| Author |
 Replies: 0 / Views: 2,162 |
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
4352 Posts |
|
|
I've only got two of these in my collection, but I always wondered how it got to it's intended recipient. There is only the name, city, and state. No return address, no zip code (of course). Inside is dated Feb, 19 / 50, which I assume is 1850. Pretty boring letter from a lawyer named Pinckney to his client about a decree in a suit with the addressee's husband, I believe. I just don't know a lot about stampless covers, but thought I would share.  |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
|
|
Valued Member
Australia
69 Posts |
|
|
The way I understand it is, back in the 1800 (1850s) the population was no where near as big as it is now. So the postman/postmaster new who was who, hence why on the cover there is no number of a house/flat etc. and why there is no postcode.
Like I said this is the way that I understand it and I am probably wrong.
Hopefully another member can shine some light on this as I am also very interested to find out the answer as well.
Roos |
Send note to Staff 
|
|
|
Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts |
|
|
It was apparently easy to find these people back in the 1850's. Here's a period map excerpt and the name of the addressee is actually noted in the highlighted area:  According to Jim Forte's Postal History website, the Turner's Post Office only existed from 1843-1893, and the town doesn't exist by that name today. |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
2769 Posts |
|
|
Also a lot of mail was picked up from the post office instead of delivered to individual homes, hence no street address. |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
Canada
4624 Posts |
|
|
A nice, neat cover partime
I have seen covers that were addressed to residents in Torontro, Ontario and all it would have on the address side would be (as an example) John Smith, James St., City.
Of course the letter was a drop rate sent from Toronto to another resident in Toronto as well. The post offices in the city seemed to know who John Smith on James Street was since the population in the 1850s even for Toronto was not that large by today's standards.
Chimo
Bujutsu |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts |
|
|
Quote:
The town doesn't exist by that name today.
I should have added that if anyone is unfamilar with the location, it is now part of Harriman, New York, as noted in this Wiki excerpt: Quote:
Harriman is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 2,424 at the 2010 census.
The Village of Harriman is in the southeast part of the Town of Monroe, with a small part in the Town of Woodbury.
The village is named after E. H. Harriman, former president of the Union Pacific railroad.
Previously, it was known as Turner, from the early restaurant of Peter Turner. |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
4352 Posts |
|
|
OK. I found a letter from 1930 that is cancelled with a note to, "Address your mail to Street and Number". So, eventually they decided to update the delivery system. What is the earliest use or reminder to add the Street and Number?  |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts |
|
|
I'm not suggesting this is the earliest but it's the earliest example I found when searching the internet:  Of course, you can take the "earliest known use" idea a bit further and search them out for each town or city or state. Actually, I think the example from Maine must be an early use, as it seems to me the idea of using a street number wouldn't have been as important in a rural area in Maine as much as it would have been in New York City, but I think the idea was a campaign to start getting people in the habit of adding the street number nationwide. |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
2880 Posts |
|
|
Rod posted a little history piece on this topic not long ago. Particularly, in parts of Europe, the postman would ride into town and blow his "posthorn". People would pick their mail up directly from him.
I'd be curious how mail was handled in the US. I had always assumed that people simply visited their local postoffice on a regular basis to pick up their mail.
When did home delivery begin? |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts |
|
|
Quote:
I'd be curious how mail was handled in the US. I had always assumed that people simply visited their local postoffice on a regular basis to pick up their mail.
When did home delivery begin? This quote should answer your question: Quote:
Mail to and from Confederate and Union soldiers held prisoner of war was exchanged at designated points and was forwarded with postage due. For security reasons, the mail was censored, but it did go through.
Up to this point in time, all postal customers had to pick up their mail at the post office. This meant that notification to the next of kin in the event of a death during the Civil War would be received there in the lobby of the post office and presumably read right there on the spot.
There was growing concern that the notification of the death of a loved one should not occur in such a public setting, and home delivery of mail was launched in 1863. For more information, check out this previous link, including the newspaper article where the above quote was taken: http://goscf.com/t/19714 |
|
Send note to Staff
|
| Edited by wt1 - 03/27/2012 02:03 am |
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
4106 Posts |
|
|
I will tell you that Albion is STILL a very small town. with a bit over 2100 people..
Think of how few there were back then. |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts |
|
|
I just found an image of an earlier slogan "Address Your Mail with Street and Number". Although the text is different, it predates my previous post by a year (1921):  Does anyone have examples of earlier usage of that slogan? |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
|
Pillar Of The Community
United States
4352 Posts |
|
|
Hi Wt1. I couldn't find anything in my collection older than 1923, so can't beat your find. However, I did find a Zep Cover that has the same Cancellation even though the letter is clearly written to the Street and Number. I guess that this was just a universal default cancellation to get people used to the system?  |
|
Send note to Staff
|
|
| |
Replies: 0 / Views: 2,162 |
|
Posted 03/15/2012 10:40 pm
