I don't know about you, but I barely paid attention to the greatness that is the US Postal System until we happened to visit the Postal Museum on a recent trip to Washington D.C.
Like all the Smithsonians I have visited, the building itself is beautiful. On this sunny fall day, we were welcomed by this gorgeous entrance to the building.
Many of you have probably heard of the Smithsonian Museums, which are one of the many great reasons to visit D.C. (Psst...they're FREE!) But I bet most of you have never heard of the Postal Museum, and based on the statistics I read here, it is one of the LEAST visited museums. I have to say, my mind was BLOWN when we visited, so I highly encourage you to visit if you can.
It is right next to Union Station, so easy to get to. And while it's not on "the mall" where many other Smithsonian's are located, it's easily within walking distance.
Until you can get there for yourself, in this blog I will attempt to summarize what I learned and why I am so excited.
I took a photo of this quote in an attempt to summarize one of the many reasons why it's so impressive:
Imagine, in every country, in most cities and towns of any size is a post office. You can receive mail in almost any location in the world, and in my experience, it is a fairly reliable system. Have you ever thought about what that takes? That's one of the things this museum made me think about, as well as how that system has evolved over time.
When you first enter the museum, you are introduced to stamps in a very dramatic way.
Many, many stamps surround you, in vibrant color, even up over your head. These photos don't do it justice, but you are immediately immersed in a history of stamps, how they evolved over time, famous stamps, errors made in stamps, the process to produce them, etc. It was all quite overwhelming, and I have to admit I "skimmed" a bit, but here are a few things that made an impression.
First of all, how did stamps evolve? I'll focus on stamps in the U.S., even though they started elsewhere. In this article, I read that in the beginning there were no such things as stamps. Ship captains arriving in port with mail would advertise in the local newspaper names of those receiving mail and for them to come collect and pay for it. Could you imagine such a system?
Adhesive postage stamps were introduced in 1847, and by 1855 they were mandatory.
A person that collects stamps is called a Philatelist, and I imagine someone with that kind of knowledge would have gotten a real kick out of the display at this museum. I skimmed over the content of stamps, but in my reading I've learned that they started with images of presidents. In the late 1800's to early 1900's there were various other designs used, but also many changes were required by things like the Civil War, which put the system in turmoil. Since the concept of a "United States" was now in question, the Union withdrew the stamps currently in use, and it took several months to issue new ones. In the meantime, some post offices reverted to a cash system, and both the North and the South eventually came up with their own stamps. You can imagine the changes that would be of interest to a collector during this time. Widespread hoarding of coins prompted the use of stamps as currency, but given they were not up to being handled this much the solution was to encase them, with provided another set of collectibles.
Innovations such as multiple colors on a stamp resulted in errors when one color was inverted. A famous version of this is the "inverted Jenny," which was first issued in 1918. This stamp is so famous that when you type "inverted" in your google search engine that's the first thing that pops up. As the story goes, the first person to buy a sheet of 100 of these stamps noticed the error, and when he (stupidly in my book) mentioned it to the postal employee, they immediately realized the problem and tried to get him to give them back. He refused, and those 100 stamps were the only ones issued. According to my reading at the museum, the first seller got $15,000 for them, but in those days that was so much money that he was able to buy a new car, a house, AND pay for his daughter's wedding with it. The next seller numbered them on the back, so those 100 stamps have been able to be traced through time. The value goes between hundreds of thousands to millions for multiples of them. Who knew stamp collecting could be so exciting?
They had other examples of interesting stamps in the museum, but the one of highest personal interest was this one. It was taken in 1945, at the end of World War II. The sailor in the upper right hand corner is Rick's Dad! He had this very photo, taken from a newspaper article at that time. I remember hearing him talk about it being on a stamp, but seeing it on the wall of this museum was so much more impactful. Being a philatelist himself, I'm sure he appreciated the honor that was, and how the commemoration of that event in a stamp will make it live on in history.
In case you think the museum only carried stamps information relevant in the U.S., they had a whole section on international stamps. Some of the countries don't even exist anymore, so you can appreciate how stamps from back in time could be very interesting. The display was well-done, with a color-coded map and panels of stamps that you could pull out to look at in detail.
My very favorite part of the exhibit was the "stamps gallery." They had a table with little boxes of stamps that you could look through. They had a sign saying that each person was allowed to take six home, so we did! My six were chosen based on whim, with images that appealed to me. Rick's were chosen based on how old they were, so he was looking for those with 2-3 cent denominations. On the table they also had a computer that allowed each person to take a photo and then make a stamp out of it! We passed on that, but some kids were having a great time doing it! This was one of the many ways they made exhibits at this museum interactive, which made it even more engaging.
One thing I had never thought about was how stamps were made. In the museum they have brief coverage of the ways that stamps were made and how it changed over time. From the beginning when the designs were engraved, to the use of tools like paint and pencils, to the current computer renderings, this, too has evolved over time. Many of the artists doing this work were engaged for 40 or 50 years, can you imagine being able to say "Yes, I was responsible for 2,500 stamp designs in my career"?
They have a rotating exhibit at the museum, and while we were there it was about American Baseball. Of course there are stamps with famous ball players on them, but they also had lots of other memoribilia of interest to the baseball fan. Rick was quite enamored of this section, but I didn't spend a lot of time in it. However, I did notice another feature of the building, which was that the windows in the building were filmed with a stamp design. You could see out through the stamp, cool!
There were several places in this museum where you just stop and think "Holy Cr*p!"
This letter is one. Like many things, if you just speed by you'd never think it was anything special, but mail is actually one of the rarest artifacts from the Titanic. This letter was written during the first part of the Titanic's fateful journey and was sent ashore with the mail in France.
To give you another example that tugs at your heart strings, I'll leave you with one final video. I didn't think I could do this justice with words, so was happy to find it online. It talks about how important postal operations become when people’s ability to communicate is disrupted, such as with the 1906 Earthquake or Hurricane Katrina. I rarely think about a situation when you can't get mail to someone because their mailbox is destroyed, but last summer I had that thought as I mailed a letter to a friend in Mariposa whose home was in the evacuation area but escaped the Oak fire. Where would it have gone if their home and mailbox had burned up?
In the museum I sat and watched this replay several times, just imagining I was that soldier in a faraway land, comforted by a letter from home, or a hurricane survivor, happy to have a mail box that could still receive mail. Mail carriers may not always be a personal acquaintance, but in some situations they are. I know my Mom knew our mail carrier by name and always included them in her Christmas goody distribution. Probably one of the many families that remember Florence Appling fondly.
There are many more interesting facts about stamps in the article mentioned above, but in order to keep this blog moving I'll leave that to the interested reader and move on to other things that made an impact on me in the Postal Museum.
As we moved out into the hallway to go downstairs, I got another glimpse of the beauty of this building. They just don't make ceilings like this anymore!
Downstairs one of the first things you see is an airplane hanging from the ceiling. I had been alerted to the fact that Petaluma was mentioned in this museum by a friend, so I went looking for this display.
One of the things Petaluma is famous for is the first mail delivery by mail, which was done in the airplane shown above. Can you imagine flying in such an exposed plane?
The accompanying description says it all: "He flew about 100 feet off the ground at a maximum speed of 70 mph...Forced down by engine trouble, Wiseman resumed his flight the next morning, using a tarp as a runway. Over a farmhouse, he tossed a newspaper to a woman working in her yard. Near Santa Rosa, a wire caught in the propeller. Wiseman was down again. Nevertheless, he stepped out to a growing, cheering crowd who picked up the pilot and his mail and drove them into town." Now I know why the park near the airport is named "Wiseman Park"!
Much of the downstairs area details HOW mail was delivered. I wandered around and back and forth, but I think you were supposed to start with the display that covered the first mail delivery between New York and Boston. In 1673 Francis Lovelace, the governor of NY and NJ, attempted to set up regular postal service between these two cities. To deliver the mail, his postal riders followed an Indian trail and notched trees to let others know which route to follow. This 278 mile route later became US Route 1. In the museum they actually had a path through (fake) trees, with the sound of crickets and complete darkness. Again, they really did a good job on the interactivity of displays.
Next I read about the Star Route. Apparently in 1845 legislation was put in place to allow contractors to carry the mail with "celerity, certainty, and security." Weary of repeatedly writing those words, postal clerks started abbreviating it as ***, thus the term "Star Route" was born. Here is the story in pictures, or if you're the type to watch videos, once again the video that was in the museum was available online. I think the point is, people did whatever was needed to deliver the mail!
I think the most eye-opening example that was detailed in the museum was train deliveries. Not only was the mail delivered and picked up WITHOUT THE TRAIN STOPPING, but the mail was sorted as the trains were enroute, for delivery later in the route. Talk about job pressure! They had this picture that showed the workplace on the train car.
and they actually had a real train car that you could enter to see what the space was like.
The first clue I got was this sign, and at first I thought it was a joke.
But then I read more about the process that was developed in 1869. Apparently a mail clerk onboard the train would swing out the mail catcher arm as the train approached the station, where the outgoing mail was dangling by a crane. At the same time he would kick the bag containing mail to be delivered off the train. Can you imagine doing this in the complete dark, while on a moving train?
They didn't pay these guys enough!
In addition to the airplane used in the Petaluma to Santa Rosa run, they also had this one on display. This plane was one of 10 in use that was designed by a dentist and part-time inventor in 1939, with the idea that it could expand airmail pick-up and delivery to rural areas vs. just between metropolitan cities. Apparently the hook on the end was used to pick up bags of mail, while deliveries were made at the same time. This service operated for about 10 years, and is detailed in this article. While I wasn't "on tour," I did overhear a tour guide say that they were testing using this hook to pick up people, and started the test by picking up sheep. The article above doesn't say anything about that!
When I first entered this area, front and center is an ordinary looking mail truck. At first glance, I thought "there's nothing special about that, you see those all over!" But upon reading more, I realized there was a lot of work getting to where mail trucks are today.
In the 1910's and 1920's, when it was decided that trucks would provide faster delivery of mail, the postal service went on a buying spree. Furthermore, in 1920 after WWI, the Secretary of War gave the postal service 5,000 trucks to use, of which only 1,400 were deemed usable for mail delivery.
By the 1920's, the mishmash of trucks was becoming an issue. They had 43 types of trucks, from 23 different manufacturers. Availability of parts and skilled mechanics became a real issue. They limped along for decades, mostly standardizing on Ford trucks, but once WWII was over, this became a priority.
They began searching for a design that would better serve the needs of postal delivery. In the 50's they began testing potential candidates. One of the first mail trucks was a 3-wheel vehicle called a "mailster." I overheard the tour guide say they tested these in Florida, where it worked well, but when they tried to expand usage it failed. Apparently it couldn't handle wind or snow, and in one case was tipped over by a large dog!
They tested a large number of designs before they came up with the current design. Did you know it's called a LLV, or Long Life Vehicle? According to my eavesdropping on the tour, she said to win the design battle it was put through a series of tests, including hitting over 35,000 potholes! But even though LLVs have served us well for decades, that is due to change soon. According to this article I read, electric mail trucks will start being rolled out next year.
While the actual WHAT used for mail delivery is fascinating, there was even more information to blow my mind. For instance, the impact of airmail on the aviation industry. When airmail was first coming into use, it was the main use of planes in the continental U.S.. The first airmail pilots operated without radio communications or reliable instruments, and relied on landmarks to guide their fragile biplane from city to city. Can you imagine being in these open cockpits, with rain and sleet blurring your vision, and trying to get the mail delivered in a reasonable amount of time?
According to this article, the revenue from mail service actually helped the airlines develop their passenger business. After proving airmail’s financial viability—and building a transcontinental airway system with landing strips, beacons and even enormous concrete arrows pointing pilots in the correct direction—the Post Office in 1925 started taking bids from commercial aviation companies.
To give you a picture of what it was like for passengers, in 1926 the first passengers flew along with the mail on a trip from LA to Salt Lake City. Not only did the flight take 7 hours, including a stop in Las Vegas, but passengers sat atop the mail bags, ate a box lunch, and were given tin cups to use in the absence of lavatories. I guess we shouldn't complain about airline service today, should we?
Information about how the postal service made process improvements to be more efficient was sprinkled throughout the exhibits. For instance, they implemented a "spoke and hub" system, where mail was brought into a central processing post office and delivered out to nearby cities. I knew that Petaluma had the "Northbay" distribution center in the post office across town, but never thought of it as part of a larger USPS system.
In the museum, they brought this idea to the next level, by pointing out that post offices were built near railroad stations starting in the early 1900's. In D.C., we had BEEN in Union Station and I never made the connection that it is near the postal museum (yellow building on the right), originally the post office for Washington D.C. Thinking about Petaluma, the railroad actually runs right next to the distribution center across town. What about the post office in your city?
The efficiency that everyone is probably familiar with is ZIP Codes. I roughly knew that they went from low to high as you went from East to West across the country, but the exhibit in the museum explained how it works. The first digit is the region, the next two are the central distribution facility, and the last two are the post office. In Petaluma, our last two digits (94952) mean our mail goes to the post office on the west side of town, vs. the east side of town is 94954 because they have a different post office.
While postal zones had been in use since 1943, the ZIP code as we know it now, which stands for Zone Improvement Plan, was implemented in July 1963. The first three digits are the SCF, or Sectional Center Facility.
In the museum they had an interactive exhibit that allowed you to pretend to be a data entry operator. You were presented with a piece of mail (with REAL handwriting) and you had to read the first three digits, enter it in the system, and the piece of mail "zipped off" to the location. You were given 30 seconds to enter all the pieces of mail. I failed miserably, and the last seven were delivered incorrectly. They said that real data entry operators could do THREE TIMES as many letters in the amount of time I had. This gave me a whole new appreciation for how important good handwriting is on my letters.
Of course, nowadays most pieces of mail are processed by machine. They talked about the programming work that was done to automate the mail processing. As the amount of mail grew, the postal system had to get smarter in order to deal with the volume. I read that mail volume doubled every year after WWI, and the post office couldn't buy enough machines or hire enough people to keep up. In October 1966, a flood of holiday advertisements and election mail choked the system. The Chicago Post Office, which was the largest processing facility at the time, was overwhelmed and stopped delivering mail for THREE WEEKS. Mail overflowed in surrounding post offices, and soon the mail back up was felt across the country. Clearly they needed to get even better at delivering mail.
In 1967, ZIP codes were promoted heavily and were soon adopted. You're probably all familiar with "Mr. ZIP," whose image was used in the promotions. I bet you didn't know they also had a SONG to promote ZIP code usage. If you have an extra 15 minutes(!), give it a listen!
Improvements continued. In 1983 the ZIP+4 was introduced, with the "+4" giving more specific geographic information, such as city block. It was not widely adopted, and has been since been made obsolete by modern technology. The current system uses bar codes, in which 31 digits are coded into 65 bars. This includes information such as the type of mail, the business sending it, automatic address forwarding, etc. This information also allows individual pieces of mail to be tracked, so if something is sent back, the business knows exactly when to expect it. I remember when I was working with Fingerhut, they got a feed of data from the post office each day that would track when payments were put in the mail, and they would avoid calling those customers in collections. I thought this was a nice use of bar code technology.
Given there are half a billion pieces of mail processed every day, efficiency is really important. But it's also a challenge for the post office to stay profitable. Postage for letters, bills, and other first-class mail has long been a source of revenue for the postal system. As more people have turned to email, texting, and paying bills online the volume of first-class mail has declined. At the same time, the number of addresses receiving mail continues to grow. So the challenges continue for the postal system.
Even though this photo isn't very good quality, I wanted to capture this sentiment because it "spoke to me.". Like many other people, I find it convenient to text or email people regularly, but in retirement I have found that taking the time to write letters by hand is one of my sources of pleasure. It gives me a chance to reflect, and share information that I might not otherwise write in a briefer format. And the best part is, I get letters BACK, and reading a handwritten letter is the highlight of my day. One that I can go back to and repeat at any time I choose. Now that I know more about the mail system, that gives me a whole new appreciation for those letters that appear in the mailbox. A lot of work is done to send those letters to each other!
I'm hoping this blog gave you a flavor of the Postal Museum. If you ever get an opportunity to travel to Washington D.C., add a visit to this an other Smithsonian's to your list. You won't be sorry!
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