Tom, the Mailman

     Employees of the United States Postal Service don't have an easy job.  They serve a public that complains if the mail is delivered too early in the day or too late, that gripes about the mountains of junk mail they receive, or that proclaims their parcels are left standing in the rain, baking in the sun, or frozen to the ground.  I don't have any complaints about my mail service.  I have the best mailman in the entire world.  If Mike or I happen to be outside when he makes his delivery, he always has a smile and a kind word.  He brings all packages to the porch and leaves them well out of any form of precipitation.  He also leaves a Christmas card in our box each year.
     Yesterday a package I was expecting from Amazon got misdirected to Mount Laurel.  I rescheduled my delivery online.  The next day Tom was on the porch apologizing for the crossed wires with the Mount Laurel post office.      
     "Just call if you have a problem.  We're only too glad to help," he said.
     This most recent of pleasant encounters got me thinking about mailmen and mail delivery. Most people know that Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General.  He was appointed to the position in 1775.  Here are some other postal milestones:

1794 - The first letter carriers were appointed by Congress.

1808 - Robert Fulton began carrying mail by steamboat.

1832 - The government began moving mail by train.

1860 - The Pony Express started what was supposed to be a rapid mail delivery system.  The project ended 18 months later.  There were two main reasons for the project's failure - the development of the telegraph and the high price of Pony Express deliveries.  The Express charged $5.00 for a half ounce letter that could be delivered normally for 10¢.

1863 - Free delivery was instituted in large cities.  Before free delivery citizens had to go to the post office to pick up mail.

1896 - Rural Free Delivery began.  When I was a kid, our mail was addressed "R.F.D. #2, Hainesport, New Jersey."  Our mailman was Evan Cline.  He delivered the mail with his station wagon, somehow managing to drive left and deliver right from the middle of the bench seat.

1907 - Most mail was delivered by horse drawn wagons, but beginning in 1907 postmen had the option of making deliveries on bicycle or on the newly available motorcycle.

1913 - The Parcel Post began operating.

1918 - Air mail service began.

1959 - The U.S. Navy submarine USS Barbero delivered mail to the mainland via guided missile. There was talk about how using missiles would speed mail delivery, but the project never got off the ground because no one could justify the high cost.

     Say what you will about email, fax, text, and online bill paying, I still like that trip to the mailbox six days per week.  Thanks, Tom.  You deliver.