new self- David Farragut stamp in 1903. Native Nondenominated Stamps adhesives had a water-soluble adhe- Americans were portrayed in a gener- The first nondenominated stamps sive and were produced on coated al way on several earlier stamps, but (stamps without a printed value) in paper, so the effects of the adhesive the first to feature a specific individual the United States were two Christmas would not be destructive. Introduced was 1907’s five-cent stamp honor- stamps issued October 14, 1975. nationwide in 1992, self-adhesive ing Pocahontas. In 1940, a ten-cent The Postal Service had requested a stamps now are issued in formats that stamp commemorating Booker T. rate change from 10 to 13 cents and include booklets, coils, sheets, and Washington became the first to honor was unsure when the Postal Rate souvenir sheets. an African American. Commission would issue a recom- Other firsts include the 1993 29- mended decision in the case. When Semipostals cent stamp featuring Elvis Presley. the rate change was delayed, the Semipostals are stamps on which the The public was invited to vote for the stamps were sold for 10 cents. price exceeds the cost of postage; the “young” or the “older” Elvis for the A similar situation led the Postal difference is devoted to a particular stamp’s design. Youth triumphed, and Service to issue nondenominated cause. An act of Congress resulted in this has become the best-selling U.S. stamps on May 22, 1978. They bore the Breast Cancer Research stamp, commemorative stamp to date. the letter “A” rather than a denomina- the first United States semipostal, on tion. The stamps were prepared in July 29, 1998, with proceeds above Booklets case of a shortage of stamps in the the cost of postage going to breast Stamp booklets were first issued uncertain new denomination. They cancer research. The Postal Service April 16, 1900. They contained were sold for 15 cents for domestic issued the Heroes of 2001 stamp on 12, 24, or 48 two-cent stamps. use only. Nondenominated stamps June 7, 2002, with proceeds going Parafinned paper was placed with letter designations through “H” to the families of emergency workers between sheets of stamps to keep were issued in conjunction with post- killed or injured in connection with the them from sticking together. The age rate changes through 1998. September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks books, which carried a one-cent on the United States. premium until 1963, had light card- Self-adhesives On October 8, 2003, the Postal board covers printed with information The Postal Service originally devel- Service issued the Stop Family about postage rates. Stamp booklets oped self-adhesive stamps to make Violence semipostal, to contribute to remain a staple and are enjoying a precanceled stamps more secure. the nationwide fight against domestic resurgence in popularity because of Precanceled stamps are canceled violence. their availability at a wide range of across the face before being sold. non-postal outlets. In the late 1960s, as many as 20 Forever Stamp percent of them were soaked off and In May 2006, the Postal Service filed Coils and Vending reused. Precanceled stamps skipped a proposal for a Forever stamp, a The first coil (roll) stamps were issued a processing step that often caught nondenominated, nonexpiring stamp on , 1908, in response reused stamps. intended for customers mailing a piece to business requests. Coils were also With the Christmas 1974 issue, of First-Class Mail. The stamp would used in stamp vending equipment. the Postal Service experimented with be valid for the first ounce of postage. The Department hoped to place vend- a self-adhesive precanceled stamp. It ing machines in Post Office lobbies to was believed that the tightly bonded

An American History 1775–2006 27 The 20th Century

t the start of the 20th century, Parcel Post began on January 1, Americans were served by the 1913. It was an instant success, with APost Office Department. At the 300 million parcels mailed in the first century’s close, they were served by six months the service was offered. The the United States Postal Service. At the effect on the national economy was beginning of the 20th century, most electric. Marketing and merchandis- Americans lived in rural areas. By its ing through Parcel Post spurred the end, the country was an industrial and growth of the great mail-order houses. service economy of international pre- Montgomery Ward, the first mail- eminence, and the character, volume, order company, started with a catalog and means of transporting mail had of more than 100 products in 1872. changed. The Post Office Department, Sears, Roebuck and Company followed transformed into the United States Montgomery Ward in 1893. The year Postal Service, continued its tradition Parcel Post began, Sears handled five of , adaptation, and change times as many orders as it did the year to better serve postal customers. before. Five years later, Sears doubled its revenues. Parcel Post Parcel Post grew too, literally and in By law, the Post Office Department volume. Its weight and size limits were could not carry parcels weighing more expanded over time, reaching 70 pounds than four pounds at the beginning of and 100 inches on August 1, 1931.34 the 20th century. Private express compa- After World War II, Parcel Post’s com- nies, which had begun to flourish in the paratively low rates stimulated its growth mid-1800s, delivered large packages. while the business of express companies The establishment of rural free deliv- began to decrease. Eventually, Congress ery had provided a heady taste of life intervened to rescue the Railway Express for rural Americans. Soon the demand Agency from a precarious financial posi- increased for the delivery of packages tion. On January 1, 1952, the weight of containing food, dry goods, drugs, and parcels sent via the mails to large (first other commodities not easily available class) Post Offices was reduced to 40 to farmers. When Congress considered pounds, if the parcels were traveling up enacting a law to allow Parcel Post ser- to 150 miles, and to 20 pounds for any vice, express companies and country greater distance. None of these parcels merchants fought long and hard against could exceed 72 inches in length and it. Rural residents, who represented 54 girth combined. Parcels bound for other percent of the country’s population in Post Offices still could weigh up to 70 1910, were equally emphatic in want- pounds and be up to 100 inches in size. ing Parcel Post. While Congress was Parcel Post volume fell. hotly debating the question, one express To offset this, weight and size limits company declared a large dividend for parcels moving between larger Post to stockholders. Public indignation at Offices gradually were increased start- their so-called exorbitant profits helped ing on July 1, 1967, so that by July 1, Congress decide the issue. 1969, the weight limit for all such par- The Act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. cels had been increased to 40 pounds, 539), authorized Parcel Post, a service and by July 1, 1971, the size limit had that would: been increased to 84 inches. On February 27, 1983, a uniform embrace all other matter, including farm weight and size limit was set at 70 and factory products not now embraced by pounds, 108 inches, for parcels mailed law in either the first, second or third class, from any Post Office to any destina- not exceeding eleven pounds in weight, nor tion within the United States. On greater in size than seventy-two inches in January 10, 1999, the size limit for length and girth combined … Parcel Post increased to 130 inches.

28 The United States Postal Service Postal Savings System be redeemed by sending them to the An Act of Congress of June 25, 1910, Bureau of the Public Debt, Post Office established the Postal Savings System Box 426, Parkersburg, WV 26106-0426. in designated Post Offices, effective January 1, 1911. The legislation aimed Airmail to get money out of hiding, attract the The Post Office Department’s most savings of immigrants accustomed to extraordinary role in transportation was saving at Post Offices in their native probably played in the sky, a role little countries, provide safe depositories known today except to postal employ- for people who had lost confidence in ees and pioneers of American aviation. , and furnish more convenient The U.S. government had been cau- depositories for working people. tious in exploring the airplane’s poten- The system paid two percent inter- tial. In 1905, the War Department con- est per year. Initially, the minimum sidered three separate offers by Orville Parcel Post Truck, Lake deposit was $1, and the balance in and Wilbur Wright to share their scien- Minnetonka, , an account could not exceed $500, tific discoveries on flight, then declined circa 1926 excluding interest. for budgetary reasons. Although by Deposits were slow at first, but by 1908 the Wright brothers had convinced 1929, $153 million was on deposit. many European nations that flight was Savings spurted to $1.2 billion dur- feasible, the U.S. government owned ing the 1930s and jumped again dur- only one airplane, and that crashed. ing World War II, peaking in 1947 at The Post Office Department, how- almost $3.4 billion. ever, was intrigued with the possibility After the war, banks raised their of carrying mail through the skies and interest rates and began offering the authorized its first experimental mail same governmental guarantee as the flight at an aviation meet on Long Postal Savings System. In addition, Island in New York in 1911. Earle United States savings bonds gave high- Ovington, sworn in as a by er interest rates. Deposits in the Postal Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock, Savings System declined, dropping to made daily flights between Garden City $416 million by 1964. Estates and Mineola, New York, drop- On April 27, 1966, the Post Office ping his mail bags from the plane to Department stopped accepting depos- the ground where they were picked up its to existing accounts, refused to by the Mineola postmaster. open new accounts, and cut off inter- Later, in 1911 and 1912, the est payments as the annual anniversary Department authorized another 31 date of existing accounts came up. experimental flights at fairs, carnivals, When the system ended officially and air meets in more than 16 states. July 1, 1967, about $50 million in These flights convinced the Department the unclaimed deposits of more than that the airplane could carry a pay- 600,000 depositors was turned over to load of mail. Officials repeatedly the U.S. Treasury Department to be urged Congress in 1912 to appropriate held in trust indefinitely. money to launch airmail service. In An Act of August 13, 1971, author- 1916, Congress finally authorized the ized the Treasury to turn over the use of $50,000 from steam-and-power- money on deposit to various states and boat service appropriations for airmail jurisdictions, each sharing proportion- experiments. The Department adver- ately based on its own deposits. Some tised for bids for contract service in money was kept for future claims, but Massachusetts and Alaska but received under the Postal Savings System Statute no acceptable responses. of Limitations Act of July 13, 1984 In 1918, Congress appropriated (Public Law 98-359), no claims could $100,000 to establish experimental be brought more than one year after airmail routes. The Post Office Postal Savings System, 1946 enactment. Thus, no claims made after Department urged the Army Signal July 13, 1985, have been honored. Corps to lend its planes and pilots to The above Statute of Limitations the Department to start an airmail ser- applies only to certificates. Postal savings vice. Carrying the mail, the Department stamps and postal savings bonds can argued, would provide invaluable cross-

An American History 1775–2006 29 country experience to student flyers. ter its delivery time on long hauls and The Secretary of War agreed. to lure the public into using airmail, The Post Office Department began the Department’s long-range plans scheduled airmail service between New called for a transcontinental air route York and Washington, D.C., May 15, from New York to San Francisco. The 1918, an important date in commercial first legs of this transcontinental route aviation. Simultaneous takeoffs were — from New York to Cleveland with a made from Washington’s Polo Grounds stop at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, then and from Belmont Park, Long Island, from Cleveland to Chicago, with a stop both trips by way of Philadelphia. at Bryan, Ohio — opened in 1919. A During the first three months of third leg opened in 1920 from Chicago operation, the Post Office Department to Omaha, via Iowa City, and feeder used Army pilots and six Army Curtiss lines were established from St. Louis JN-4H (“Jenny”) training planes. On and Minneapolis to Chicago. The August 12, 1918, the Department took last transcontinental segment, from over all phases of airmail service, using Omaha to San Francisco, via North newly hired civilian pilots and mechan- Platte, Nebraska; Cheyenne, Rawlins, ics and six specially built mail planes and Rock Springs in Wyoming; Salt from the Standard Corporation. Lake City, Utah; and Elko and Reno in Airmail Pilot These early mail planes had no Nevada; opened on September 8, 1920. An airmail pilot immediately handed instruments, radios, or other navigation- At this time, mail was carried on over the mail after flying the last leg of al aids. Pilots flew by dead reckoning. trains at night and flown by day. Still, the transcontinental route from San Forced landings occurred frequently due the new service was 22 hours faster than Francisco to New York in the early to bad weather, but fatalities in those the cross-country all-rail time. 1920s. early months were rare, largely because In August 1920, the Department of the planes’ small size, maneuverabil- began installing radio stations at each ity, and slow landing speed. airfield to provide pilots with current Congress authorized airmail postage weather information. By November, of 24 cents, including special delivery. ten stations were operating, including The public was reluctant to use this two Navy stations. When airmail traffic more expensive service. During the permitted, other government depart- first year, airmail bags contained as ments used the radios instead of the much regular mail as airmail. To bet- telegraph for special messages, and the Airmail Plane A compartment in the wing of this Ford Tri-Motor Mail Passenger plane was lowered to allow mail to be loaded and unloaded, circa 1930.

30 The United States Postal Service Department of Agriculture used the February 15, 1926. As commercial New York to San Francisco radios to transmit weather forecasts and took over, the Post Office Best transportation times for mail stock market reports. Department transferred its lights, February 22, 1921, marked the first airways, and radio service to the time mail was flown both day and Department of Commerce, including 2006 Airplane 6–7 hours night over the entire distance from San 17 fully equipped stations, 89 emer- Francisco to New York. Congress was gency landing fields, and 405 beacons. impressed. It appropriated $1,250,000 Terminal airports, except government for the expansion of airmail service. properties in Chicago, Omaha, and The Post Office Department installed San Francisco, were transferred to additional landing fields, as well as tow- the municipalities in which they were ers, beacons, searchlights, and bound- located. Some planes were sold to ary markers, across the country. The airmail contractors, while others were Department also equipped the planes transferred to interested government with luminescent instruments, naviga- departments. By September 1, 1927, all tional lights, and parachute flares. airmail was carried under contract. 1924 Transcontinental airmail In 1922 and 1923, the Department Charles I. Stanton, an early air- 1 day, 10 hours, 20 minutes was awarded the Collier Trophy for mail pilot who later headed the Civil 1921 Airplane and railroad important contributions to the develop- Aeronautics Administration, said about 3 days, 11 hours ment of aeronautics, especially in safety those early days of scheduled airmail and for demonstrating the feasibility of service: night flights. On February 2, 1925, Congress We planted four seeds … They were passed “An Act to encourage com- airways, communications, navigation aids, mercial aviation and to authorize and multi-engined aircraft. Not all of these the Postmaster General to contract came full blown into the transportation for airmail service.” The Post Office scene; in fact, the last one withered and died 1906 Special through-train Department immediately invited bids and had to be planted over again nearly a 3 days, 18 hours from commercial aviation companies. decade later. But they are the cornerstones 1900 Transcontinental railroad 4 days, 10 hours By the end of 1926, 11 out of 12 con- on which our present world-wide transport 1869 Transcontinental railroad tracted airmail routes were operating. structure is built, and they came, one by one, 7 days, 2 hours The first commercial airmail out of our experience in daily, uninterrupted 35 1860 Railroad to flight in the United States occurred flying of the mail. St. Joseph, MO, then via Pony Express 13–14 days (3–4 railroad, 10 horseback)

1858 Railroad to Tipton, MO, then overland mail route 30–35 days (6–10 railroad, then 24–25 stagecoach)

1849 Ship or steamboat via the Isthmus of Panama 1 month or longer

An American History 1775–2006 31 Airmail Pilot Bill Hopson

William C. Hopson was less than The best system of flying bad impressed with photographs of himself. weather is not so much to go rip roar- Submitting a photo to the Post ing through nasty weather, but to use Office Department’s Airmail Service in your head for something else besides the early 1920s, he wrote: a hat-rack, and fly where bad weather aint.39 Enclosed please find photo of bum pilot … When finished with picture just In 1925, base pay for beginning post in cellar, it’s guaranteed to keep airmail pilots was $2,000 to $2,800, away all rats, mice and other vermin.36 depending on how much night flying they did. Pilots also earned five to Hopson had 741 hours of flight seven cents per mile flown, double for time when he became an airmail night flight. Pilots agreed, in , to pilot on April 14, 1920. He trained at fly in all kinds of weather. Hempstead, Long Island, and won a Hopson’s last flight for the pilot’s incentive contest sponsored by Department was on August 27, 1927. , the Second Assistant On September 1, contract carriers Postmaster General. Hopson flew began transporting all airmail. Hopson 413,034 miles, more than all but two left the Airmail Service two days of the service’s 44 pilots, logging later and was hired to fly National Air 4,043 hours in the air. Transport’s Contract Air Mail Route 17 Like many airmail pilots, Hopson between New York and Chicago. This flew the British-designed De Haviland was the Allegheny route, one of the (DH-4B) biplane. Its front cockpit, most difficult because of limited safe transformed into a hold, could places for emergency landings. carry about 500 pounds of mail, and Hopson died October 18, 1928, the plane cruised at 95–100 mph. when his plane crashed into the top Although considered reliable, DH-4Bs of a tree on a hill near Polk, tended to stall, and their high landing Pennsylvania, during a bad storm. speeds made them difficult to land in One man, grateful that Hopson had short fields. But, wrote Hopson, they saved his life during an earlier flight, “are the only suitable for moun- wrote a tribute that appeared in The tains in all weather.”37 St. Louis Times on October 20, 1928: For most of his career, Hopson flew the Omaha-Chicago leg of the It was a dark, rainy, cloudy day on transcontinental route. In 1925, he the New York end of the air mail. No flew into a severe storm near Anita, planes through in two days. I wanted to Iowa. An air pocket dropped the plane get home to my family in California. almost to the ground before Hopson I insisted on going. It wasn’t bravery regained control. By then, his landing — it was dumb ignorance, and an gear and lower wings had harvested unlimited confidence in all air mail pilots. about 75 bushels of corn. The plane “We will try to get through if you turned over, pinning Hopson under- insist,” Pilot W.P. Hopson said. And we neath. Surrounded by cornstalks and got through, clear to Cleveland. deluged by rain, he fired his revolver Thursday he didn’t get through. into the air to attract attention. The I kinder feel like his skill saved my life. official report said: So “Hoppie,” Old Boy, here's hoping you are piloting the best cloud the The Pilot was only slightly injured, Boss has got in his hangar up there, the mail wet in spots, and the plane and you don’t have to worry about practically a washout.38 low ceiling, engine missing, head winds, or even whether the old rip Between weather and primitive cord will pull in case —. instrumentation, each airmail trip was Yours, an adventure. As Hopson wrote: Will Rogers

32 The United States Postal Service ZIP Code Department had previously recognized During World War II, thousands of that new avenues of transportation experienced postal employees left to would open and had begun to estab- serve with the military. To offset the lish focal points for air, highway, and loss, in May 1943 the Post Office rail transportation. Called the Metro Department began a zoning address System, these transportation centers system in 124 of the largest cities. were set up around 85 of the country’s Under this system, delivery units or larger cities to deflect mail from con- zones were identified by one or two gested city streets. The Metro concept numbers between the city and state — was expanded and eventually became for example, Birmingham 7, Alabama the core of 552 sectional centers, each — so that mail could be separated by serving between 40 and 150 surround- employees who did not have detailed ing Post Offices. scheme knowledge. Once these sectional centers were Twenty years later, the Department delineated, the next step in establish- implemented an even farther reaching ing the ZIP Code was to assign codes plan, the Zoning Improvement Plan to the centers and the postal addresses (ZIP) Code. they served. The existence of postal The social correspondence of the zones in the larger cities, set in motion 19th century had given way, gradu- in 1943, helped to some extent, but in Postmaster General ally then explosively, to business mail. cases where the old zones failed to fit J. Edward Day By 1963, 80 percent of all mail in the within the delivery areas, new numbers Day launched the ZIP Code on United States was business mail. The had to be assigned. July 1, 1963. development of the computer brought By , a five-digit code had centralization of accounts and sent a been assigned to every address through- growing mass of utility bills and pay- out the country. The first digit desig- ments, deposits and receipts, nated a broad geographical area of the advertising, , United States, ranging from zero for transactions, mortgage bills and pay- the Northeast to nine for the far West. ments, and Social Security checks This number was followed by two digits through the mail. Yet while mail vol- that more closely pinpointed popula- ume grew and while the Post Office tion concentrations and those sectional Department had been at the forefront centers accessible to common transpor- of advances in transportation, the tation networks. The final two digits methods and much of the equipment designated small Post Offices or postal used to sort mail in thousands of zones in larger zoned cities. Post Offices remained the same as in The ZIP Code began as scheduled. Benjamin Franklin’s day. A better way At first, use of the new code was not Mr. ZIP to sort mail was needed. mandatory for anyone, but in 1967, the Mr. ZIP was unveiled in October 1962 In June 1962, after a study of mech- Department required mailers of second- during a postmasters’ convention anization, the presidentially appointed and third-class bulk mail to presort by as an icon to promote the ZIP Code Advisory Board of the Post Office ZIP Code. The public and business when it was implemented in 1963. Department made several recommenda- mailers alike adapted He quickly became a widely tions. One was the development of a well to its use. ■ recognized postal symbol. coding system, an idea the Department had considered for a decade or more. A number of coding programs were examined and discarded before the Department selected a system advanced by Department officials. Postmaster General J. Edward Day announced that the ZIP Code would launch July 1, 1963. Preparing for the new system involved a realignment of the mail system. The Post Office

An American History 1775–2006 33 New Deal Art: Eager and Alive

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New directed toward providing economic Artists competed anonymously in Deal sponsored several art programs relief. Instead, the art placed in Post national and regional contests. After to help get people back to work and Offices was intended to help boost receiving a commission, an artist restore confidence in a nation facing the morale of people suffering the was encouraged to consult with the 25 percent unemployment in 1933. effects of the Great Depression with postmaster and other townspeople From 1934 to 1943, the New art that, in the words of President to ensure that the subject would be Deal murals and sculpture seen in Roosevelt, was: meaningful. In 2006, more than 1,150 Post Offices were produced under Post Offices across the continental the Treasury Department’s Section of native, human, eager and alive United States continued to house Painting and Sculpture, later called — all of it painted by their own kind in this uniquely for people the Section of Fine Arts. Unlike the their own country, and painted about to enjoy as they go about their daily Works Progress Administration/ things they know and look at often and lives. Federal Art Project, with which it often have touched and loved.40 is confused, this program was not

Winter Landscape Canton, Missouri Artist Jessie Hull Mayer painted Winter Landscape in oil and tempera for the Canton, Missouri, Post Office, located at 500 Lewis Street, where it still can be seen. The mural was installed in 1940, with restoration work done in 1971 and 2005.

34 The United States Postal Service Postman in Storm Independence, Iowa The oil on canvas mural, Postman in Storm, by Robert Tabor might evoke empathic shivers from visitors to the Independence, Iowa, Post Office at 200 2nd Avenue, Northeast. The mural was installed in January 1938 and restored in 2000.

Air Mail Piggott, Arkansas Air Mail by painter Daniel Rhodes is a nearly 12-foot long work in oil on canvas. The public still can see this work of art, installed in 1941, when they visit the Piggott, Arkansas, Post Office, located at 116 North 3rd Avenue.

Indian Bear Dance Truth or Consequences, Installed in 1938, Indian Bear Dance, painted by Boris Deutsch, is a 12-foot long, oil on canvas mural located in the Geronimo Retail Unit, 300 Main Street, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Post Office. The retail unit is open 24 hours a day for postal customers and visitors interested in New Deal art.

An American History 1775–2006 35 n n n n n n n BEAR, DE n FROSTPROOF, FL n TY TY, GA n CAPTAIN HOOK, HI n DEARY, ID n CAVE IN ROCK, IL n , IN n EARLY, IA n PROTECTION, KS n FANCY FARM, KY n CUT OFF, LA n NORMAL, AL EEK, AK SNOWFLAKE, AZ EVENING SHADE, AR ROUGH AND READY, CA YELLOW JACKET, CO COS COB, CT ME UNITY,

Historically, local communities sug- this problem, specifying short names

Post Office n gested the name for their Post for offices which would “not resemble MD BORING, Names Offices, subject to the approval of the the name of any other post office in Post Office Department. The sources the United States.”42 In the 1890s, the of some Post Office names are lost instructions were relaxed, calling for n to history; there are no postal records names dissimilar to “any other post MA SANDWICH, on name origins. Often Post Offices office in the State.”43 were named after the town they Between 1850 and 1890 the served; sometimes they were named number of Post Offices increased n

after the first postmaster. Many Post from 18,417 to 62,401. Inconsistent MI WOLVERINE, Office names changed over time. geographic names were deemed For example, the name of the Joliet, “a serious and growing evil in the Illinois, Post Office was originally publications of the Government.”44 Juliet, then Romeo, then Juliet again On September 4, 1890, President n before being changed to Joliet. Benjamin Harrison created the United MN ROLLINGSTONE, At first, unique names for Post States Board on Geographic Names Offices were not mandatory. The to settle questions regarding place 1825 United States Official Register names and to induce uniformity. In lists many instances of two Post its first annual report, issued in 1892, Offices with the same name in the the Board singled out the Post Office n same state. Some states had three Department as one of many sources MS ALLIGATOR, Post Offices with the same name of confusion, citing the “thousands of — for example, three Bloomfields cases where the name of the post- in Ohio and three Washingtons in office does not conform to the local

Pennsylvania. name of the place.” The Board out- n ROCKY COMFORT, MO MO COMFORT, ROCKY By the 1840s, the utility of unique lined 13 guiding principles in assign- names was officially recognized. ing names, including a preference Instructions on the application to for locally-accepted names; avoiding establish a Post Office read: the possessive form and the words “city” and “town;” using “burg” over The name of the candidate for “burgh,” “boro” over “borough,” and n postmaster should not be applied “center” over “centre;” and choosing MT BUTTE, HEART as the name of a post office. It is one-word names where possible. preferable to have some LOCAL or On February 13, 1891, Postmaster PERMANENT name, which must not General John Wanamaker ordered be the name of any other office in the postal employees to follow the n State; and you should aim to select a Board’s decisions whenever possible, NE FRIEND, name not appropriated to any office in and two more orders in the 1890s the United States.41 reiterated this. As a result, thousands

of Post Office names were shortened n JACKPOT, NV NV JACKPOT, Despite these instructions, many in the 1890s. Perhaps to calm fears new Post Offices were named after the of sweeping name changes, in his first postmaster. In one 15-year period 1896 Annual Report the Postmaster n

in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, 9 General stated that “in the selec- NH BATH, out of 20 new Post Offices were given tion of new names the Department the postmaster’s first or last name or rule of short, single names is strictly National Archives and Records Administration n

some variant. adhered to, but changes of names NJ KUS, HO HO The Beaufort Post Office was Meanwhile, Post Office names too are not [normally] authorized… at one of the ten largest Post similar to each other continued to offices of long standing.” Some com- Offices in South Carolina when create confusion. In 1852 , munities successfully lobbied to have mail for Saint Johnsbury East and the earlier form of their name rein- this photograph was taken in n LOCO HILLS, NM HILLS, LOCO the 1860s. Saint Johnsbury Centre often went stated. For example, the Pittsburgh, to Saint Johnsbury, causing delays. Pennsylvania, Post Office lost its “h” in Instructions in the 1880s addressed 1894, but regained it in 1911.

NEVERSINK, NY n TOAST, NC n ANTLER, ND n PUT IN BAY, OH n GENE AUTRY, OK n SUBLIMITY, OR n BIRD IN HAND, PA n HOPE, RI n ROUND O, SC n TEA, SD n SODDY DAISY, TN n KNICKERBOCKER, TX n MEXICAN HAT, UT n JAMAICA, VT n ORDINARY, VA n PE ELL, WA n AMIGO, WV n CORNUCOPIA, WI n TEN SLEEP, WY n

36 The United States Postal Service n n n n n n n BEAR, DE n FROSTPROOF, FL n TY TY, GA n CAPTAIN HOOK, HI n DEARY, ID n CAVE IN ROCK, IL n SANTA CLAUS, IN n EARLY, IA n PROTECTION, KS n FANCY FARM, KY n CUT OFF, LA n NORMAL, AL EEK, AK SNOWFLAKE, AZ EVENING SHADE, AR ROUGH AND READY, CA YELLOW JACKET, CO COS COB, CT ME UNITY,

The Postal Operations Manual, n as revised through August 2006, MD BORING, required a Post Office to normally Post Office Buildings: All Shapes and Sizes bear the official name of the town or The architectural style of Post Offices has been as varied as the community it serves. communities they serve. n In 2006, the ten most common MA SANDWICH, Post Office names were:

Clinton (26) n

Franklin (25) MI WOLVERINE, Madison (25) Washington (25) Chester (23) Marion (23) n Greenville (22) MN ROLLINGSTONE, Springfield (22) Georgetown (21) Salem (21)

Facility Names Some have been simple rustic buildings (Deansboro, New York, n In 1998, the Paterson, , 1931) … MS ALLIGATOR, Post Office was designated the “Larry Doby Post Office,” honoring the Hall of Fame outfielder who was

the first African American to play n ROCKY COMFORT, MO MO COMFORT, ROCKY baseball in the American League. In 2003, a Chicago postal facility was designated the “Cesar Chavez Post Office,” honoring civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez. Since at least 1967 some postal facilities have been n named in honor of individuals — usu- MT BUTTE, HEART ally by Congress and sometimes by the Postal Service. About one in six public laws passed by the 108th … while others have inhabited small-town storefronts Congress (2003-2004) concerned

(Childersburg, Alabama, 1941) … n the naming of a postal facility in NE FRIEND, honor of an individual. This name applies to the building that houses

the Post Office, not to the Post n JACKPOT, NV NV JACKPOT, Office itself. The Postal Operations Manual specifies that the Postal Service n

may name a postal facility after an NH BATH, individual “only with the approval of the Postmaster General and only if n

the individual has been deceased for NJ KUS, HO HO at least ten years, with the excep- tion of deceased U.S. Presidents, Postmasters General, or former mem- bers of the [Postal Service’s] Board of n Governors.” These restrictions do not … and a few have stretched over entire city blocks (New York, NM HILLS, LOCO apply to individuals honored by acts New York, circa 1915). of Congress.

NEVERSINK, NY n TOAST, NC n ANTLER, ND n PUT IN BAY, OH n GENE AUTRY, OK n SUBLIMITY, OR n BIRD IN HAND, PA n HOPE, RI n ROUND O, SC n TEA, SD n SODDY DAISY, TN n KNICKERBOCKER, TX n MEXICAN HAT, UT n JAMAICA, VT n ORDINARY, VA n PE ELL, WA n AMIGO, WV n CORNUCOPIA, WI n TEN SLEEP, WY n

An American History 1775–2006 37 Postal Reorganization

y the mid-1960s, the Post Office Jim Farley when our mail volume was 30 Department had deep problems percent of what it is today.45 Bdue to years of financial neglect and fragmented control in the areas of After O’Brien spoke, facilities, equipment, wages and manage- Congressman Tom Steed, chairman of ment efficiency. Highly subsidized rates the subcommittee, asked: bore little relation to costs. In October 1966, the Chicago Post … would this be a fair summary: that at Office ground to a virtual halt under a the present time, as the manager of the Post mountain of mail. In less than a week, Office Department, you have no control over the logjam was broken, but so was confi- your workload, you have no control over the dence in the status quo. rates of revenue, you have no control over the During February 1967 hearings pay rates of the employees that you employ, before the House Appropriations you have very little control over the conditions Subcommittee on Treasury-Post of the service of these employees; you have vir- Office, Postmaster General Lawrence F. tually no control, by the nature of it, of your O’Brien said that the Department was physical facilities and you have only a lim- in a “race with catastrophe.” O’Brien ited control, at best, over the transportation described the crisis: facilities that you are compelled to use — all of which adds up to a staggering amount of At the peak of the crisis in Chicago, ten “no control” in terms of the duties you have million pieces of mail were logjammed. The to perform.46 sorting room floors were bursting with more than 5 million letters, parcels, circulars, The answer was yes. Congress, and magazines that could not be processed. the President, and the Post Office Outbound mail sacks formed small grey Department moved to improve this mountain ranges while they waited to be situation. shipped out. Our new and beleaguered Chicago post- Reform Proposal master summed it up pretty well when he In [April] 1967, President Lyndon B. said: “We had mail coming out of our ears.” Johnson appointed a Commission on Postal What happened in Chicago to cause the Reorganization, chaired by AT&T’s crisis? The answer is not that something spe- Frederick R. Kappel, to cific happened in 1966, but that enough did “determine whether the not happen in the previous 33 years. … we postal system as pres- are trying to move our mail through facili- ently organized is ties largely unchanged since the days of capable of meeting

The Chicago Post Office For a week in October 1966, the Chicago Post Office, at that time the largest Post Office in the world with 60 acres of floor space, ground to a virtual halt under a logjam of 10 million pieces of mail. This crisis triggered a bipartisan look at postal reform.

38 The United States Postal Service the demands of our growing economy and our Service Committee reported a compro- expanding population.” In June 1968, the mise measure containing provisions Commission found that it was not. similar to the commission proposals The men who reached that conclusion endorsed by President Nixon. The bill included six heads of major corporations; the included a 5.4 percent retroactive pay dean of the Harvard Business School; two raise and a system that would allow prominent Democrats; and the President of employees to reach the top of their pay the AFL-CIO. Their view … was that “the grade in 8 rather than 21 years. Postal procedures for administering the ordinary employees called it too little, too late. executive departments of Government are On March 18, a work stoppage inappropriate for the Post Office.” began. It ultimately involved 152,000 Having rejected political management, postal employees in 671 locations. The the Kappel Commission was equally clear President ordered the Army to deliver in rejecting privatization. Leaving the door the mail, and the unions asked Labor open for future consideration, its report Secretary George Shultz to intervene. said that “[T]ransfer of the postal system to Postmaster General Winton M. Blount the private sector is not feasible, largely for agreed to negotiate when the employees reasons of financing; the Post Office should returned to work. They did, and negotia- therefore continue under government owner- tions began March 25. Eight days later, ship. The possibility remains of private own- the negotiating parties recommended ership at some future time, if such a transfer a general wage increase of six percent, Postal Reorganization Act were then considered to be feasible and in the retroactive to December 27, 1969, for all of 1970 public interest.” federal employees. Postal workers would As Postmaster General Winton M. get an additional eight percent increase Blount (far left) watched, President The Commission recommended: if there was agreement on, and enact- Richard M. Nixon signed the ment of, legislation reorganizing the Postal Reorganization Act into A self-supporting government Post Office Department. law on August 12, 1970. The corporation. On April 16, 1970, after continu- act transformed the Post Office ing negotiations, the Department and Department into the United States Elimination of patronage, which union leaders announced agreement Postal Service. controlled all top jobs, all Postmaster on a reorganization plan, which was appointments, and thousands of other embodied in a legislative proposal and positions. sent to Congress by President Nixon. The plan included four provisions that That rates be set by a Board of Postmaster General Blount saw as nec- Directors “after hearings by expert Rate essary: adequate financing authority, Commissioners … subject to veto by removal of the system from politics to concurrent resolution of the Congress.” assure continuity of management, col- lective bargaining, and setting of rates That labor-management impasses by the Postal Service after an oppor- over contracts and pay be referred to tunity for hearings before an impartial the President, who “would be free to rate panel. In addition to the eight establish whatever ad hoc methods he percent pay increase, the bill provided chooses to resolve the matter. The uncer- for negotiation of a new wage schedule tainties for both parties… make for permitting employees to reach the top more meaningful bargaining and are, of their pay grade in eight years. in our view, a source of strength.” 47 On August 3, 1970, by a vote of 57 to 7, the Senate approved the confer- The commission released its recom- ence report on House Resolution 17070, mendations in June 1968. President a modified version of the legislation Richard M. Nixon supported the proposed by the President. Three days commission’s recommendations; oth- later, the House of Representatives ers, including postal union leaders, approved it. On August 12, 1970, opposed it. President Nixon signed into law the most comprehensive postal leg- Postal Reorganization Act islation since the founding of the On March 12, 1970, after extensive hear- Republic, Public Law 91-375, the Postal ings, the House Post Office and Civil Reorganization Act. ■

An American History 1775–2006 39 United States Postal Service

he Post Office Department was authorized the Postal Service to borrow transformed into the United money from the general public and TStates Postal Service, an inde- phased out the general public service pendent establishment of the execu- subsidy, which the Postal Service ended tive branch of the Government of the earlier than required, last accepting an United States. The mission of the Postal operational subsidy in 1982. It also Service remained the same, as stated in authorized appropriations to reimburse Title 39 of the U.S. Code: the Postal Service for carrying congres- sionally established categories of free The Postal Service shall have as its basic and reduced-rate mail and required that function the obligation to provide postal ser- rates for each class of direct vices to bind the Nation together through the and indirect costs attributable to that personal, educational, literary, and business class, plus a portion of institutional correspondence of the people. It shall provide costs. prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal Personnel services to all communities. The act established a postal career service, a framework that permits terms The new Postal Service officially and conditions of employment to be began operations on July 1, 1971, when set through collective bargaining. It also the Postmaster General ceased to be a prohibited political recommendations member of the President’s Cabinet. The for appointments within the Postal Postal Service received: Service. The Civil Service retirement program was retained. Operational authority vested in a Board of Governors and Postal Service Labor-management relations executive management, rather than in The act authorized collective bargaining Congress. on wages and working conditions under laws applying to private industry Authority to issue public bonds to and provided for binding arbitration if finance postal buildings and mechani- an impasse persists 180 days after the zation. start of bargaining. The ban on strikes, applicable to all federal employees, Direct collective bargaining between remained. The act authorized the representatives of management and the National Labor Relations Board to unions. determine proper bargaining units, supervise representative elections, A new rate-setting procedure, built and enforce the unfair labor practices around an independent Postal Rate provisions. It also protected the rights Commission. of all employees to form, join, or assist a labor organization or to refrain from The Postal Reorganization Act such activity. changed the United States postal system in many ways. Transportation The act generally extended existing laws Finances and rates governing transportation of mail, while The act established an independent providing some additional flexibility. Postal Rate Commission of five mem- The distinctions between various bers, appointed by the U.S. President categories of motor carriers, previously with the advice and consent of the contracted by the Post Office U.S. Senate, to recommend postal rates Department, were eliminated. The Civil and mail classifications for adoption Aeronautics Board retained authority to by the Postal Service Governors. It regulate rates for airmail transportation,

40 The United States Postal Service but the Postal Service also was granted Postal Mechanization and Early limited authority to contract directly Automation with the airlines for air transportation At the turn of the 20th century, despite services. growing mail volume and limited work space, the Post Office Department relied Pay on antiquated mailhandling methods, The act specified that the Postal Service such as the pigeonhole method from would maintain compensation and colonial times. Although crude sorting benefits for its officers and employees machines were proposed by inven- comparable to that offered by the pri- tors of canceling machines in the early vate sector for similar work. However, 1900s and tested in the 1920s, the Great the act mandated that no officer or Depression and World War II postponed employee be paid compensation at a widespread development of mechaniza- rate higher than a Cabinet officer. tion until the mid-1950s.

Rates for Domestic Letters

Before the middle of the 19th and distance. Beginning in 1863, century, rates were based on the domestic letter rates became number of sheets in a letter and “uniform,” that is, they were the distance it was traveling. In based solely on weight, regard- 1845, rates were based on weight less of distance.

(Postage listed below is in cents.)

Effective Date Per 1/2 Ounce March 3, 1863 3 March 3, 1883 2

Per Ounce July 1, 1885 2 November 3, 1917 3 July 1, 1919 2 July 6, 1932 3 August 1, 1958 4 January 7, 1963 5 January 7, 1968 6 May 16, 1971 8 March 2, 1974 10

First Ounce Each Additional Ounce September 14, 1975 10 9 December 31, 1975 13 11 May 29, 1978 15 13 March 22, 1981 18 17 November 1, 1981 20 17 February 17, 1985 22 17 April 3, 1988 25 20 February 3, 1991 29 23 January 1, 1995 32 23 January 10, 1999 33 22 January 7, 2001 34 21 July 1, 2001 34 23 June 30, 2002 37 23 January 8, 2006 39 24

An American History 1775–2006 41 In 1956, the Post Office Department to the Burroughs Corporation for ten began intense research on coding sys- machines. The machine was successfully tems used in 13 other countries and tested in Detroit in 1959 and eventually began to work with the U.S. Bureau of became the backbone of letter sorting Standards and the Rabinow operations during the 1960s and 70s. In Company, among others, to develop a 1959, the Post Office Department also system best suited to U.S. postal needs. awarded its first volume order for mech- They examined codes for extracting anization to Pitney-Bowes, Inc., for the information and the memory core need- production of 75 Mark II facer-cancelers. ed by automated letter sorting machines. The Department’s accelerated mech- The Post Office Department also ini- anization program began in the late tiated projects and awarded contracts to 1960s and consisted of semiautomatic develop a number of machines and tech- equipment such as the MPLSM, the nologies, including letter sorters, facer- single position letter sorting machine cancelers, automatic address readers, (SPLSM), and the facer-canceler. In parcel sorters, advanced tray conveyors, November 1965, the Department put flat sorters, and letter mail coding and a high-speed optical character reader stamp-tagging techniques. (OCR) into service in the Detroit Post The first semiautomatic parcel Office. This first-generation machine sorting machine was introduced in was connected to an MPLSM frame Baltimore in 1956. A year later, a for- and read the city/state/ZIP Code line eign-built multiposition letter sorting of typed addresses to sort letters to one machine (MPLSM), the Transorma, was of 277 pockets. Subsequent handlings installed and tested for the first time in of the letter required that the address be an American Post Office. read again. Gehring Mail Distributing The first American-built letter Mechanization increased productiv- Machine, Washington, D.C., sorter, based on a 1,000-pocket machine ity. By the mid-1970s, however, it was 1922 adapted from a foreign design, was clear that cheaper, more efficient meth- Clerks tested new letter sorting developed during the late 1950s. The ods and equipment were needed if the equipment to help speed mail service. first production contract was awarded Postal Service was to offset rising costs associated with growing mail volume. By 1972, the Postal Service had begun to

42 The United States Postal Service examine how to sort mail in the order ments, such as city blocks or a single a letter carrier would deliver it. In 1978, building. Following the introduction the Postal Service also began to develop of this ZIP+4 code in 1983, the first an expanded ZIP Code to reduce the delivery phase of the new single-line number of mailpiece handlings. OCR channel sorters and BCSs was The new code required new equip- completed by mid-1984. By the end ment. In September 1982, the first of 1984, 252 OCRs were installed in computer-driven, single-line OCR was 118 major mail processing centers installed in Los Angeles. The equipment across the country and were process- required a letter to be read only once ing an average of 6,200 pieces of mail at the originating office by an OCR, per workhour — a substantial increase which printed a on the enve- compared to the 1,750 pieces per work lope. At the destination Post Office, hour processed by MPLSMs. a less expensive barcode sorter (BCS) sorted the mail by reading its barcode. ZIP+4 Code The Postal Service had begun to The ZIP+4 code added a hyphen and develop an expanded ZIP Code of four digits to the existing five-digit ZIP four add-on digits that would speed Code. The first five numbers continued processing when coupled with new to identify an area of the country and automation equipment capable of delivery office to which mail is directed. sorting mail to small geographic seg- The sixth and seventh numbers denoted

City Letter Carriers, Mobile, Alabama, 1956 City carriers sorted mail into delivery sequence by hand until the late 20th century.

An American History 1775–2006 43 a delivery sector, which may be several saving mailers time as well. Previously, blocks, a group of streets, a group of had been restricted to the Post Office boxes, several office build- lower right hand corner of each piece ings, a single high-rise office building, of mail. a large apartment building or a small In 1991, the Postal Service offered geographic area. The last two numbers discounted rates to mailers who pre- denoted a delivery segment, which barcoded their mail, which then could might be one floor of an office build- bypass multiline OCRs, saving the ing, one side of a street between inter- Postal Service time and money — sav- secting streets, specific departments in a ings passed on to the mailers. These firm, or specific Post Office boxes. discounts helped the percentage of mail On October 1, 1983, the Governors with customer-applied barcodes jump of the Postal Service approved price from just 7 percent in 1990 to 59 per- incentives for First-Class Mail bearing cent in 2000. the ZIP+4 Code. Throughout the 1990s, advanced facer-canceler systems (AFCSs) were The Automation Age deployed. These systems face (orient) An expanding delivery network — with and cancel 30,000 pieces of mail per up to two million new addresses added hour — nearly twice as much as the older annually — and uncertain revenue Mark II facer-cancelers they replaced. growth continually challenge the Postal AFCSs sort mail by address type (script, Service to operate more efficiently. Its barcoded, and machine imprinted) for Corporate Automation Plan, approved routing to proper equipment. In 2002 in 1988, was considered the “corner- and 2003, nearly one-third of AFCSs stone to achieving quality mail service were modified with video facing units, at reduced costs,” since mail can be which use images to orient letters, avoid- processed using automation equip- ing manual processing of letters which ment at one-tenth the cost of manual cannot be oriented in the normal way, processing.48 The Postal Service deliv- that is, by looking for special ink in the ered 32 percent more mail with nearly stamp or postage area. Each major pro- 9 percent fewer employees in 2006 cessing facility was given at least one of compared to 1988, largely because of these enhanced AFCSs. its successful implementation of mail In 2005, all 1,086 AFCSs were given processing technology. video facing units and were upgraded with OCRs so they could identify the Sorting Letters Better five-digit destination ZIP Code on each Letters account for the greatest amount letter. Advanced facer-cancelers were of mail volume — about 73 percent also upgraded with doubles detectors so in 2006 — so the Postal Service first the Postal Service could reduce rehan- focused on automating the processing dling mail that stuck together as it went of letters. In the 1990s, new generations through equipment. That same year, a of equipment and technology dramati- switch was made to ink jet cancelers, cally speeded up letter processing. which included a time stamp, allowed By 1989, multiline optical character different messages, and were easier readers had replaced single-line optical to use and maintain than previous Automated Equipment character readers, allowing equipment mechanical cancelers. Top: Delivery barcode sorter and to read and barcode letters without To take letter mail processing to the its crew of two, 1992. One person a ZIP+4 code so this mail could be next level — sorting it automatically to feeds in stacks of letters, the other sorted on high-speed barcode sorters the customer level — the Postal Service “sweeps” out sorted letters into trays to the individual carriers who would lengthened the nine-digit ZIP+4 code in delivery order. deliver the mail. In 1991, BCSs were by two digits in 1990. These additional Middle: Letters zip through modern retrofitted so they could scan a wider digits represent specific addresses, sorting equipment at the rate of ten area on a piece of mail to find the called “delivery points.” First tested letters per second, 2003. barcodes, essentially anywhere on the in 1991, barcodes representing these Bottom: The input subsystem on a envelope face. This gave mailers more delivery points enable equipment to delivery barcode sorter tags mail that flexibility in designing their mail, plac- sort letters into trays in delivery order, needs further processing at a remote ing their barcodes, and being able to so carriers can get out on the street to encoding center, circa 1997. barcode letters as they addressed them, deliver mail more quickly. The Postal

44 The United States Postal Service Service retrofitted existing equipment to sort mail to delivery points and, in late 1991, deployed the first delivery barcode sorters. Since then, the Postal Service has installed more than 8,900 delivery barcode sorters and carrier sequence barcode sorters (smaller units with a similar function used since 1995). By 1998, these machines had almost completely replaced the old multi-position letter sorting machines. Today, letter mail arrives in trays in the order of delivery to almost all city car- riers and more than 75 percent of rural carriers. The remote barcoding system, first tested in Tampa, Florida, in 1992, pro- vides the Postal Service with a means to apply barcodes to mail that can- not be processed by multiline optical character readers (MLOCRs) when the print quality of an address is poor or the handwriting difficult to read. The MLOCRs were modified to include a video encoding feature that sends an image of an illegible address to a remote computer reader (RCR) or a data conversion operator at a remote encoding center, without removing the generated barcodes exceeded the num- Carrier Sequence Barcode mail from the processing plant. Since ber applied by the remote barcoding Sorter, 2004 1996, advanced facer-cancelers have system. An operator sweeps mail from the captured and sent images of hand- Between 1997 and 2003, the per- sorter’s output bins, at his left, to the written addresses. If the RCR cannot centage of machine-readable handwrit- machine’s feeder belt, at his right, decipher the address, an operator at ten addresses jumped from less than for another pass through the sorter. the center reads the address and keys 2 percent to about 80 percent. Along The output of the next pass will be in the information so the piece can be with other advances, improved address sorted to more specific neighborhood barcoded for proper sorting. recognition increased letter mail pro- locations. The number of remote encoding ductivity in processing plants by nearly centers peaked by 1997, when 23,000 50 percent from 1993 to 2001. employees at 55 centers nationwide Since 2000, the Postal Service has keyed in address information to bar- worked to increase the thickness and code about 24 billion letters. The weight of mail that can be processed number of centers began declining on automation equipment. In 2000, the just two years later, in 1999, as more eight percent of letter mail that still had prebarcoded letters entered the mail- to be processed manually accounted stream. Better technology also had for half of the labor cost for process- improved incrementally the address ing letters. That year, the Postal Service recognition rates of the MLOCRs installed six prototype delivery barcode and RCRs. For example, in 1997 sorter expanded capability machines at MLOCRs received new gray scale three processing plants. Expanded capa- cameras, and RCRs received new bility machines process a wider range of handwriting analysis software, which letter mail, from flimsy to thick, heavy helped both machines decipher more pieces, that postal workers previously addresses. In 1998, the Postal Service sorted by hand. Carrier sequence bar- nationally deployed new software that code sorters received additional stackers enabled MLOCRs to read more than in 2001 and 2002, allowing machines 50 percent of addresses. In 1999, for to sort to a greater number of delivery the first time, the number of MLOCR- points on a route.

An American History 1775–2006 45 In 2000, the Postal Service also barcode mail when address barcodes began to deploy state-of-the-art DIOSS were unreadable. systems (delivery input/output subsys- In 2005, the Postal Service com- tem barcode sorters), an upgraded deliv- pleted deployment of more than 9,000 ery barcode sorter. With up to 302 bins wide-field-of-view cameras, which to receive mail — five times more than replaced aging wide area barcode read- the equipment it replaced — DIOSS ers. The newer cameras read a barcode can provide a finer, more localized sort, virtually anywhere on the front of an reducing the number of handlings and envelope as well as information-based accelerating delivery times. Around indicia codes such as “electronic post- the same time, identification code sort age” and barcodes on certified mail. systems were added to barcode sort- In 2004, to increase its efficiency ers, so the machines could sort mail, if in handling undeliverable-as-addressed need be, using the fluorescent barcodes (UAA) letter mail, the Postal Service sprayed on the backs of envelopes by began deploying the postal automated the remote barcoding system to identify redirection system (PARS) to processing mailpieces. This saved two additional plants nationwide. PARS automates the passes through sorting machines to re- handling of UAA letter mail, reduc- ing the number of times it needs to be handled and the costs of processing it Operators Feed AFSM 100 … by intercepting portions of this mail Operators put stacks of vertically- aligned (oversize mail) into feeders. The flats travel one at a time through feeders, OCRs, and buffers to the injectors, which insert the flats, one-by-one, into cartridges.

46 The United States Postal Service earlier in the sorting process. PARS also tors keying in part of the ZIP Code, automates the processing of change the FSM 775 could sort about 6,200 of address forms and provides two flats per hour into 100 bins. The FSM revenue-generating services: electronic 881, introduced ten years later in 1992, notification to mailers who subscribe could sort about 10,000 flats per hour to the address change service, and hard with four operators. copy notification to mailers who add In 1996, FSM 1000s were intro- an endorsement to their mail. duced to handle the one out of four flats that could not go through the Processing Flats FSM 881s, including newspapers, poly- Building on the success of its letter wrapped material, and flats weighing automation program, the Postal Service more than 20 ounces. In 1998, the began to automate the processing of Postal Service began upgrading flat sort- flats. Largely comprised of catalogs, ing machines, adding barcode readers magazines, and oversize envelopes, to FSM 1000s and optical character flats make up nearly 30 percent of the readers to FSM 881s. Beginning in mailstream. 2002, automated flats feeders and opti- In 1982, the Postal Service deployed cal character readers were added to the its first flat sorting machine (FSM), the FMS 1000s, improving the machines’ FSM 775. Previously, all flats had been throughputs and reducing the number processed manually. With four opera- of people required to staff them. The first fully automated flat sort- ing machine (AFSM 100) was installed

… Up To 300,000 Flats Per Day Inside the AFSM 100, cartidges transport flats up an inclined conveyor (shown at far left) to output bins, where flats are sorted to specific geographic locations based on their barcode, 2005.

An American History 1775–2006 47 Sorting Flats Postal Service employees load flats into an AFSM 100 for sorting, 2001.

in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1999. Each even more manual labor. Automatic AFSM can process 300,000 flats a day, induction systems feed flats into the almost three times as many as the machine, and tray handling systems equipment it replaced. The AFSM 100 automatically label and offload full has a video encoding feature that sends trays of sorted mail and reload the images of unreadable addresses to the machine with empty trays. remote barcoding sytem for barcod- By 2005, flats productivity had ing, without removing the mail from nearly doubled in processing facilities, mailstream. Widescale deployment of with about 80 percent of flats processed AFSM 100s was completed in 2002 on the AFSM 100, but time spent sort- with 534 systems installed at 240 mail ing flats at delivery offices remained the processing facilities nationwide. same. Letter carriers spent an average In 2004, the Postal Service began of three hours a day sorting their mail to install a system called flat ID code into delivery order. Unlike most letters, sort on all AFSM 100s. It tags each flats did not arrive in delivery order. In flat with a special identification code. the late 1990s, the Postal Service began Subsequent operations to sort the to explore ways to sort flats into deliv- flats use these ID tags. Beginning in ery order or “carrier walk” sequence. In 2005, automatic induction systems April 2006, a prototype flats sequencing and automatic tray handling systems system was installed in Indianapolis for were added to AFSM 100s, saving field testing.

48 The United States Postal Service Processing Parcels The Postal Service also has turned its attention to speeding up the processing of parcels, which make up a little over one percent of mail volume. Small par- cel and bundle sorters were introduced in 1988, mechanizing one of the most labor-intensive operations in the Postal Service. The small parcel and bundle sorter uses a conveyor system with four to six induction stations where opera- tors face and key mail based on ZIP Code. Then, conveyors transport the mail to specific bins for delivery or further processing. Beginning in 1999, feed systems were added to the sorters, reducing labor costs. In 1992, the Postal Service began to deploy package barcode sorting systems to process prebarcoded parcels and to apply barcoded labels to non- barcoded parcels. In 2001, singulate, scan, and induction units were intro- duced. These units send parcels, one by one, through a unit that measures and weighs them, and then through a scanning tunnel that reads the bar- code. Next, parcels are fed automati- cally onto the sorter at a rate of more than 5,000 per hour. In 2004 the Postal Service began to deploy the automated package processing system (APPS), which uses an OCR/barcode reader/video coding system to sort more packages more quickly. Deployment of the APPS, which can process up to 9,500 parcels per hour, continued through 2006.

Automating Mail Handling and Acceptance The Postal Service has used automation In 1998, the Postal Service began Robotic Arm, 1999 not only to sort mail but also to move using ABE (automation barcode evalu- The Postal Service began integrating containers of mail in processing plants ator) systems to help ensure that large robotics into its mail handling in 1997. and to verify the preparation of large mailings had clear, readable barcodes mailings that can receive discounts. so they could be processed efficiently. In 1996, the Board of Governors In 2001, the Postal Service introduced approved funds to integrate robot- MERLIN (mailing evaluation read- ics into major mail processing plants. ability lookup instrument) to further In 1997, the Postal Service started to automate the labor-intensive process of deploy 100 robotic tray handling sys- evaluating bulk mailings for discount tems, automating the sorting and load- eligibility. In addition to analyzing bar- ing of trayed letter mail to containers or codes, MERLIN can analyze mail size pallets for transportation. In 2000 and and weight and produce the necessary 2001, 100 gantry robots were deployed reports for mail acceptance. MERLIN — essentially arms running along over- samples all mailings of more than head tracks that can distribute tubs and 10,000 pieces and some smaller bulk trays of mail. mailings.

An American History 1775–2006 49 to help small businesses and home office users. In March 1998, the Postal Service authorized tests of PC Postage. Developed and distributed by USPS-approved vendors, PC Postage produces information-based indicia — digitally-encoded, two-dimensional barcodes that postal customers can print directly onto envelopes or address labels. Users have access to postage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from their homes or offices. In 2004, the Postal Service began market-testing Customized Postage, which enables customers to personalize PC Postage with digital images. In 2002, the Postal Service launched Click-N-Ship on its Web site, www.usps.com. Click-N-Ship lets cus- tomers create shipping labels, calculate and pay postage, and insure packages online. In its first six months of opera- tion, customers used the service to produce more than one million ship- ping labels. In January 2006 a mailing list feature was added to Click-N-Ship, allowing users to create group mailing lists and store up to 3,000 addresses. In 2004, the Postal Service launched the PostalOne! system on its Web site. PostalOne! gives business mailers access Automated Postal Center Giving Customers Greater Access to a streamlined process for mail entry, (APC), 2004 The Postal Service has installed auto- payment, tracking, and reporting. The Postal Service installed 2,500 mated equipment in lobbies to better In 2004, the Postal Service also APCs at postal facilities nationwide serve Post Office customers. In the deployed 2,500 mailing kiosks called in 2004. APCs offer customers 1990s, the focus of this effort was the Automated Postal Centers (APCs) self-service access to most retail integrated retail terminal (IRT), a com- nationwide. Like ATMs in banks, APCs transactions. puter that incorporates an electronic offer customers an alternative to coun- scale. It provides information to cus- ter service in busy Post Offices, provid- tomers during a transaction and simpli- ing self-service mailing with an integrat- fies postal accounting by consolidating ed scale and a touch-screen menu. data. Postage validation imprinters attached to the IRTs produce self-stick- Intelligent Mail ing postage labels with a barcode for Since at least 1999, the Postal Service automated processing. has worked to provide customers with In 1998, the Postal Service started more information on each mailpiece rolling out the POS (point of service) as it travels through the system. The ONE system. By 2005, more than goal is to have an “intelligent mail” 60,000 retail terminals were installed in system in place by 2009. The system more than 15,000 facilities nationwide. would operate like a Global Positioning By providing state-of-the-art computer System for mail, using a standardized technology and connecting retail units barcode on each piece of mail and mail through phone lines or satellite con- container that will enable customers to nections, POS ONE provides real-time see where their mail is at every step. information and faster, more efficient Intelligent Mail refers to the cap- service. ture and sharing of information about The Postal Service also has taken each mailpiece throughout the system, advantage of personal computers from its point of origin to its destina-

50 The United States Postal Service tion. Realizing that today’s custom- ers want to know more about their mail, in the last seven years the Postal Service has increased the transparency of its mailstream. In March 1999, the Postal Service launched Delivery Confirmation service to provide customers with the date, time, and ZIP Code of delivery for Priority Mail and parcels. Customers call a toll-free number or visit www. usps.com. More than 300,000 handheld scanners were deployed to letter carriers to support Delivery Confirmation ser- vice. In 2001, the Postal Service added Signature Confirmation, allowing cus- These will uniquely identify each mail- Information-rich Barcode tomers to request a copy of the signa- piece, provide distribution information, With four types of vertical bars ture of the individual who received the and point to services such as address rather than two, the new barcode mailpiece. In 2006, the Postal Service change, special services, tracking, and can hold nearly three times as much began deploying new handheld scan- delivery confirmation. information as previous versions. ners that can take a digital image of the In 2003, the Postal Service began signature, allowing customers to see it experimenting with new barcoding the same day. systems to expand data encoding capac- In 2002, the Postal Service officially ity and, at the same time, reduce space launched Confirm service, which pro- occupied on a piece of mail by mul- vides tracking information to partici- tiple barcodes. The solution, finalized pating letter and flat mailers. Mailers in 2005, was a barcode that uses four print an identifying barcode, known vertical bar types rather than two. It as a PLANET Code, on their mail. encodes almost three times more infor- Automated equipment reads the bar- mation than the current codes. It also code and makes information available can consolidate information from both to the mailer via the on the the POSTNET and PLANET barcodes time, place, and operation that handled and has the ability to incorporate many the mail. other services in the future. The new In January 2003, the Postal Service barcode was tested by Confirm service created the Intelligent Mail and users in 2005. Beginning September 1, Address Quality group, to focus its 2006, Confirm service subscribers and efforts towards developing information- address change service users were given rich mail. The group’s intelligent mail the option of using the new barcode, plan is based on adopting one informa- with other services to follow as technol- tion-rich code for each type of mail. ogy evolves. ■

Intelligent Scanning New handheld scanners, deployed in 2006, enable letter carriers to not only scan barcodes but also to take a digital image of customer signatures to share with mailers the same day.

An American History 1775–2006 51 The Postal Service Board of Governors

The Board of Governors was estab- Governors can be removed only for dards, capital investments, and facili- lished by the Postal Reorganization cause. ties projects exceeding $25 million. It Act of August 12, 1970. It is compa- The Governors are chosen to also approves officer compensation. rable to a board of directors of a pri- represent the public interest and A chairman and a vice chairman vate corporation. The Board includes cannot be representatives of special organize and conduct the meet- nine Governors who are appointed interests. Not more than five of the ings. The Governors elect the chair- by the President with the advice and nine may belong to the same political man and the vice chairman from consent of the Senate. party. among the members of the Board. The nine Governors select a The Postmaster General and the There are four standing committees: Postmaster General, who becomes a Deputy Postmaster General par- Audit and Finance, Capital Projects, member of the Board, and those ten ticipate with the Governors on all Compensation and Management select a Deputy Postmaster General, matters except for voting on rate or Resources, and Governance and who also serves on the Board. classification adjustments, adjust- Strategic Planning. The Postmaster General serves ments to the budget of the Postal The Governors employ a full- at the pleasure of the Governors Regulatory Commission, and elec- time secretary, who serves as the for an indefinite term. The Deputy tions of the chairman and vice primary staff assistant to the Board. Postmaster General serves at the chairman of the Board. While the The secretary is generally responsible pleasure of the Governors and the entire Board approves requests to for coordinating the resources of the Postmaster General. the independent Postal Regulatory Postal Service so that the Board fulfills Originally, Governors of the Commission for changes in rates and its statutory duties in the most effi- Postal Service were appointed classes of mail, the Governors alone, cient and informed manner possible. for terms of nine years. In 1970, upon receiving a recommendation The Board of Governors meets when the Board was established, from the Commission, may approve, on a regular basis, generally in the first nine appointments were allow under protest, reject, or modify Washington, D.C., but meetings for staggered terms of one to that recommendation. may be scheduled in some other nine years. Subsequent appoint- The entire Board determines the city where the members can see ments were made for a full nine dates on which new rates and classifi- firsthand a Postal Service or large years or, when vacancies occurred, cation adjustments become effective. mailer’s operation. for the remainder of the unex- The Board directs the exercise All meetings are open to the public pired terms. However, the Postal of the powers of the Postal Service, unless the Board specifically votes to Accountability and Enhancement directs and controls its expenditures, close all or part of a meeting in line Act of 2006 changed the terms of reviews its practices, conducts long- with exemptions permit- the Governors from nine to seven range planning, and sets policies on ted by the Government years. Each Governor’s term expires all postal matters. The Board takes in the Sunshine Act on December 8 of a given year. up matters such as service stan- [5 U.S.C. 552 b (b)].

Post Office Department Headquarters, 1899-1934 This granite building on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the White House, was the last to simultaneously house both postal Headquarters and the Washington, D.C., Post Office. Horse-drawn wagons brought mail to the building in its early years. By the time postal Headquarters moved to a larger building, almost all mail was carried by motor vehicles.

52 The United States Postal Service Governors of the Postal Service

Date Appointed Date Appointed Theodore W. Braun January 11, 1971 J. H. Tyler McConnell December 18, 1985 Charles H. Codding January 11, 1971 Robert Setrakian December 18, 1985 Patrick E. Haggerty January 11, 1971 Crocker Nevin* August 15, 1986 Andrew D. Holt January 11, 1971 Norma Pace May 21, 1987 George E. Johnson January 11, 1971 Ira D. Hall November 23, 1987 Frederick R. Kappel January 11, 1971 Tirso del Junco, M.D. July 15, 1988 Elmer T. Klassen January 11, 1971 Susan E. Alvarado July 15, 1988 Crocker Nevin* January 11, 1971 Bert H. Mackie December 9, 1988 Myron A. Wright January 11, 1971 LeGree S. Daniels August 6, 1990 John Y. Ing June 22, 1972 Sam Winters November 23, 1991 Robert E. Holding October 26, 1972 Einar V. Dyhrkopp November 24, 1993 Hayes Robertson May 14, 1974 S. David Fineman May 26, 1995 William A. Irvine March 3, 1975 Robert F. Rider May 26, 1995 Hung Wai Ching August 5, 1976 Ned R. McWherter October 2, 1995 Robert L. Hardesty August 16, 1976 Ernesta Ballard November 13, 1997 William J. Sullivan January 12, 1979 John F. Walsh November 16, 1999 Richard R. Allen October 5, 1979 Alan C. Kessler November 3, 2000 George W. Camp October 5, 1979 Albert V. Casey August 6, 2002 Paula D. Hughes August 19, 1980 James C. Miller III April 22, 2003 David E. Babcock August 20, 1980 Carolyn Lewis Gallagher November 3, 2004 Timothy L. Jenkins August 20, 1980 Louis J. Giuliano November 3, 2004 Wallace N. Hyde December 31, 1980 John S. Gardner January 6, 2006 John R. McKean March 9, 1982 Mickey D. Barnett August 17, 2006 Peter E. Voss July 28, 1982 James H. Bilbray August 17, 2006 John L. Ryan May 10, 1983 Katherine C. Tobin August 17, 2006 Ruth O. Peters December 2, 1983 Ellen C. Williams August 17, 2006 Frieda Waldman January 6, 1984 Thurgood Marshall Jr. December 15, 2006 John N. Griesemer December 12, 1984

* Crocker Nevin served two separate terms.

Postal Service Headquarters, 1973-Present Vlastimil Koubek designed the Postal Service Headquarters building. The building’s façade has precast concrete panels in a terra cotta color and is located in Southwest Washington, D.C., just a few blocks north of the Potomac River.

An American History 1775–2006 53 Citizens’ The Post Office Department’s Citizens’ committee decided to establish stan- Stamp Advisory Committee was dards for the selection of subjects for Stamp Advisory established March 21, 1957, by commemorative stamps. Committee Orders of the Postmaster General These guidelines have been 56304 and 56305, to provide a changed, as needed, over the years, breadth of judgment and depth of and included the following in 2006: experience in various areas which influence the subject matter, character, It is a general policy that U.S. and beauty of postage stamps. As postage stamps and statio- announced in the Federal Register of nery primarily will feature Tuesday, March 26, 1957: American or American-relat- ed subjects. The Stamp Advisory Committee shall advise the Post Office Depart- No living person shall be ment on any matters pertaining to the honored by portrayal on U.S. subject matter, design, production postage. and issuance of postage stamps. Commemorative stamps The initial seven-member committee or postal stationery items was appointed by Postmaster General honoring individuals usu- Arthur E. Summerfield on March 26, ally will be issued on, or in 1957. Those serving were Deputy conjunction with, signifi- Director of the United States Information cant anniversaries of their Agency Abbott Washburn; three well- birth, but no postal item will known philatelists — Franklin R. Bruns, be issued sooner than ten Jr., Sol Glass, and Harry L. Lindquist; years after the individual’s and three artists — Arnold Copeland, death.49 The only exception president of Westport Artists, Inc.; to the ten-year rule is the Ervine Metzl, president of the Society issuance of stamps honor- of Illustrators; and William H. Buckley, ing deceased United States president of the New York Art Directors Presidents. They may be Club. Franklin Bruns served as the first honored with a memorial chairman. stamp on the first birth anni- The artists were enthusiastic versary following death. about the committee and the con- cept of using the skills of members Events of historical signifi- from their groups to help design cance shall be considered for United States postage stamps. (The commemoration only on combined memberships of the three anniversaries in multiples of groups included an estimated 95 50 years. percent of all commercial artists in the country.) All three artists played Only events, persons, and Stamps recommended by an important role in improving post- themes of widespread the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory age stamp designs by helping the national appeal and signifi- Committee and approved by Post Office Department transition cance will be considered for the Postmaster General for from near total reliance upon the commemoration. Events, issuance in 2007 commemorate, Bureau of Engraving and Printing to persons, or themes of local clockwise from upper left: Henry commercial artists. or regional significance may Wadsworth Longfellow, James The first meeting of the Citizens’ be recognized by a philatelic Stewart, Pacific Lighthouses, Ella Stamp Advisory Committee was or special postal cancella- Fitzgerald, Mendez v. Westminster opened by Postmaster General tion, which may be arranged School District, Nature of Summerfield on April 30, 1957. As through the local postmaster. America: Alpine Tundra, and one of its first orders of business, the Pollination.

54 The United States Postal Service Stamps or stationery items causes determined to be in Today the committee consists shall not be issued to honor the national public interest of up to 15 members appointed by fraternal, political, sectar- and appropriate. Semipostal the Postmaster General, who also ian, or service/charitable stamps are sold for a price appoints the chairman. The mem- organizations. Stamps or above their postage value. bers share a respect for stationery shall not be issued The difference between the and are experts on history, science to promote or advertise com- sales price and the postage and technology, art, , mercial enterprises or prod- value of semipostal stamps sports, or other subjects of public ucts. Commercial products consists of an amount (less interest. or enterprises might be used a deduction for the Postal The committee meets four times to illustrate more general Service’s reasonable costs) a year to review suggestions for new concepts related to American to be given to other execu- postage stamps. Committee mem- culture. tive agencies in furtherance bers receive travel expenses, and of specified causes. The nongovernment members receive Stamps or stationery items Postal Service issues a meeting stipend. Most subjects shall not be issued to honor semipostals in accordance chosen to appear on stamps and cities, towns, municipalities, with legislation. postal stationery are suggested counties, primary or second- by the public. The Postal Service ary schools, hospitals, librar- Requests for commemora- receives approximately 50,000 pro- ies, or similar institutions. tion of universities and other posals each year. Every proposal is Due to the limitations placed institutions of higher educa- considered. on annual postal programs tion shall be considered only The committee’s primary goal and the vast number of such for stamped cards and only is to select subjects that are both locales, organizations, and in connection with the 200th interesting and educational for rec- institutions in existence, it anniversaries of their found- ommendation to the Postmaster would be difficult to single out ing. General, who decides which stamps any one for commemoration. will be issued. No stamp shall be consid- Besides recommending new Requests for observance of ered for issuance if one subjects for commemorative stamps statehood anniversaries will treating the same subject each year, the committee also sug- be considered for commemo- has been issued in the past gests subjects for the extensive line rative postage stamps only at 50 years. The only excep- of regular stamps. The committee intervals of 50 years from the tions to this rule are tra- considers the interests of stamp date of the state’s first entry ditional themes such as collectors as well as all citizens and into the Union. Requests for national symbols and holi- looks for subjects that will stand the observance of other state- days. test of time, be consistent with pub- related or regional anniversa- lic opinion, and have broad national ries will be considered only as In November 1960, Postmaster appeal. subjects for postal stationery General Summerfield approved the Ideas for stamp subjects should and again only at intervals of Benjamin Franklin Award, then in the be addressed to: 50 years from the date of the form of a certificate, for members of event. Congress, special advisory groups, Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee or employees making a contribu- Stamp Development Stamps or stationery items tion to the Post Office Department United States Postal Service shall not be issued to honor not connected with official employ- 1735 North Lynn Street Room 5013 religious institutions or ment. On December 15 of that year, VA 22209-6432 individuals whose principal members of the Citizens’ Stamp achievements are associated Advisory Committee received the first Subjects should be submitted at with religious undertakings or Benjamin Franklin awards in appre- least three years in advance of the beliefs. ciation for the distinguished and proposed date of issue to allow suf- outstanding public service each ren- ficient time for consideration and for Semipostal stamps are dered as a member of the Citizens’ design and production, if the subject designed to raise funds for Stamp Advisory Committee. is approved.

An American History 1775–2006 55 Transformation

n the 36 years since the Postal growth in Standard Mail. In 2005, for Reorganization Act was signed, the first time, the volume of Standard Itechnological advances have both Mail exceeded that of First-Class Mail. improved the operations and ser- However, First-Class Mail continued to vices offered by the Postal Service and generate more revenue than any other increased competition and customer class of mail. expectations. A decade of prosper- In 2006, the Postal Service sorted ity in the 1980s, with a concomitant and delivered more than 213 billion growth in mail volume, was followed pieces of mail, about 40 percent of the by slower economic growth in the world’s total mail volume and more 1990s. Bankruptcies, consolidations, than any other postal administration in and restructuring of markets reduced the world. the flow of business mail. In 1991, overall mail volume dropped for the Measuring Improvement first time in 15 years. The following In the 19th and early 20th centuries, year, volume rose only slightly, and the private express companies ruled the Transformation Plan Postal Service narrowly avoided the first market until Congress, “The Postal Service has been back-to-back declines in mail volume concerned about the high rates being a reliable, trusted provider of since the Great Depression. In an effort charged, authorized the Post Office communications for more than to address financial challenges and hold Department to begin carrying larger two centuries. It is a basic and rates steady, in 1992 the Postal Service parcels to provide an alternative for fundamental service provided to created a new organizational structure customers. In the 20th and opening the people of America by their that replaced 5 regions and 73 field years of the 21st centuries, competition government. It helps keep Americans divisions with 10 areas and 85 districts. grew for every postal product. The rise in touch, and it is the hub of a Total mail volume began to grow of electronic communications and other $900 billion mailing industry. We are again and, from 1992 through 2000, technologies offered alternatives for working to keep this critical national reached record levels. Then, in 2001, sending statements, payments, and per- asset strong and vibrant, today and the Postal Service again saw a slight sonal messages. Private companies con- far into the future.” drop in total mail volume compared tinued to dominate the market for the — Joint statement by the Postmaster to the previous year. The 9/11 terror- urgent delivery of mail and packages. General and the Chairman, Board of ist attacks on the World Center Recognizing the need to become Governors, April 2002 buildings caused a tragic loss of human more competitive, the Postal Service lives and rippled out to affect many began to change and restructure in the areas. One was to intensify recessionary early 1990s. In 1990, the Postal Service effects on the mailing and advertis- awarded two contracts to private firms ing industry. In 2002, total mail vol- to independently measure First-Class ume dropped to 202.8 billion pieces, Mail service and customer satisfaction, down nearly five billion pieces from providing benchmarks for evaluating the previous year. Volume began to service improvements. In 1993, the rise again in 2004 largely because of Postal Service awarded an additional contract to measure the satisfaction lev- els of business mailers. First-Class Mail service perfor- mance is independently measured under the External First-Class (EXFC) Measurement System. By 2000 EXFC scores for on-time delivery reached a record high of 94 percent for the first time. In 2006 the Postal Service reported a national 95 percent success rate in on-time overnight delivery, with a number of service areas achieving 97 percent on-time delivery.

56 The United States Postal Service Transformation Plan In April 2001, United States Comptroller General David Walker Partnering With Customers and Competitors placed the Postal Service’s transforma- tion efforts and long-term outlook on The Postal Service has worked with optical character recognition and the General Accounting Office’s “high customers to improve mail service electronic payment and transactions risk” list because of the Postal Service’s since it first began operations in for business mail deposited at Post significant financial, human capital, and 1971, and even earlier, as the Post Offices. In 2005, MTAC worked on structural challenges. Walker stated that: Office Department. programs to see that large, bulk Mail Users Councils, renamed mailings moved into the mailstream The Service’s ability to provide universal Postal Customer Councils (PCCs) more smoothly and were accurately postal service … will be increasingly threat- in 1971, were first established in prepared and addressed; it also ened unless changes are made, both within 300 large cities in 1961. That year, focused on service measurement current law and to the legal and regulatory faced with large amounts of busi- and improvement. framework that governs the Service.50 ness mail deposited after 5 p.m., Consumer Advisory Councils, the Department began a Mail Early called Customer Advisory Councils The General Accounting Office, campaign. Local business and prior to 2000, were established now the Government Accountability postal executives meet regularly to by 1989. The councils consist of Office, asked the Postal Service for a schedule bulk mailings and discuss groups of citizens who volunteer to comprehensive plan that addressed ways to improve customer service, work with local postal management these concerns. A year later, on April customer satisfaction, and corpo- on issues of interest to local com- 4, 2002, the Postal Service submitted rate profitability through educational munities. its Transformation Plan to Congress. programs, mailer clinics, and semi- More recently, the Postal Service The plan presented targets to improve nars. By the end of 2006, more has allied with some of its traditional service and manage costs. The Postal than 100,000 businesses belonged competitors to improve delivery Service began to implement the plan’s to PCCs. operations. service, customer satisfaction, work- The Mailers’ Technical Advisory In 2001, the Postal Service place improvement, and financial rec- Committee (MTAC) was established formed a business alliance with ommendations even before submitting in January 1965. Its members rep- FedEx, using FedEx’s air network it to Congress. resented, and continue to represent, for the domestic air transportation In September 2005, the Postal major bulk-mailing associations and of U.S. Mail and allowing the com- Service published its Strategic organizations, including publish- pany to place self-service collection Transformation Plan, 2006–2010, which ers, advertising mailers, envelope boxes on postal property. In 2006, identified further strategies to enhance and manufacturers, the Postal Service signed a new the Postal Service’s core business of as well as representatives from contract with FedEx, continuing the delivering mail. The results? the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. alliance. From 2002 through 2006, the MTAC offers technical advice in In 2004, the Postal Service con- Postal Service saw: implementing policies and solv- tracted with ing problems and has suggested (UPS) for air transportation of U.S. Record-level service performance and improvements to the ZIP Code and Mail. In June 2006, the Postal customer satisfaction scores during a ZIP+4 programs, handling changes Service expanded the alliance, con- period when the Postal Service had of address, and presorting and bar- tracting with the company for air added nearly 7 million new addresses coding, among other initiatives. It transportation of mail to and from to its delivery network. has worked with postal officials on 98 U.S. cities.

Consistent growth in total factor Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee, 1967 productivity. Established in 1965, the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) Nearly $5 billion in cost savings since represented 26 mailing industries by 1967, including newspaper, , 2000, a five-year savings target identi- and classroom publishers; mail order companies; advertisers; envelope fied in the plan. manufacturers; and the religious press.

A 7.5 percent reduction in the number of career employees with no layoffs.

Greater efficiency and added value to the mail through innovative tech- nology.

An American History 1775–2006 57 President’s Commission on the leaders, union officials, postal employ- Postal Service ees, customers, and other representa- In 1967, a presidential commission on tives of the nation’s $900 billion mail- the Post Office Department met at ing industry, the commission issued a time when Congress subsidized 25 its report, Embracing the Future, to the percent of postal costs, and the Post President in 2003. The report called for Office Department was in the red. In the Postal Service to remain a public August 1970, the Postal Reorganization institution subject to broader oversight, Act was signed into law, creating the to focus on universal mail service as United States Postal Service under an its core value, to be guided by the best economic assumption that continuing business practices, to overhaul the postal growth in mail volume and revenue network, to clarify the postal monopoly, would support the continued growth of and to maintain a culture of excellence. the postal infrastructure — a model that no longer is valid. Budget Impacts of 2003 Legislation: In a March 2001 letter to the Escrow Fund and Military Service President, the Postal Service Governors Benefits stated that significant statutory reform In November 2002, the Office of was needed to continue to provide con- Personnel Management reported that sistent, satisfactory, universal service to the Postal Service would overpay its the American people. retirement obligations over the long On December 11, 2002, President term for postal employees and retirees George W. Bush issued an execu- enrolled in the Civil Service Retirement tive order establishing the President’s System (CSRS) by $71 billion. Commission on the Postal Service. The Within months, Congress passed nine-member bipartisan commission the Postal Civil Service Retirement was to identify the operational, struc- System Funding Reform Act of 2003, tural, and financial challenges facing which became Public Law 108-18 the Postal Service; examine potential on April 23, 2003. The act modified solutions; and chart a course to build a the way the Postal Service funded its healthy financial foundation. Postmaster obligations to the CSRS, to prevent , 2005 General John E. Potter described the overfunding. The act also dictated The Postal Service, working with work of the commission as consistent how the Postal Service would spend its the Military Postal Service Agency, with, and complementary to, the Postal estimated savings: to pay down debt delivered 70 million pounds of mail Service’s Transformation Plan. in 2003 and 2004, and to maintain to men and women serving in in Gathering information from postal postage rates in 2005. In 2006, the 2006. stakeholders, including congressional act required that the Postal Service’s estimated annual savings — about $3.1 billion — be considered an operating expense of the Postal Service, to be held in escrow for future use as deter- mined by Congress. But the projected savings did not represent cash actually on hand. Although funds were available through 2005, by 2006 inflationary costs and reduced revenue had whittled away the financial benefit of lower CSRS pay- ments. To fund the escrow account, in 2005 the Postal Service requested an across-the-board increase of 5.4 percent in rates and fees, while warning that a biannual increase of 1 to 1.5 percent to fund this account might be needed in the future. The Postal Rate Commission and the postal Governors approved the request. On January 8, 2006, most postal rates and fees increased by about AP Images

58 The United States Postal Service 5.4 percent — including the price of a The PRC will have subpoena power Medal of Freedom First-Class stamp, from 37 to 39 cents over the Postal Service and can levy — solely to fund the escrow account. fines against it if the Postal Service does The 2003 act also created another not take remedial action when the PRC The Postmaster General’s Medal challenge for the Postal Service: it finds a complaint filed regarding rates, of Freedom was created in 2001 transferred to the Postal Service from regulations, or service standards has to recognize outstanding the Department of the Treasury the merit. individual contribu- responsibility for funding military tions to the Postal pensions of current and former postal Governors will serve for Service. The employees, amounting to $27 billion seven- rather than nine- first recipients in costs transferred from taxpayers to year terms. of the medal postal ratepayers. were Thomas The PRC will report to L. Morris, Jr., Postal Accountability and Congress every five years and Joseph P. Enhancement Act of 2006 on the effectiveness of the Curseen, Jr. On December 9, 2006, after several years Postal Accountability and Both men of discussion and study, Congress passed Enhancement Act, with sug- worked at the the far-reaching Postal Accountability gestions, if appropriate. Brentwood mail and Enhancement Act, H.R. 6407. processing facility in President Bush signed the act into law At least four of the nine Governors Washington, D.C., and both on December 20, 2006. The act divided must have experience in managing died in October 2001 of inhala- postal products into market-dominant organizations employing 50,000 or tion anthrax. The medals were and competitive categories; created the more people. presented to their widows during Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) a memorial service held in their out of the Postal Rate Commission and The Postal Regulatory Commission honor by the Postal Service. increased the PRC’s regulatory powers; must create an Office of Inspector The Postmaster General’s Medal returned the obligation to pay military General. The Board of Governors of Freedom honored Mr. Morris and service costs to the Department of will continue to appoint the Inspector Mr. Curseen for making the ultimate Treasury; and replaced escrow require- General of the Postal Service. sacrifice as they served others. ments to fund retiree health benefits. After closing in 2001, the The act included other changes to The act abolished the requirement for Brentwood facility reopened in the way the Postal Service has operated fact-finding, replacing it with a require- December 2003 with a new name: since the Postal Reorganization Act of ment for mediation. The Joseph Curseen, Jr., and the 1970. Thomas Morris, Jr., Processing Injured employees must use annual, and Distribution Center. A large Any rate changes that take place in the sick, or leave without pay for three plaque on the building states: 12 months after passage of the Postal days before they can collect continua- Accountability and Enhancement Act tion of pay benefits. We are poorer for their loss but would be determined under the regula- richer for having been touched tions in place prior to passage of the act. Dealing With the Unimaginable by these dedicated, hard-working On September 11, 2001, terrorists heroes. We will never forget. Increases in the rates for market-domi- attacked the United States, killing nant products such as First-Class Mail thousands. The Postal Service helped will be restricted by a cap tied to the keep the lines of communication open Consumer Price Index for 10 years. despite severe restrictions on commercial This cap would be reviewed by the air operations during this tragic time. PRC at that time. As the Postal Service dealt with these challenges, a photo editor in Boca Increases in competitive products such Raton, Florida, died from inhalation as will not be capped. anthrax on October 5, 2001, the first Rates will cover attributable costs and known case in the United States since contribute to institutional costs. 1976. A week later, a employee in New York City was diagnosed with The Postal Service must establish a set cutaneous anthrax after opening a letter Thomas L. Joseph P. of service standards for its market-dom- addressed to an NBC anchorman. On Morris, Jr. Curseen, Jr. inant products within one year and October 15, 2001, a letter postmarked then develop a plan, to be submitted to in Trenton, New Jersey, was delivered Congress, for meeting these standards. to the Capitol Hill office of a U.S.

An American History 1775–2006 59 Senator. The letter claimed to contain same day, the New Orleans levee sys- anthrax, and this proved to be true. tem failed, filling the city with water. Everyday Heroism The Postal Service then went to work One of the most destructive storms with other agencies to deal with bioter- in United States history, Katrina rorism. devastated entire sections of coastal In 1901, John J. Comisky, a New The Postal Service announced the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Jersey letter carrier walking his formation of a mail security task force, and put 80 percent of the City of New route, saw a 12-year old boy headed by the Chief Postal Inspector; Orleans underwater. The storm claimed struggling for his life in the Passaic authorized its employees to wear pro- more than 1,800 lives, with many more River. Comisky jumped into the tective gear; and considered ways to unaccounted for, and displaced more river, brought the boy to shore, sanitize mail, including irradiating it than one million people. then continued delivering mail in with electron beams. The Postal Service Before the storm hit, the Postal his dripping-wet uniform. also notified people at every mailing Service diverted inbound New Orleans- In 1927, Charles M. Taylor, address about how to identify and han- area mail to the , Texas, mail a railway mail clerk in St. Louis, dle suspicious letters and packages. processing and distribution center. At pulled six women and children On October 21, 2001, Joseph P. the New Orleans processing and distri- from a wrecked, submerged Curseen, Jr., an employee at bution center, employees moved mail Pullman car. the Brentwood postal facility in to an upper floor, to protect it from In 1928, Paul F. Collins, an air- Washington, D.C., that handled mail floods. Within days of the storm, the mail pilot, tightly circled his plane for Capitol Hill, was diagnosed with Postal Service joined with the Social around a burning house late in inhalation anthrax. That night, another Security Administration and other the evening of February 10, until employee, Thomas L. Morris, Jr., died agencies to arrange for the distribution the plane’s buzzing sounds woke from inhalation anthrax. The next of Social Security, pension, and benefit up the family of eight inside, who morning, Curseen also died. checks, which were due to be delivered escaped the fire. Postmaster General John E. Potter at the beginning of September. The A Boston letter carrier, Daniel announced the sad news, then stated: Postal Service set up temporary check M. Long, leaped from Harvard distribution centers; they delivered Bridge to save a drowning man 800,000 Postal Service employees are more than 30,000 checks before the in 1930. using everything they’ve learned, doing centers were closed in mid-September. From 18th century post rid- everything humanly possible, to keep the More than 4,000 postal employees ers who carried and protected mail safe and keep it moving. And we’re and their families were displaced by the mail to injured airmail pilots in determined not to let terrorists stop us.51 Hurricane Katrina, ending up in nearly the early 20th century who pulled every state. Through national media out- mail from crashed planes and car- By October 27, anthrax spores had lets, the Postal Service urged displaced ried it over mountains to safety, been detected in other locations. All employees to check in via a national when needed, postal employees told, at least five deaths and several toll-free hotline to make employ- have risen to whatever levels are cases of anthrax poisoning are known. ees received their paychecks as well as required to serve, and sometimes In 2004, after multiple tests, the assistance and job-related information. save, their customers. Postal Service began installing biohaz- Despite suffering personal losses, many In 1982, the National ard detection equipment to protect postal employees returned to work Association of Letter Carriers and postal employees, customers, and almost immediately to help deliver the Postal Service formalized a the mail, and continues to work to checks, medicines, and other vital mail. long tradition of watching out for strengthen the security of the mail. Through national news media the their customers when they estab- Postal Service also urged displaced resi- lished the Carrier Alert Program. Delivering Despite Disaster dents to file change-of-address forms Customers could register for the In 2005, along with millions of other so that their mail could be sent to program, and letter carriers would people, postal employees faced one of them directly, bypassing storm-stricken report any suspicious incidents or their greatest challenges. regions. Customers filed forms online at accumulations of mail that might On August 25, 2005, Hurricane www.usps.com, over the phone at 1-800- indicate the customer was unable Katrina made landfall near , ASK-USPS, and at local postal facilities. to collect his or her mail because Florida, as a category 1 hurricane. Mail facilities were set up in temporary of illness or injury. The storm headed southwest to the shelters at Houston’s Astrodome and in Every year, hundreds of postal Gulf of Mexico, where it gathered dozens of communities throughout the employees are recognized as strength before making landfall again nation so that mail could reach evacuees heroes, sometimes risking their on the morning of August 29 near wherever they were. By year’s end, the own lives to save others in their New Orleans, Louisiana. By that time Postal Service had processed change-of- community. Katrina was a category 3 hurricane with address forms from more than 520,000 sustained winds of 125 mph. Later that households that had been displaced by

60 The United States Postal Service After the Storm Two and a half weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Letter Carrier Deborah Johnson resumed deliveries in West Biloxi, Mississippi.

Return to Normalcy On September 20, 2005, Letter Carrier Kenneth Patterson in Biloxi, Mississippi, spoke with a customer while on his rounds.

Hurricane Katrina as well as Hurricane Despite the devastation, postal Rita, which struck near the Louisiana- employees delivered, handing out mail Texas border the following month. Due from trailers, recreational vehicles, to intense national interest the Postal and even tents, where street delivery Service provided an overview of change- was not possible. Within two weeks of of-address data to national news media, Hurricane Katrina, full service had been since it was the only reliable way to restored to 82 percent of affected Post track the movement of evacuees. Offices. Mail service in New Orleans Besides Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, resumed in October, when residents two other major hurricanes — Dennis began returning to the ravaged city. and Wilma — hit the southern United The eventual resumption of street deliv- States during the 2005 hurricane season, ery was a welcome sign of normalcy. As which was the worst on record. All told, letter carriers gradually returned to city in 2005 hurricanes destroyed 17 postal streets they were greeted with smiles, facilities and damaged more than 500. laughter, hugs, and tears. ■

An American History 1775–2006 61 Protecting the Mail

he U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington, D.C., and Kentucky. Six which protects postal customers years later, another was hired to secretly Tand employees from criminal investigate mail robberies in Tennessee. attack and the mail from criminal mis- By 1830, an Office of Instruction use, traces its roots to Benjamin Franklin. and of Mail Depredations was created, While postmaster of Philadelphia (1737- headed by General Agent Preston S. 1753) under the British postal adminis- Loughborough. His duties were to: tration, Franklin’s duties included “regu- lating several offices, and bringing the investigate, in person, cases of mail rob- officers to account.”52 beries and of missing letters; to correspond with district attorneys … to examine mail Extending Mail Service routes, and the manner in which mail con- The position of “surveyor” was created tracts are executed; to examine post offices; the in December 1772, with Hugh Finlay characters and conduct of postmasters … named “Surveyor of Post roads on the Continent of North America” by the and to communicate: British postmasters general.53 Finlay toured Post Offices from Maine to the decisions of the Postmaster General on Georgia to evaluate service and suggest questions … concerning the construction of improvements. In 1775, the Second post office laws and regulations.54 Continental Congress appointed William Goddard surveyor of the By 1837, the Post Office Depart- United Colonies; he would become the ment’s four special agents were paying first American surveyor. Goddard estab- surprise visits to Post Offices, audit- lished new Post Offices, arranged mail ing accounts, and reporting on the transportation contracts, and settled general state of affairs. Twelve special postmasters’ accounts. agents were employed by 1843, and In 1782, the position of sur- the Postmaster General attributed a veyor was abolished to save money; decrease in mail thefts to their “vigi- Postmasters General and their assis- lance … in ferreting out and bringing tants acted in the capacity of inspector to justice depredators.”55 In the 1840s, through the 1790s. special agents also were sent to Texas By 1801, the title “special agent” (1846), (1847), and California was used. In March 1801, a special (1848), to superintend the establish- agent was appointed to investigate ment of new service. delays in moving mail between In October 1850, the Postmaster General outlined agents’ duties: William Goddard In 1775, William Goddard was Arresting and helping convict mail appointed as the first surveyor of the thieves. new American postal system. Overseeing mail service.

Occasionally asking local business com- munities for improvement suggestions.

Keeping a daily journal of activities, to be transcribed twice a month and sent to the Department.56

By 1855, the Post Office Department employed 18 special agents — 3 at large and 15 domiciled across the United

62 The United States Postal Service States. Twenty-one agents served by three for $10), citizens could buy “THE 1861, including one assigned solely to MAGIC BELT! FOR RENDERING the New York City Post Office, which ONE’S SELF ‘INVISIBLE’” (“Go handled more than three times the mail where you will, no living being can see of the next largest Post Office. you, nor in any way be aware of your The Civil War brought new chal- presence”).62 In 1876 Chief Special lenges. Special agents helped deliver Agent P. H. Woodward noted that mail to Union troops in the South and swindlers not only fleeced innocent vic- reestablished service as southern states tims by enticing them to send money returned to federal control. Finding through the mail but tempted postal individuals willing and able to serve as employees with an “easy conscience” postmasters in the South was difficult to redirect money-filled envelopes because, until July 1868, all prospective addressed to a “professional cheat” into postmasters had to swear that they had their own pockets.63 In 1875, out of not voluntarily aided the Confederacy 307 people arrested for violating postal or Confederate soldiers. The 1865 laws, 115 were postal employees. Official Register of the United States listed In 1880, the title “post-office inspec- 33 special agents, including 5 in charge tor” replaced “special agent.” In recom- of specific southern Post Offices.57 mending the change, Postmaster General P.H. Woodward The number of agents grew with David M. Key said: P.H. Woodward, special agent from the Post Office Department and with 1865 to 1876, described agents’ congressional mandates to protect the the duties of these officers are by no clever detective work and derring-do mail and to protect the American public means confined to the detection and arrest in his 568-page book Guarding the from obscenity, fraud, and lotteries con- of offenders … most of their time is occupied Mails; Or, The Secret Service of the ducted through the mail. in the inspection of the postal service, the Post Office Department. examination of postmasters’ accounts, the Cleaning the Mailstream investigation of the solvency of their bonds, In February 1865, , a the collection of debts … and the general Warning Consumers U.S. Senator from Vermont and former supervision of all officers and employe’s.64 Hoping to “save the credulous from Postmaster General, told his fellow being swindled,” in 1880 Anthony senators that the traffic in obscene In the late 19th century, the first Comstock wrote Frauds Exposed; Or, books and pictures was “getting to be a federal law prohibiting all lottery-related How the People Are Deceived and very great evil.”58 An Act of Congress mail was passed, the Anti-Lottery Act of Robbed, and Youth Corrupted. of March 3, 1865, provided that “no 1890. The act targeted the New Orleans- obscene book, pamphlet, picture, print, based Louisiana Lottery Company, the or other publication of a vulgar and only legal U.S. lottery at the time, which indecent character, shall be admitted earned profits of more than $10,000,000 into the mails.”59 The act was broad- a year, mostly via the U.S. Mail. Armed ened in 1872 to ban obscene enve- with the new law, inspectors quickly lopes and postal cards, then expanded shut down the lottery, whose business in 1873 when Congress passed the had been so vast that, within three Comstock Act, named after Special months, revenue at the New Orleans Agent Anthony Comstock, a zealous Post Office dropped by one third and anti-vice crusader. In addition to ban- nine clerks had to be let go. ning the mailing of obscene materials, During the Spanish-American War the Comstock Act banned mailing any of 1898, several experienced inspectors items or information relating to contra- oversaw temporary military Post Office ception or abortion, or receiving them stations serving the troops and investi- with intent to distribute. gated thefts of soldiers’ mail. In 1898, In 1872, Congress also passed also went to Alaska to reorga- Mail Fraud Statute, which empowered nize the mail service there; the discovery special agents to pursue swindlers of gold had led to avalanches of mail. who previously had used the mails In 1900 inspectors investigated post- “with almost absolute impunity.”60 al fraud in Cuba, which was under U.S. “Swindling circulars” enticed victims to military jurisdiction, and traveled to buy counterfeit money, tickets for non- and to supervise the existent lotteries, and miraculous “med- start of mail service in these new U.S. icines” and devices.61 For a mere $5 (or territories. In 1903, 40 inspectors partic-

An American History 1775–2006 63 The De Autremont Train Holdup, 1923

On October 11, 1923, brothers Ray, Roy, and Hugh De Autremont held up a Southern Pacific train in Oregon because they believed it carried $500,000 in gold. (It did not.) The brothers murdered the train engineer, brakeman, and fireman, and used too much dynamite to blow open the mail car, killing the railway postal clerk and destroying the mail. They fled the scene empty-handed, leaving behind several incriminating clues. An exten- sive manhunt followed, with postal inspectors following clues as far as Central America, Mexico, Canada, and Alaska. All three brothers were caught in 1927, after being recognized from reward posters. “We literally plastered the United States with circulars,” one inspector recalled. “I knew it would be through those we would get the men.”65 All three brothers were con- victed and sentenced to life in prison.

The De Autremont Investigation ipated in a sweeping internal investiga- most notorious train robberies were the Reward posters led to the arrest tion of irregularities in the awarding of botched robbery at Siskiyou, Oregon, and conviction of the De Autremont contracts, leading to the removal or res- in 1923, and a well-planned heist at brothers. ignation of 17 Post Office Department Rondout, Illinois, in 1924. Inspectors officers and employees, including First doggedly investigated each case and Assistant Postmaster General Perry S. eventually saw the thieves convicted. Heath and Superintendent of Free Meanwhile, inspectors continued Delivery August W. Machen. In 1905, protecting the public from evolving con- the Department had 216 inspectors; by sumer fraud. In 1920 they investigated 1911, the number had increased to 390. and helped convict Charles Ponzi, the father of illegal pyramid schemes, who Pursuing Rogues and Robbers filched millions of dollars from the pub- During , the need for lic for supposed investments.66 military postal facilities was decided During World War II, inspectors by inspectors, who also investigated served as liaisons between civilian the loyalty of potential employees and and military postal facilities, regularly possible violators of the Espionage inspecting both types of facilities to and Sedition Acts. After the war and ensure prompt, secure handling of mail, through the 1930s, inspectors con- investigating complaints of theft, and tended with an increase in mail robber- helping military authorities identify the ies by armed gangs. Thefts became so guilty parties. numerous that, in 1921, about 50,000 In 1954, the title “postal inspector” surplus military firearms were distrib- was first officially used. uted to railway postal clerks. In 1921 The 1950s saw a rise in illegal drug and again in 1926, thousands of U.S. use, a significant factor in postal crime. Marines guarded valuable mail at vul- By 1954, about half of all non-postal nerable points throughout the country, mail thieves in the New York City as identified by inspectors. Two of the area were addicts who stole checks

64 The United States Postal Service from mailboxes to finance their habit. Illegal drug use affected the Post Office Department on another front as well: in 1967 Postmaster General Lawrence F. O’Brien noted an increase in the use of mail to transmit illegal drugs.67 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 made it unlaw- ful to use the mail “to transmit or facili- tate the manufacture, distribution, dis- bursing or possession” of illegal drugs; postal inspectors immediately seized the initiative in pursuing offenders.68 The Security Force, the uniformed branch of the Postal Inspection Service, was formed in 1970. Primarily respon- sible for protecting people and property and keeping the peace on postal proper- ty, postal police officers, like other mem- bers of the Postal Inspection Service, also respond to natural and man-made disasters.

Protecting the Innocent Following 9/11 and the discovery Armed Railway Clerks, 1930s Since the passage of the Child of anthrax in the mail in October The Postmaster General armed Protection Act in 1984, postal inspec- 2001, postal inspectors were trained railway clerks in 1921 to help combat tors have arrested nearly 5,000 suspects in hazardous waste operations, emer- a rash of train robberies. for using the mail in violation of fed- gency response, and the handling of eral child exploitation laws. In 1999, mail-screening equipment. Inspectors inspectors helped shut down Landslide work with postal employees, local first Reward Poster Productions, Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, responders, and person- Rewards for the arrest and conviction the largest-known child pornography nel to conduct regular interagency drills of postal offenders were offered as enterprise in history, grossing $1.4 at postal facilities with biohazard detec- early as 1877. The largest reward ever million each month from Web site tion systems. offered — $2.5 million for information subscriptions. Its founder was sen- In the aftermath of Hurricanes leading to the arrest and conviction of tenced to 1,335 years in prison. The Katrina and Rita in 2005, nearly 300 the individual(s) who mailed anthrax in company’s customer records sparked postal inspectors and postal police 2001 — still stands. a two-year undercover sting operation officers, as well as special agents of the called “Operation Avalanche,” with Office of Inspector General, assisted investigators contacting former Web in recovery operations on the Gulf site subscribers and arresting them if Coast. Inspectors and officers worked they accepted delivery of child por- with Postal Service employees to deter- nography. mine damage to postal property, assess Mail fraud — free-prize schemes, for- environmental conditions of facilities, eign lotteries, pyramid schemes, invest- and expedite changes of address for ment fraud, and work-at-home scams displaced residents. Inspectors provided — has been around for generations, but 112 security escorts for Postal Service a new type of fraud emerged in the late employees and contractors disburs- 20th century: credit card fraud. More ing federal checks to needy citizens. than one million credit cards travel They also joined the U.S. Department through the U.S. Mail each day. In of Justice’s Hurricane Katrina Fraud 1992 the Inspection Service partnered Task Force to investigate and warn citi- with major credit card issuers to protect zens of fraud schemes related to relief cards and cardholders against theft. The efforts. Inspection Service also worked to pre- Postal inspectors continue to protect vent credit card fraud through commu- the Postal Service, its employees, and its nity awareness, publicizing prevention customers from criminal attack, and the guidelines. nation’s mail from criminal misuse. ■

An American History 1775–2006 65 The Office of Inspector General

he Office of Inspector General ears to detect and prevent waste, fraud, (USPS OIG) was established theft, and misconduct. Although fund- Tin the Postal Service by 1988 ed by the Postal Service, the Inspector amendments to the Inspector General General is appointed by the nine presi- Act of 1978. The act had created OIGs dentially appointed Governors of the in 12 federal agencies following a series Postal Service and reports twice a year of public spending scandals to investi- to the Governors and to Congress. gate and audit the programs and opera- The USPS OIG’s independence allows tions of agencies that, in many cases, it to more effectively perform its mis- had failed to supervise their own spend- sion, “to increase the efficiency and ing, to ferret out fraud and misconduct, effectiveness of USPS programs and and to help prevent and end the misuse operations, while eliminating and pre- of funds. The act granted the Inspectors venting fraud, waste, and abuse.”69 General broad authority to: The Postal Service’s independent Office of Inspector General began with conduct audits and investigations; a single employee, Inspector General Karla W. Corcoran, who was sworn in access all agency records directly, using on January 6, 1997. In one year’s time, subpoenas if necessary; the office hired 109 employees and set up field offices across the country request assistance from other govern- to audit and investigate Postal Service ment agencies; programs and operations. It also estab- lished a hotline number to receive administer oaths when taking testi- allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse, mony; which received more than 14,000 calls in its second year. hire staff and manage their own On August 20, 2003, the current resources; and Inspector General, David C. Williams, was sworn into office. In 2004, the receive and respond to complaints from scope of his office increased when agency employees, whose confidentiality Postmaster General Potter announced was to be protected. the transfer of additional investiga- tive responsibilities from the Postal Inspectors General were not autho- Inspection Service to the USPS OIG. rized to take corrective action them- Beginning February 7, 2005, allegations selves under the rationale that it would of postal employee misconduct includ- be difficult — if not impossible — for ing embezzlement, record falsification, Inspectors General to review programs workers’ compensation fraud, contract and operations objectively if they were fraud, and on-duty narcotics viola- directly involved in carrying them out. tions, were referred to the USPS OIG. The Inspector General Act On May 1, 2006, the USPS OIG took Amendments of 1988 created OIGs over the responsibility for investigating in 39 additional government agen- all new allegations of these types. On cies and entities, including the Postal September 1, 2006, the USPS OIG also Service, but until 1997 the Chief Postal began investigating all new allegations Inspector served as the Postal Service’s of mail theft by postal employees. To Inspector General, reporting to postal handle its increased responsibilities, the management. USPS OIG hired more than 260 new Recognizing the importance of a investigators in 2006. USPS OIG independent from manage- By the end of 2006, its staff num- ment, in 1996 Congress created the bered 1,071 and included special agents Postal Service’s independent Office of (federal law enforcement officers autho- Inspector General to be its eyes and rized to carry firearms, make arrests, and

66 The United States Postal Service investigate federal criminal violations), the Postal Service of $120,468 for ser- auditors (professionals trained in govern- vices not rendered; and a construction ment audit and accounting standards), contractor charging the Postal Service and others crucial to its mission. $175,630 for work never done. Since it was established, the Office of During fiscal year 2006 alone, the Inspector General has issued 3,077 audit Office of Inspector General completed reports and management advisories 6,357 investigations resulting in 293 accounting for more than $3.7 billion arrests, 237 indictments, 209 convic- in questioned costs, unrecoverable costs, tions, and 2,977 administrative actions. funds put to better use, and revenue Injury compensation fraud investiga- impact. Examples of fraud uncovered tions saved the Postal Service $105 by USPS OIG investigations include a million in long-term costs, and $20.9 trucking contractor defrauding the Postal million in fines and restitution went to Service of $1.5 million in fuel rebates; the Postal Service as a result of investi- a highway route contractor defrauding gative work. ■

Investigation In Progress Special agents from the Office of Inspector General conduct surveillance in 2003.

Discovering Savings

One mission of the Office of major mailers and is processed Great Lakes Area from March Inspector General is to help control in 21 BMCs and other facilities through September 2004. OIG postal costs. Through nationwide nationwide. Less time-sensitive staff evaluated mail volume and the audits of postal operations, facili- than other mail, bulk mail travels by type of mail carried, interviewed ties, and transportation networks, highway and railroad, versus by air, postal employees, reviewed postal the OIG has identified cost savings which is more costly. The Postal policies and procedures, visited in everything from delivery opera- Service spends more than $500 BMCs and other postal facilities, tions to letter mail processing. million annually on contracts to and observed and photographed For example, from 2004 through transport bulk mail. operations. Working with financial 2006, in response to a request In a series of 13 audits, the and computer analysts and other from the Postal Service’s Vice OIG identified potential savings of experts, the OIG identified 96 trips President of Network Operations about $40.6 million by eliminating that could be modified or elimi- Management, the OIG audited or reducing bulk mail transportation nated without affecting service by transportation routes to and from contracts across the country. In consolidating mail on other trips bulk mail centers (BMCs). Bulk one such audit, the OIG analyzed — potentially saving the Postal mail includes magazines, advertis- all 1,224 trips that delivered mail Service $7.7 million over the life of ing, and merchandise shipped by to BMCs in the Postal Service’s the existing contracts.

An American History 1775–2006 67 Postmasters General

A list of Postmasters General and the names of those who appointed them follows. All appointments by the President were made with the advice and consent of the Senate. Dates prior to 1900 are the dates the Postmasters General were appointed or commissioned. Dates after 1900 are the dates the Postmasters General took office. Italics indicate a carryover from the previous administration.

Postmaster General Date Appointed by

Benjamin Franklin July 26, 1775 Continental Congress Richard Bache November 7, 1776 Ebenezer Hazard January 28, 1782 Samuel Osgood September 26, 1789 George Washington August 12, 1791 February 25, 1795 Joseph Habersham … Joseph Habersham … November 28, 1801 Gideon Granger … Return J. Meigs, Jr. March 17, 1814 Return J. Meigs, Jr. … John McLean June 26, 1823 John McLean … William T. Barry March 9, 1829 Andrew Jackson Amos Kendall May 1, 1835 Amos Kendall … John M. Niles May 19, 1840 March 6, 1841 William Henry Harrison Francis Granger … John Tyler Charles A. Wickliffe September 13, 1841 March 6, 1845 James K. Polk Jacob Collamer March 8, 1849 Zachary Taylor Nathan Kelsey Hall July 23, 1850 Millard Filmore Samuel D. Hubbard August 31, 1852 James Campbell March 7, 1853 Franklin Pierce Aaron V. Brown March 6, 1857 Joseph Holt March 14, 1859 February 12, 1861 Montgomery Blair March 5, 1861 Abraham Lincoln William Dennison September 24, 1864 William Dennison … Andrew Johnson Alexander W. Randall July 25, 1866 John A. J. Creswell March 5, 1869 Ulysses Grant James W. Marshall July 3, 1874 August 24, 1874 James N. Tyner July 12, 1876 David M. Key March 12, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes August 26, 1880 Thomas L. James March 5, 1881 James A. Garfield Thomas L. James … Chester A. Arthur Timothy O. Howe December 20, 1881 Walter Q. Gresham April 3, 1883 Frank Hatton October 14, 1884

68 The United States Postal Service Postmaster General Date Appointed by

William F. Vilas March 6, 1885 Grover Cleveland Don M. Dickinson January 16, 1888 John Wanamaker March 5, 1889 Benjamin Harrison Wilson S. Bissell March 6, 1893 Grover Cleveland William L. Wilson March 1, 1895 James A. Gary March 5, 1897 William McKinley Charles Emory Smith April 21, 1898 Charles Emory Smith … Theodore Roosevelt Henry C. Payne January 15, 1902 Robert J. Wynne October 10, 1904 George B. Cortelyou March 7, 1905 George von L. Meyer March 5, 1907 Frank H. Hitchcock March 6, 1909 William H. Taft Albert S. Burleson March 5, 1913 Will H. Hays March 4, 1921 Warren G. Harding March 4, 1922 Harry S. New March 5, 1923 Harry S. New … Calvin Coolidge Walter F. Brown March 6, 1929 Herbert Hoover James A. Farley March 6, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt Frank C. Walker September 11, 1940 Frank C. Walker … Harry S. Truman Robert E. Hannegan June 30, 1945 Jesse M. Donaldson December 16, 1947 Arthur E. Summerfield January 21, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower J. Edward Day January 21, 1961 John F. Kennedy John A. Gronouski September 30, 1963 John A. Gronouski … Lyndon B. Johnson Lawrence F. O'Brien November 3, 1965 W. Marvin Watson April 26, 1968 Winton M. Blount January 22, 1969 Richard M. Nixon

Appointed by the Governors of the United States Postal Service

Winton M. Blount July 1, 1971 E. T. Klassen January 1, 1972 Benjamin F. Bailar February 16, 1975 William F. Bolger March 15, 1978 Paul N. Carlin January 1, 1985 Albert V. Casey January 7, 1986 Preston R. Tisch August 16, 1986 Anthony M. Frank March 1, 1988 Marvin T. Runyon July 6, 1992 William J. Henderson May 16, 1998 John E. Potter June 1, 2001

An American History 1775–2006 69 Statistics: Pieces & Post Offices

Pieces of Mail Number of Total Operating Total Operating Year Handled Post Offices Revenue Expenses

1789 … 75 $ 7,510 $ 7,560 Income and expenses listed for 1789 are for three months only. 1790 … 75 37,935 32,140 1795 … 453 160,620 117,893 1800 … 903 280,804 213,994 1805 … 1,558 421,373 377,367 1810 … 2,300 551,684 495,969 1815 … 3,000 1,043,065 748,121 1820 … 4,500 1,111,927 1,160,926 1825 … 5,677 1,306,525 1,229,043 1830 … 8,450 1,850,583 1,932,708 1835 … 10,770 2,993,556 2,757,350 1840 … 13,468 4,543,522 4,718,236 1845 … 14,183 4,289,842 4,320,732 1850 … 18,417 5,499,985 5,212,953 1855 … 24,410 6,642,136 9,968,342 1860 … 28,498 8,518,067 14,874,601 1865 … 28,882 14,556,159 13,694,728 1870 … 28,492 18,879,537 23,998,838 1875 … 35,547 26,791,314 33,611,309 1880 … 42,989 33,315,479 36,542,804 1885 … 51,252 42,560,844 50,046,235 1890 4,005,408,000 62,401 60,882,098 66,259,548 1895 5,134,281,000 70,064 76,983,128 87,179,551 1900 7,129,990,000 76,688 102,353,579 107,740,268 1905 10,187,506,000 68,131 152,826,585 167,399,169 1910 14,850,103,000 59,580 224,128,658 229,977,225

70 The United States Postal Service Pieces of Mail Number of Total Operating Total Operating Year Handled Post Offices Revenue Expenses

1915 … 56,380 $ 287,248,165 $ 298,546,026 1920 … 52,641 437,150,212 454,322,609 1925 … 50,957 599,591,478 639,281,648 1930 27,887,823,000 49,063 705,484,098 803,667,219 1935 22,331,752,000 45,686 630,795,302 696,503,235 1940 27,749,467,000 44,024 766,948,627 807,629,180 1945 37,912,067,000 41,792 1,314,240,132 1,145,002,246 1950 45,063,737,000 41,464 1,677,486,967 2,222,949,000 1955 55,233,564,000 38,316 2,349,476,528 2,712,150,214 1960 63,674,604,000 35,238 3,276,588,433 3,873,952,908 1965 71,873,166,000 33,624 4,483,389,833 5,275,839,877 1970 84,881,833,000 32,002 6,472,737,791 7,982,551,936 Effective July 1, 1971, the Post Office Department was transformed into the United States Postal Service, an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. 1971 86,983,000,000 31,947 8,751,484,000 8,955,264,000 1975 89,265,979,000 30,754 11,548,104,000 12,574,205,000 1980 106,311,062,000 30,326 18,752,915,000 19,412,587,000 1985 140,097,956,000 29,557 28,705,691,000 29,207,201,000 1990 166,300,770,000 28,959 39,654,830,000 40,489,884,000 1995 180,733,700,000 28,392 54,293,500,000 50,730,200,000 2000 207,882,200,000 27,876 64,539,900,000 62,992,000,000 2005 211,742,700,000 27,385 69,907,400,000 68,283,000,000 2006 213,137,700,000 27,318 72,650,400,000 71,684,000,000

An American History 1775–2006 71 Significant Years in U S. . Postal History

1639 Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in 1879 Domestic mail divided into four 1959 Missile mail dispatched from Boston named repository for classes submarine to mainland Florida overseas mail 1885 Special delivery began 1960 Facsimile mail offered 1775 Benjamin Franklin was appointed 1887 International Parcel Post 1961 Mail Users Councils established first Postmaster General under instituted 1963 ZIP Code and sectional center Continental Congress 1893 First commemorative stamps plan implemented 1777 Continental Congress authorized issued 1964 Self-service Post Offices open appointment of an inspector of 1896 Rural free delivery began dead letters simplified experimentally 1789 Samuel Osgood was appointed 1965 Optical scanner (ZIP Code 1898 Private postcards authorized first Postmaster General under reader) tested Constitution 1902 Rural free delivery became Mailers’ Technical Advisory permanent service 1823 Navigable waters designated post Committee established roads by Congress 1911 Postal Savings System started 1966 Postal Savings System terminated 1829 Postmaster General joined First carriage of mail by airplane 1967 Presorting by ZIP Code became Cabinet sanctioned by the Post Office mandatory for second- and third- Department 1838 Railroads designated post routes class mailers by Congress 1912 Village delivery offered 1968 Priority Mail established as a 1845 Act of Congress created star 1913 Parcel Post began subclass of First-Class Mail routes offered 1969 Patronage eliminated in 1847 U.S. postage stamps issued Collect on delivery (COD) postmaster and rural carrier appointments 1853 Stamped envelopes issued offered 1970 Postal Reorganization Act signed 1855 Registered Mail began 1914 Government-owned and -operated vehicle service Express Mail began Prepayment of postage required instituted experimentally 1858 Street letter boxes installed 1918 Scheduled airmail service began MAILGRAM instituted 1860 Pony Express started Non-profit second-class rates 1971 United States Postal Service began 1862 Railway mail service began effective operations experimentally 1920 Metered postage authorized Postmaster General no longer in 1863 Free city delivery instituted 1924 Scheduled transcontinental Cabinet Postage rates became uniform, airmail service began Labor contract negotiated regardless of distance 1927 International airmail began through collective bargaining, a Domestic mail divided into three first for the federal government 1941 Highway Post Offices started classes National service standards 1942 V-mail inaugurated 1864 Post Offices categorized by class established 1943 Postal zoning system began in Railway mail service inaugurated Letter cancelled on moon by 124 large cities Postal money order system Apollo 15 mission 1948 Domestic and International Air created 1972 Stamps by mail instituted Parcel Post inaugurated 1869 International money orders applications accepted in 1950 Residential deliveries reduced to offered Post Offices once a day 1872 Congress enacted Mail Fraud 1973 National service standards 1952 Nonprofit third-class rates Statute expanded effective Congress makes Post Office 1974 Highway Post Offices terminated 1953 Piggy-back mail service by trailers Department an executive or railroad flatcars started Self-adhesive stamps tested department 1955 Certified mail introduced 1975 Post Office class categories 1873 U.S. postal cards issued eliminated 1957 Citizens’ Stamp Advisory 1874 General Postal Union established Committee created 1976 Discount offered for presorted (later ) First-Class Mail

72 The United States Postal Service 1977 Airmail abolished as a separate 1991 Wide area barcode readers added 2000 External First Class (EXFC) scores rate category sequence reached record high of Express Mail became permanent processing began 94 percent for the first time class of service 1992 Remote barcoding system 2001 Business alliance with FedEx Final run of railway post office on introduced formed June 30 Area and district offices created Mail irradiated due to anthrax 1978 Discount offered for presorted for customer service and mail threat second-class mail processing Signature Confirmation launched Postage stamps and other Stamps sold through automatic Internet change of address philatelic items copyrighted teller machines instituted 1979 Discount offered for presorted Flats barcoded for automation 2002 Transformation Plan released bulk third-class mail Self-adhesive stamps introduced President’s Commission on the Postal Career Executive Service nationwide United States Postal Service (PCES) established Postal Service began national established New size standards implemented environmental program Record levels of service 1980 INTELPOST (high-speed 1993 New corporate logo introduced performance posted for First-Class Mail and Priority Mail international electronic Postal Service began selling First service) began Day Covers Confirm service became permanent 1981 Controlled circulation opened classification discontinued in Washington, D.C. 2003 Civil Service Retirement System funding reform legislation passed Discount offered for First-Class Elvis stamp issued (best-selling Mail presorted to carrier routes commemorative) Repositional notes authorized on advertising mail 1982 Automation began with 1994 Postal Service launched public installation of optical character Internet site First negotiated service agreement readers 1996 Classification reform enacted Parcel Return Services pilot E-COM (Electronic Computer- program began Standard Mail category created Originated Mail) offered 2004 Biohazard detection equipment Inspector General appointed Last year Postal Service received deployed Postal Service released automated public service subsidy Pay for Performance implemented postage software via Internet 1983 ZIP+4 code instituted Customized Postage tested Self-adhesive coil stamps sold 1984 Integrated retail terminals 2005 Standard Mail volume outpaces Flat sorters introduced automated postal windows First-Class Mail volume 1997 Robotic containerization systems 1985 E-COM terminated Strategic Transformation Plan, 2006– deployed 1986 Field divisions created 2010 issued Linerless self-adhesive coil stamps 1987 Stamps by Phone available 2006 Postal Accountability and offered Multiline optical character readers Enhancement Act signed into law StampsOnline instituted ordered “Forever” stamp proposed 1998 U.S. semipostal stamp issued 1988 Small parcel and bundle sorters Intelligent Mail devices with deployed Confirm service tested signature capture deployed 1989 First Postal Store opened 1999 Delivery Confirmation launched New barcode instituted (later 1990 International business reply mail PC Postage introduced called ) offered POS (Point of Service) ONE Easy Stamp allowed computer began purchase of stamps AFSM 100 installed Independent measurement Lance Armstrong of the USPS of First-Class Mail service Pro Cycling Team won his first implemented Tour de

An American History 1775–2006 73 Delivery in Cities: A Visual Timeline

Collection Vehicles Horse-drawn wagons originally were used to transport mail in large cities. Automobiles were first tested for mail collection in cities in 1899; they were able to cover the same distance as horse-drawn wagons in less than half the time. The first contract for mail collection by automobile was for service in Baltimore in 1906. In 1911, "motor wagons" were used in seven cities; by 1933 only two percent of postal vehicles in cities were horse-drawn. The Post Office Department originally painted its motor vehicles red, white, and blue but changed the color to vermilion red beginning in February 1913, then switched to green, red, and black in October of that year. By 1915 the Department returned to a red, white, and blue color scheme for its vehicles. Beginning in 1921, when most of the postal fleet consisted of trucks transferred from the War Department, postal vehicles were painted olive drab. The color scheme reverted to red, white, and blue in 1954, and then to white in 1979.

Collection Vehicles

Screen wagon, Columbia automobile, Screen truck, 1914 circa 1900 circa 1906

Delivery Vehicles

Willys Jeep, 1953 Cushing mailster, 1958

City Letter Carriers

1888 Circa 1894 1926 Circa 1940

74 The United States Postal Service Delivery Vehicles Although some enterprising letter carriers in Los Angeles used their own autos to deliver mail as early as 1912 — cutting their eight-hour workday down to four — the Post Office Department did not motorize city delivery routes until the 1950s, in response to unprecedented suburban growth. The Department had motorized more than half of its residential routes by 1969 with Jeeps, three-wheeled mailsters, and sit-stand trucks. Jeeps were in general use in the 1970s and 1980s. Long-life vehicles — longer lasting, lighter, and roomier than Jeeps — were introduced in 1987.

City Letter Carriers City letter carriers were first required to wear a uniform in 1868; the uniform was blue-gray with black trim. Carriers’ uniforms have changed over time to provide greater comfort, especially in hot weather. For a detailed history of the letter carrier uniform, go to www.usps.com/postalhistory.

Ford Model A truck, Chevrolet 3/4 ton truck, 2 ton truck, 1997 circa 1930 1958

Sit-stand vehicle, 1961 Long-life vehicle (LLV), 1996

Circa 1953 1967 1973 2001

An American History 1775–2006 75 How A Letter Travels

Collection Transportation to Processing Plant After a customer has deposited a letter destined for a distant address in a collection box, a The letter is placed in a tray with other mail for the ZIP Code range it falls into, and this postal carrier removes all of the mail from the box and takes it to the Post Office where he or tray is taken to the airport to fly across the country. After the plane lands at its destination, she works. That letter and mail collected by other carriers of that Post Office are placed on a postal workers take the tray containing the letter to the mail processing plant that serves the truck and taken to a mail processing plant. Post Office, station, or branch that will deliver the letter.

Culling and Postmarking Sorting into Delivery Order Postal workers send the letter through a machine that rapidly separates mail by shape, sepa- At the plant, the letters in the tray are fed through a barcode sorter, which separates letters rating letters from large envelopes and packages (the culling operation). The machine orients for a specific ZIP Code from other letters in that ZIP Code range. After this, the letter will letters so that all addresses face the same way and are right side up. It then applies a post- receive its final sortation. A delivery barcode sorter sorts the letter to the particular carrier mark with the date and place where the letter was sorted and lines so the stamp who will deliver it. The delivery barcode sorter also arranges that carrier’s letters into the cannot be reused, in order to protect postal revenue. order of delivery.

Scanning and Lifting Images Transportation to Delivery Post Office Every letter gets identified by a code consisting of a series of florescent bars imprinted on the Next, all the mail for this carrier is taken by truck to the Post Office, station, or branch in back. The address on the front of each letter is scanned by an optical character reader. Images of which the carrier works. The carrier loads trays of mail, including the letter, into a motor letters that could not be successfully read are transmitted to a remote encoding center for further vehicle. processing. All letters are placed in trays and moved to the next piece of automated equipment for barcode application.

Applying a Barcode and Sorting Delivery to Addressee Linked with the identification code, a barcode is sprayed on the front of the letter. Representing The carrier drives to the street where the letter is to be delivered, safely parks, then loads his or the specific delivery address, the barcode consists of tall and short bars used for all further sort- her satchel with the mail to be carried to each house or business. Within minutes of leaving ing. The barcode sends a letter into a bin on the machine for a particular range of ZIP Codes; the truck, the carrier delivers the letter to the addressee. these identify the next processing plant. More than 700 million pieces of mail are sorted and delivered by the Postal Service each delivery day.

76 The United States Postal Service Collection Transportation to Processing Plant After a customer has deposited a letter destined for a distant address in a collection box, a The letter is placed in a tray with other mail for the ZIP Code range it falls into, and this postal carrier removes all of the mail from the box and takes it to the Post Office where he or tray is taken to the airport to fly across the country. After the plane lands at its destination, she works. That letter and mail collected by other carriers of that Post Office are placed on a postal workers take the tray containing the letter to the mail processing plant that serves the truck and taken to a mail processing plant. Post Office, station, or branch that will deliver the letter.

Culling and Postmarking Sorting into Delivery Order Postal workers send the letter through a machine that rapidly separates mail by shape, sepa- At the plant, the letters in the tray are fed through a barcode sorter, which separates letters rating letters from large envelopes and packages (the culling operation). The machine orients for a specific ZIP Code from other letters in that ZIP Code range. After this, the letter will letters so that all addresses face the same way and are right side up. It then applies a post- receive its final sortation. A delivery barcode sorter sorts the letter to the particular carrier mark with the date and place where the letter was sorted and cancellation lines so the stamp who will deliver it. The delivery barcode sorter also arranges that carrier’s letters into the cannot be reused, in order to protect postal revenue. order of delivery.

Scanning and Lifting Images Transportation to Delivery Post Office Every letter gets identified by a code consisting of a series of florescent bars imprinted on the Next, all the mail for this carrier is taken by truck to the Post Office, station, or branch in back. The address on the front of each letter is scanned by an optical character reader. Images of which the carrier works. The carrier loads trays of mail, including the letter, into a motor letters that could not be successfully read are transmitted to a remote encoding center for further vehicle. processing. All letters are placed in trays and moved to the next piece of automated equipment for barcode application.

Applying a Barcode and Sorting Delivery to Addressee Linked with the identification code, a barcode is sprayed on the front of the letter. Representing The carrier drives to the street where the letter is to be delivered, safely parks, then loads his or the specific delivery address, the barcode consists of tall and short bars used for all further sort- her satchel with the mail to be carried to each house or business. Within minutes of leaving ing. The barcode sends a letter into a bin on the machine for a particular range of ZIP Codes; the truck, the carrier delivers the letter to the addressee. these identify the next processing plant. More than 700 million pieces of mail are sorted and delivered by the Postal Service each delivery day.

An American History 1775–2006 77 Research Sources

See also U.S. Postal Service, Sources dates of postmasters who have served of Historical Information on Post Offices, at particular Post Offices, Post Office Postal Employees, Mail Routes, and Mail establishment and discontinuance Contractors, Publication 119, listed in dates, and the dates of any Post Office the bibliography and available online at name changes. Response time varies www.usps.com. with the number of requests received.

American Philatelic Research Library of Congress Library 101 Independence Avenue SE 100 Match Factory Place Washington DC 20540-0002 Bellefonte PA 16823-1367 www.loc.gov www.stamplibrary.org The Library’s Geography and Map The American Philatelic Research Division has early post route, railroad, Library, the library of the American and other historical maps. Some of Philatelic Society, is the largest public these maps have been digitized and can philatelic library in the United States. be viewed or downloaded from their The library publishes a quarterly jour- Web site. From www.loc.gov, search for nal, Philatelic Literature Review. “map collections.”

Corporate Library National Archives and Records United States Postal Service Administration 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20260-1540 Washington DC 20408-0001 The Postal Service’s Corporate Library www.archives.gov has a collection of historical mate- The National Archives houses postal rial, including the Annual Report of the records prior to 1971. Some of the Postmaster General since 1789, Postal records most useful in researching local Laws and Regulations since 1794, the postal history have been reproduced on United States Official Postal Guide from microfilm, including National Archives 1874 to 1954, and the Postal Bulletin Microfilm Publication M1131, Record since 1880. (Exact titles vary.) While of Appointment of Postmasters, October the library does not lend out its histori- 1789–1832; Publication M841, Record cal material, its collection is open to of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832– the general public during regular busi- September 30, 1971; and Publication ness hours. The library also has second- M1126, Post Office Department Reports ary sources on postal history, including of Site Locations, 1837–1950. For more many listed in the bibliography of this information on these and other records, publication. write to the National Archives or visit its Web site. Historian United States Postal Service National Personnel Records 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW Center Washington DC 20260-0012 Civilian Records Facility www.usps.com/postalhistory 111 Winnebago Street The historian maintains Postmaster St. Louis MO 63118-4126 Finder, the Postal Service’s national The Civilian Records Facility has per- historic record of postmasters by Post sonnel records for many postal employ- Office, online at www.usps.com/ ees whose service ended after 1910. postmasterfinder. The historian’s staff Researchers should provide as much can provide guidance in researching identifying information as possible specific aspects of postal history. Upon about the former employee and his/her request, the historian’s staff can place and dates of employment. The provide the names and appointment Civilian Records Facility also houses

78 The United States Postal Service rural route cards, filed by Post Office, Pony Express Resources which provide details on rural routes and carriers. Lexington Historical Museum 112 South 13th Street National Postal Museum Lexington MO 64067-1402 Smithsonian Institution 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE Pony Express Museum Washington DC 20002-9997 914 Penn Street www.postalmuseum.si.edu St. Joseph, MO 64503-2544 The National Postal Museum offers www.ponyexpress.org exhibits tracing the history of the postal system in the United States. It houses Patee House Museum nearly six million postal-related items — 1202 Penn Street mostly stamps, but also postal station- P.O. Box 1022 ery, greeting cards, covers and letters, St. Joseph MO 64502-1022 mailboxes, postal vehicles, handstamps, metering machines, patent models, St. Joseph Museum Library uniforms, badges, and other objects 3406 Frederick Avenue related to postal history and philately. P.O. Box 8096 The museum’s library, with more than St. Joseph MO 64508-8096 40,000 volumes and manuscripts, is www.stjosephmuseum.org open to the public by appointment. The Huntington Library Railway Mail Service Library 1151 Oxford Road 117 East Main Street San Marino CA 91108-1218 Boyce VA 22620-9639 www.huntington.org www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org The Railway Mail Service Library has The Wells Fargo Bank History artifacts, mail route schedules, schemes Museum of mail distribution, and publications 420 Montgomery Street relating to the railway mail service/post- San Francisco CA 94104-1205 al transportation service. The library is www.wellsfargo.com, then search for open by appointment but handles most “museum” requests by mail. ■

An American History 1775–2006 79 Bibliography

Beecher, Henry W., and Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz. U.S. Domestic Postal Rates, 1872-1999, Revised Second Edition. Portland, OR: CAMA Publishing Company, 1999. 338 pp. Bowyer, Mathew J. They Carried the Mail: A Survey of Postal History and Hobbies. New York, NY: Robert B. Luce, Inc., 1972. 223 pp. Bradley, Glenn D. The Story of the Pony Express. Chicago, IL: A. C. McClurg & Co, 1913. 175 pp. Bruns, James H. Great American Post Offices. New York, NY: John & Sons, Inc., 1998. 274 pp. ———Mail on the Move. Polo, IL: Transportation Trails, 1992. 224 pp. ———Motorized Mail. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1997. 253 pp. Butler, Ruth Lapham. Doctor Franklin, Postmaster General. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1928. 200 pp. Chapman, Arthur. The Pony Express: The Record of a Romantic Adventure in Business. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1932. 319 pp. Cullinan, Gerald. The United States Postal Service. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1973. 271 pp. Cushing, Marshall Henry. The Story of Our Post Office. Boston, MA: A. M. Thayer & Co., 1893. 1,034 pp. Dietz, August. The Postal Service of the Confederate States of America. Richmond, VA: Press of The Dietz Printing Co., 1929. 439 pp. The Expressmen. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, 1974. 240 pp. Finlay, Hugh. Journal Kept by Hugh Finlay, Surveyor of the Post Roads on the Continent of North America. Brooklyn, NY: F. H. Norton, 1867. 94 pp. Fleishman, Joel L., editor. The Future of the Postal Service. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1983. 310 pp. Fowler, Dorothy Ganfield. The Cabinet Politician: The Postmasters General, 1829-1909. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1943. 344 pp. ———Unmailable: Congress and the Post Office. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1977. 266 pp. Fuller, Wayne E. The American Mail: Enlarger of the Common Life. Chicago, IL: The Press, 1972. 378 pp. ———Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America. Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2003. 264 pp. ———RFD, The Changing Face of Rural America. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1964. 361 pp. Graham, Richard B. United States Postal History Sampler. Sidney, OH: Linn’s Stamp News, 1992. 186 pp. Hafen, Le Roy R. The Overland Mail, 1849-1869. Cleveland, OH: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1926. 361 pp. Henkin, David M. The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2006. 221 pp. Harlow, Alvin Fay. Old Post Bags. New York, NY: D. Appleton & Company, 1928. 500 pp. Holmes, Donald B. Airmail: An Illustrated History, 1793-1981. New York, NY: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1981. 226 pp. Ingram, Jane H. Post Office Lockbox Doors: Illustrated Guide, Second Edition. Greenville, SC: Jane H. Ingram, 1999. 257 pp. Jackson, Donald Dale. Flying the Mail. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1982. 176 pp. John, Richard R. Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. 369 pp. ———“Taking Sabbatarianism Seriously: The Postal System, the Sabbath, and the Transformation of American Political Culture.” Journal of the Early Republic, 10 (Winter 1990), 517-567. Kahn, E. J., Jr. Fraud. New York, NY: and Row, 1973. 321 pp. Kelly, Clyde. United States Postal Policy. New York, NY: D. Appleton & Co., 1931. 321 pp. Kielbowicz, Richard B. News in the Mail: The Press, Post Office, and Public Information, 1700-1860s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989. 209 pp. Konwiser, Harry Myron. Colonial and Revolutionary Posts. Richmond, VA: Press of The Dietz Printing Co., 1931. 81 pp. Leary, William M. Aerial Pioneers: The U.S. Air Mail Service, 1918-1927. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985. 309 pp. Leech, D. D. T. The Post Office Department of the United States of America. Washington, DC: Judd and Detweiler, Publishers, 1879. 109 pp. Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbook: A Comprehensive Record of Technical Data, Background, and Stories behind All of the Stamps. Sidney, OH: Linn’s Stamp News. Published annually. Long, Bryant Alden and William Jefferson Dennis. Mail by Rail: The Story of the Postal Transportation Service. New York, NY: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 1951. 414 pp. Mackay, James A. The Guinness Book of Stamps: Facts & Feats. Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Limited, 1982. 225 pp. Margolis, Richard J. At the Crossroads: An Inquiry into Rural Post Offices and the Communities They Serve. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1980. 55 pp. McReynolds, Ross Allan. History of the United States Post Office, 1607-1931. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1935. 559 pp. Melius, Louis. The American Postal Service, Second Edition. Washington, DC: National Capital Press, Inc., 1917. 112 pp.

80 The United States Postal Service Miner, Ward L. William Goddard, Newspaperman. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1962. 223 pp. (Moroney, Rita L.) Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General, 1861-1864. Washington, DC: United States Postal Service, reissued 1989. 44 pp. Moroney, Rita L. A Study of the Intent of Legislation on Second-Class Rates. Washington, DC: United States Postal Service, 1977. 49 pp. National Association of Letter Carriers. Carriers in a Common Cause: A History of Letter Carriers and the NALC. Washington, DC: National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO), 1989. 103 pp. National Association of Postal Supervisors. Back to Our Birthplace: National Association of Postal Supervisors, 1908-1992. Washington, DC: National Association of Postal Supervisors, undated. 36 pp. National Association of Postmasters of the United States. Postmark America: The Story of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States. Alexandria, VA: Martin Communications, Inc., 1988. 97 pp. Park, Marlene and Gerald E. Markowitz. Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1984. 247 pp. Rich, Wesley Everett. The History of the United States Post Office to the Year 1829. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1924. 190 pp. Robinson, Howard. The British Post Office: A History. Princeton, NJ: Press, 1948. 467 pp. Roper, Daniel C. The United States Post Office. New York, NY: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1917. 382 pp. Scheele, Carl H. A Short History of the Mail Service. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970. 250 pp. ———The Story of the United States Mails. Northbrook, IL: Whitehall Company, 1972. 102 pp. Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps. Sidney, OH: Scott Publishing Co. Published annually. Smith, William. The History of the Post Office in British North America, 1639-1870. Cambridge, England: University Press, 1920. 356 pp. Smithsonian Institution, Owney, Mascot of the Railway Mail Service. Washington, DC, revised 1992. 20 pp. Stets, Robert J. Postmasters & Postoffices of the United States, 1782-1811. Lake Oswego, OR: La Publications, 1994. 290 pp. The Story of the Post Office. Burlington, VT: Wells, Richardson & Co., 1889. 160 pp. Summerfield, Arthur E. U.S. Mail: The Story of the United States Postal Service. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960. 256 pp. Tierney, John T. Postal Reorganization: Managing the Public’s Business. Boston, MA: Auburn House Publishing Company, 1981. 191 pp. ———The U.S. Postal Service: Status and Prospects of a Public Enterprise. , MA: Auburn House Publishing Company, 1988. 238 pp. Towards Postal Excellence: The Report of the President’s Commission on Postal Organization. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1968. 212 pp. U.S. Post Office Department. A Brief History of the United States Postal Service. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1933. 11 pp. U.S. Postal Service. An American Postal Portrait: A Photographic Legacy. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2000. 172 pp. ———Annual Report. Washington, DC, published annually. ———Glossary of Postal Terms, Publication 32. Washington, DC, 1997. 142 pp. ———History of the Postal Inspection Service, Publication 259. Washington, DC, 1982. 24 pp. ———The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps. Washington, DC, published annually. ———Sources of Historical Information on Post Offices, Postal Employees, Mail Routes, and Mail Contractors, Publication 119. Washington, DC, 2006. 31 pp. ———Strategic Transformation Plan, 2006-2010. Washington, DC, 2005. 66 pp. plus appendices. ———Transformation Plan. Washington, DC, 2002. 76 pp. plus appendices. van der Linden, F. Robert. Airlines and Air Mail: The Post Office and the Birth of the Commercial Aviation Industry. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002. 349 pp. Walsh, John and Garth Mangum. Labor Struggle in the Post Office: From Selective Lobbying to Collective Bargaining. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1992. 271 pp. Wawrukiewicz, Anthony S. and Henry W. Beecher. U.S. International Postal Rates, 1872-1996. Portland, OR: CAMA Publishing Company, 1996. 402 pp. White, James E. A Life Span and Reminiscences of Railway Mail Service. Philadelphia, PA: Deemer & Jaisohn, 1910. 274 pp. Woolley, Mary E. The Early History of the Colonial Post-Office. Providence, RI: Historical Society, 1894. 33 pp.

Related Interest Gannett, Henry. American Names: A Guide to the Origin of Place Names in the United States. Washington, DC: , 1947. 334 pp. Harder, Kelsie B., editor. Illustrated Dictionary of Place Names: United States and Canada. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976. 631 pp. Stewart, George R. American Place-Names: A Concise and Selective Dictionary for the Continental United States of America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1970. 550 pp.

An American History 1775–2006 81 Notes

1 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1905), 2:208. 2 The year of Neale’s grant is given according to the current, Gregorian calendar. Neale’s grant was dated February 17, 1691, under the old, Julian calendar. 3 William Goddard’s petition to the Continental Congress, September 29, 1774, in the collection of the National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. 4 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1905), 2:57. 5 George Washington. George Washington to , July 18, 1788. Letter. From Library of Congress, The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741–1799, Series 2: Letterbooks 1754–1799. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html (accessed February 25, 2003). 6 Ebenezer Hazard to Jeremy Belknap, September 27, 1789, in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. III, Fifth Series (Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1877), 192. 7 Ebenezer Hazard to the Continental Congress, November 14, 1776, in American Archives, Series 5, Volume 3, 681 (New York, NY: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1972) (originally by Peter Force, Washington, DC, 1853). 8 Ebenezer Hazard to Rev. John Witherspoon, November 14, 1776, in Ibid., 681–682. 9 Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, according to the current, Gregorian calendar. He was born on January 6, 1705, under the old, Julian calendar. 10 Carl Van Doren, Benjamin Franklin (New York, NY: The Viking Press, 1957), 782. 11 Benjamin P. Thomas, “Lincoln the Postmaster,” Bulletin of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Springfield, IL), No. 31, June 1933, 7–8. 12 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, The Henry Reeve Text as Revised by Francis Bowen, Now Further Corrected and Edited with Introduction, Editorial Notes, and Bibliographies by Phillips Bradley (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 1:317. 13 U.S. Post Office Department, History of the Railway Mail Service; A Chapter in the History of Postal Affairs in the United States (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1885), 28. 14 Ibid., 41. 15 Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845, Volume V (Boston, MA: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), 738. 16 U.S. Post Office Department, Proposals for Carrying the Mail in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut (Washington, DC: C. Alexander, Printer, 1853), 164-166. 17 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1859, 16. 18 Ibid., 1860, 2. 19 Circa 1930 U.S. Post Office Department memorandum, files, USPS Historian. 20 Marshall Cushing, The Story of Our Post Office (Boston, MA: A.M. Thayer & Co., Publishers, 1893), 40–41. 21 Congressional Record -- House (80th Congress, 2nd Session), June 3, 1948, Vol. 94, Part 6, 7104. 22 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1862, 32. 23 U.S. Post Office Department, Supervision of City Delivery Service (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1930), 8. 24 Committee Chairman Edwin A. Neiss to Postmaster General Will H. Hays, Aug. 24, 1921, vertical files, USPS Corporate Library. 25 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1891, 84. 26 Ibid., 86. 27 Ibid., 1892, 11–12. 28 Ibid., 1902, 129. 29 Ibid., 1897, 112–114. 30 Ibid., 1901, 122. Locks on rural mailboxes have always been optional; initially carriers used mas- ter keys to open locked boxes. Since May 28, 1981, rural carriers have delivered mail into locked boxes through slots. 31 Ibid., 1902, 101. 32 Ibid., 1929, 26. 33 Ibid., 1873, XXVI–XXVII. 34 The weight limit for parcels going to nearby addresses was increased to 20 pounds on August 15, 1913, and on January 1, 1914, the weight limits were increased to 50 pounds for parcels to nearby addresses and 20 pounds for parcels traveling further. On July 1, 1915, the size limit was increased to 84 inches. Beginning on March 15, 1918, weight limits were increased to 70 pounds for parcels to nearby addresses and 50 pounds for parcels traveling further. The weight and size limits of all parcels, regardless of destination, were raised to 70 pounds and 100 inches on August 1, 1931. 35 Rita Lloyd Moroney, “Above and Beyond,” The Encyclopedia of Aviation and Space Sciences (Chicago: New Horizons Publishers, Inc., 1967), 77. 36 William C. Hopson to Second Assistant Postmaster General, April 11, 1921, Air Mail Service Personnel Files, Record Group 28, National Archives and Records Administration. 37 Hopson to Duard B. Colyer, Air Mail Service, September 4, 1920, Air Mail Service Personnel Files, Record Group 28, National Archives and Records Administration.

82 The United States Postal Service 38 D. B. Colyer, News Letter. Week Ending September 26, 1925, Air Mail Service, Omaha, Nebraska, September 26, 1925, Record Group 28, National Archives and Records Administration. 39 Hopson to Colyer, May 1, 1925, Air Mail Service Personnel Files, Record Group 28, National Archives and Records Administration. 40 Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The Freedom of the Human Spirit Shall Go On,” Address at the Dedication of National Gallery of Art, March 17, 1941. From University of California, American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16091 (accessed February 5, 2007). 41 National Archives Microfilm Publication M1126, Post Office Department Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950, Roll # 264, application to establish the Keyser’s Ridge Post Office in Allegany County, Maryland, dated February 23, 1850, on form printed in 1840s. The same language also appears on the application to establish the Pipe Creek, Bandera County, Texas, Post Office, dated August 26, 1873 (Ibid., Roll # 565). 42 Ibid., Roll # 580, application to establish the Burleson, Johnson County, Texas, Post Office, dated November 21, 1881. 43 Ibid., application to establish the Donald, Johnson County, Texas, Post Office, dated July 21, 1892. 44 First Report of the United States Board on Geographic Names, 1890-1891 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1892), 2. 45 U.S. House. Hearings, Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Departments of Treasury and Post Office and Executive Office of the President. 90th Congress, 1st session, 27 February 1967 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1967), 5. 46 Ibid., 27. 47 Murray Comarow, “Truly Reforming the Postal Service,” Mail: The Journal of Communication Distribution 9 (March 1997), 33. 48 United States Postal Service, Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations, 1995, 28. 49 Postmaster General John E. Potter announced on November 15, 2006, that the Postal Service would reduce the time it takes a person to become eligible to appear on a stamp following death from ten years to five years, effective January 1, 2007. 50 David M. Walker, U.S. Postal Service: Financial Outlook and Transformation Challenges (GAO-01-733T, May 15, 2001), 2. Testimony. From United States General Accountability Office, Reports and Testimony. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01733t.pdf (accessed September 15, 2006). 51 USPS News Link, October 30, 2001, files, USPS Historian. 52 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New York, NY: Washington Square Press, Inc., 1965), 160. 53 The Hugh Finlay Journal, Colonial Postal History, 1773-1774 ([s.l.]: U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, Inc., c1975), 1. 54 House Report No. 103, 23rd Congress, 2nd Session, “Examination of the Post Office Department,” February 13, 1835, 194; letter from Postmaster General William Barry, May 5, 1830, American State Papers: Post Office Department, 1:256. 55 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1843, 4. 56 “History of the Inspection Service,” Post Office Inspection Service Survey, 1954, August, 10-11, and September, 9-10. 57 The five Post Offices were located at Savannah, Georgia; Old Point Comfort, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; and Natchez, Mississippi. 58 Congressional Globe, Senate, 38th Congress, 2nd Session, 661 (1865). 59 The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, from December 1863, to December 1865 (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1866), 507. 60 P. H. Woodward, Guarding the Mails; Or, The Secret Service of the Post-Office Department … (Hartford, CT: J. P. Fitch, 1882), 442. 61 “Mail-Bag Mysteries: How our Country Cousins are ‘Taken in and Done for’ — Some Ingenious Swindles,” The New-York Times, June 11, 1871, 6. 62 Ibid. 63 Woodward, 421-422. 64 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1879, 17. 65 “Says Poster Snare Got De Autremonts,” The New-York Times, July 6, 1927, 16. See also Ibid., April 24, 1927, XX4, and , September 23, 1928, M6. 66 Ponzi promised a 50 percent return on investments from profits made redeeming international reply coupons bought cheaply in war-torn Europe for their greater value in U.S. currency. He con- tinued seeking investors even after he learned the coupons could not be redeemed for cash. Only his earliest investors profited, because they were paid from funds anted up by later investors. 67 Annual Report of the Postmaster General, 1967, 65. 68 United States Postal Inspection Service Annual Report, 1972, 14. 69 United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Five-Year Strategic Plan, FY 2004-2008. From Office of Inspector General. http://www.uspsoig.gov/sp_0408.pdf (accessed March 3, 2006).

An American History 1775–2006 83 Postal Insignia Inscriptions the General Messenger.” By 1824 the Postal Seals Contrary to popular belief, the United inscription was changed to read “Seal States Postal Service has no official of the Gen| Post-Office Department,” motto. However, a number of postal Mercury’s right hand was raised, and buildings contain inscriptions, the he was standing on top of a globe. most familiar of which appear in New By 1829 “America” was written on the York City and Washington, D.C. globe. Amos Kendall, in his May 1, 1837, General Post Office, New York Order of the Postmaster General, City, 8th Avenue and 33rd Street moved away from this classical, Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor divine imagery when he directed gloom of night stays these that the official seal of the Post 1829–1837 from the swift completion of their Office Department portray “a Post appointed rounds. Horse in speed, with Mail-bags and From the works of Herodotus rider, encircled by the words ‘Post describing the expedition of the Office Department, United States of Greeks against the Persians under America.’” The energy and effort of a Cyrus, about 500 B.C. The Persians human on a gallant horse served as operated a system of mounted postal the seal of the Post Office Department couriers who performed with great from 1837 through 1970. fidelity. When President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act into law Former Washington, D.C., Post on August 12, 1970, the bald eagle 1837–1970 Office, Massachusetts Avenue became the center of the Postal and North Capitol Street, now Service seal. The eagle was poised the site of the Smithsonian for flight on a white field, above red Institution’s National Postal and blue bars framing the words Museum “U.S. Mail,” which were in black. Messenger of Sympathy and The ochre border featured the words Love “United States Postal Service” on Servant of Parted Friends three sides and nine five-pointed Consoler of the Lonely stars at the base. The stars had no Bond of the Scattered Family special symbolism. Enlarger of the Common Life On October 12, 1993, Postmaster 1970–Present Carrier of News and Knowledge General Marvin Runyon unveiled a Instrument of Trade and Industry new corporate logo, an eagle’s head Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance in white leaning into the wind, on a Postal Corporate Signature Of Peace and of Goodwill Among blue background. The 1993 corporate 1993–Present Men and Nations logo became a registered trademark From “The Letter,” by Dr. Charles on September 12, 1995. It has not W. Eliot, former president of Harvard replaced the 1970 postal seal as the University, as revised by President official seal of the United States Postal Woodrow Wilson. Service.

Seals Mercury, a post rider, and now the eagle have symbolized the U.S. postal system at various times. In 1782, Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard used the figure of Mercury, messenger of the gods, in his official seal. Mercury’s feet, hel- met, and staff had wings, and he was encircled by an inscription which read, in , “Seal of the Office of

84 The United States Postal Service Acknowledgments

The United States Postal Service: An American History is published by Government Relations, United States Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC, 20260-3500.

Thomas G. Day Joanne B. Giordano Judith A. de Torok Senior Vice President Vice President Manager Government Relations Public Affairs & Communications Legislative Policy and Strategy Development

Thad Dilley Megaera Ausman Frank Schultz-Depalo Manager Historian Designer Brand Equity and Design

Jennifer M. Lynch Melody Selvage Gerald T. Merna Research Analyst, Postal History Research Analyst, Postal History Photographer

The Postal Service thanks all who contributed to this publication, especially Daniel Afzal, Debbi Baer, Sandra M. Harding, Ernest E. Harris, Susan Hawes, Kristen Hudak, Carla J. Hunter, Michael M. Kubayanda, William R. Lalli, Thomas C. Potter, Paula E. Rabkin, and Frank R. Scheer. The contributions of Margaret C. Boardman, Ph.D., and the pioneering work of the late Rita Lloyd Moroney were important to this publication.

All photographs are from the United States Postal Service, except where noted.

The following are registered trademarks of the United States Postal Service: Airmail, APC, Automated Postal Center, Click-N-Ship, Collection Box (shape of round-top), Confirm, Express Mail, First-Class Mail, Intelligent Mail, Mr. ZIP, Parcel Post, PC Postage, Planet Code, PostalOne!, Priority Mail, Redress, Standard Mail, U.S. Mail and Eagle Logo, United States Office of Inspector General, United States Post Office, United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Postal Service, U.S. Postal Service, USPS, usps.com, USPS eBillPay, United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, ZIP+4.

The following are trademarks of the United States Postal Service: Delivery Confirmation, First-Class, Pony Express, Post Office, Postal Service, Postmaster General, Rural Free Delivery, Signature Confirmation, Stamps Online, ZIP Code.

Cover Photos Back, left: early 1900s, courtesy of National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution Back, middle: circa 1918, courtesy of Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Back, right: circa 1940s, courtesy of National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution Front, left: circa 1890s, courtesy of National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution Front, right: 2004 PSN: 7610-03-000-9247

Publication 100, May 2007