This week we’re re-delivering some of our favorite episodes about letters, packages and deliveries.
Enjoy, and we’ll be back with all new episodes next week.
When Americans Could Mail Their Children From Place To Place
It was on this day in 1914 a family in Grangeville, Idaho sent a four year old through the mail to her grandmother in Lewiston, 73 miles away. And she wasn’t the only kid to travel this way.
“Stagecoach” Mary Fields, Montana’s One-Of-A-Kind Mail Carrier
Mary Fields was the first Black woman to receive a Post Office contract to deliver the mail, and in the Wild West, no less. Here’s a little more about a pioneer who definitely made some history.
Meet Owney, The Legendary Postal Dog
The National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, has an exhibit telling the story of Owney, the dog who loved the mail so much that he helped deliver it all over the world.
Henry Brown Escaped From Slavery By Mailing Himself To Philadelphia
On this day in 1849, Henry Brown escaped slavery from a Virginia plantation in a very unusual way: he arranged it so he could hide in a small wooden box that was sent to Pennsylvania. Here’s some of his story.
How Ethel Merman Helped Get America To Use ZIP Codes
Today in 1963, the US Postal Service officially started using ZIP codes as a way to quickly sort huge amounts of mail and get it to where it needed to go. How did they get Americans to adopt ZIP codes? A mascot named Mr. Zip and a jingle sung by Broadway legend Ethel Merman.
