DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 1): Moving the Mail:
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- MOVING_071211_05.JPG: Grumman Corporation's Long Life Vehicle, or LLV
Long Life Vehicle:
After the 1950s tests, the next revolution in postal vehicle service came in the 1980s. By then, even the sturdiest jeeps were showing their age. This time, officials decided to have their vehicles made to order. They provided potential contractors with a list of requirements, and challenged each to build the best carrier vehicle from scratch.
Vehicles were tested in Laredo, Texas in what one postal official called "the most grueling test of a government vehicle this side of the M-1 tank." Grumman Corporation's Long Life Vehicle, or LLV, emerged victorious. Now a staple of American neighborhoods, the boxy LLVs began service in 1986. This LLV was the first such vehicle produced for the Postal Service. These right-hand drive vehicles continue to make up the bulk of the postal fleet, as 142,236 LLVs help deliver the mail every day.
- MOVING_071211_07.JPG: Collection Box:
In addition to delivering the mail, carriers collect mail from collection boxes along their routes at pre-determined times. This mail is carried by vehicle back to the post office and placed into the mail stream.
Collection boxes first appeared in the early 20th century as package boxes that were placed alongside post-mounted letter boxes. In 1931, package boxes were renamed large collection boxes and began to appear on sidewalks without a separate letter box. They slowly replaced post-mounted boxes. By the 1960s, this now-familiar shape could be spotted on street corners across the U.S.
A New Design on Mail Volume:
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Post Office Department was finally able to purchase 3,247 new trucks. Post-war booms in business and employment fueled an increase in mail volume. More mail flowing into individual mailboxes meant more mail toted by the carriers.
Growing suburban sprawl added to the complexity of the challenge facing the Department after the war. City mail delivery systems were strained to the point of breaking and letter carriers to the point of exhaustion. A new approach was needed to keep mail moving quickly and efficiently.
- MOVING_071211_17.JPG: 1931 Ford Model A Parcel Post Mail Truck:
In 1931, the Post Office Department acquired 1,000 Ford Model A mail trucks. The Metropolitan Body Corporation produced the body, constructed principally of oak. Ford Motor Company built the chassis. These trucks were used mostly for Parcel Post Service. Their cargo was packages too bulky or heavy for letter carriers' pouches. These packages were delivered separately from the rest of the mail, an extra expense of time and effort.
"The credit for the longevity of this vehicle goes to the drivers, and the US Post Office mechanics and maintenance garagemen of those times." -- Walter Kalavesky, Post Office Department mechanic.
- MOVING_071211_23.JPG: Owens Box:
This mailbox style was the last one used by the Post Office Department that was designed to attach to a pole or a lamppost. The original mailbox design of this style was created by David Owens, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin postmaster. Mail from these boxes was collected by opening the drop bottom section. Although the Post Office Department last purchased this style of mailbox in 1955, some can still be spotted today in areas around the country.
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- Description of Subject Matter: Moving the Mail
July 30, 1993 – Permanent
Level 1: Mail in America Galleries
Faced with the challenge of moving the mail quickly, the postal service looked to trains, automobiles, airplanes, and buses to deliver the mail, all of which are the focus of the museum's 90-foot-high Atrium gallery.
* Mail by Rail: After the Civil War, postal officials began to take advantage of railway trains for moving and sorting the mail. Sorting the mail while it was being carried between towns was a revolutionary approach to mail delivery, involving generations of devoted postal employees who worked as railway mail clerks.
* Owney: Mascot of the Railway Mail Service Owney was a stray mutt who wandered into the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. He began to ride with the bags on trains across the state—and then the country. In 1895 Owney traveled with mailbags on steamships to Asia and across Europe before returning to Albany. He was beloved by Railway Mail Service clerks, who adopted him as their unofficial mascot.
* Networking a Nation: Star Route Service: Some of the most ambitious movers of the mail were not railway mail clerks, aviators, or even postal employees, but were Star Route contractors. Star Routes were established in 1845 when the Postal Service began hiring contractors to use the most appropriate and efficient methods of transportation to carry the mail. The name "Star Routes" came about because postal clerks became weary of writing "Celerity, Certainty, and Security" over and over again in the contract books and began using "***" instead. These routes have been covered by all modes of transportation from stagecoaches, trucks, and planes to less conventional means, such as dog sleds, showshoes, and bare feet. "Star Routes" were renamed "Highway Contract Routes" in 1970, but are still known by their original name today. On view are a 1850s Concord-style stagecoach and a full-size semi truck cab-cutaway.
* On the Road: Motorizing the Mail: This section discusses the evolution of mail vehicles starting with the first tests in 1899 to the present. With the introduction of Parcel Post Service in 1913, these vehicles brought millions of packages into the mail stream for the first time. Despite numerous challenges over the years, motorized mail has undergone numerous improvements to dramatically increase efficiency in delivering the mail. In the early 1980s, after years of study and testing, another generation of postal trucks was introduced—nicknamed Long Life Vehicles—which quickly became familiar sights in American neighborhoods. On view are a 1931 Model A Ford Parcel Post truck and a contemporary Long Life Vehicle mail truck.
* Airmail Service in America: Airmail service was the base from which America's commercial aviation industry developed. This section of the exhibition examines this critical role of the postal service and features the airmail service established in 1918 between New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., through the remarkable pioneering flights of pilots Torrey Webb, James Edgerton, H. Paul Culver, and George Boyle. On view are a 1911 Wiseman-Cooke biplane, a 1919 de Havilland DH-4B, and a 1936 Stinson Reliant SR-10.
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