First Rural Mail Route Delivery In Canada.

Hi guys...Take a look at this picture taken around where I live, first rural mail delivery route in Canada I believe in 1908 and commemorated in Ancaster Ontario in 2008..Kinda neat

Some additional information:

Good info wt1...and for those of you who are not familiar with the first rural mail delivery route town to town location, see map below.

In Canada in 1908, would two deliveries per day be typical, less than typical, or more than typical?

Twice a day does not make any sense...If the horse pulled the mail cart at 5 MPH it would take just over 1.3 hours one way..twice daily would be over 2.6 hours, then going back to get more mail to deliver would take up 5.25 hours.

Even if they only spent 5 minutes per customer, it would take approx.6.6 hours for both deliveries.

Now, delivering the mail to 37 people would take a total of 6.6 hours plus 5.25 hours for a total time of 11.85 hours per day..Now that does not even include lunch and supper for both the driver and the horse, and not including loading the wagon for the second trip.

Does that make sense...???

Wert. Not every customer would receive mail each of the two times (in fact, very few) nor would it take five minutes to interact with the post box for which I think I saw a little pole to reach over.

Also consider this:

Yes guys very, very true.

But should we not take into consideration that the "horse and wagon" supplying the mail to the depot takes time and may have its own delays..??

I am not really arguing about time..delays, etc, but the fact that it probably was in fact a long, long day for to complete the rural mail delivery process.

Perhaps the two deliveries were done on a round trip route. Start at Hamilton, visit customers with deliveries, end at the village, take lunch and water the horse, pick up village mail destined elsewhere, make the return trip in the afternoon and end at Hamilton.

cjpalermo1964....I never thought about picking up mail from rural customers to be delivered elsewhere...That makes sense...

I read that Canada Post plans to curtail door to door delivery in the cities. I wonder if they have any plans to change rural delivery and perhaps start using clustered boxes?

philatelia7...They call it saving money...I call it a money grab...And what about people who cant get to the outside mail box..Like older people, wheel chair people, etc...They should keep the home delivery in my way of thinking.

According to stories my parents have told, "back in the day" when they grew up in the UK twice a day delivery was normal. They even had a morning delivery on Christmas Day.

Remember that this was way before unions and 8 hour work days or 40 hour work weeks. The guy on the horse and buggy probably did a 12 or 14 hour day 6 days a week.

We still get Saturday delivery here. My Mailman does at least a 48 hour week.
They have even started a Sunday package only delivery, done by a different mail person.

Why? Wert, you should know by now it's all about the money nowadays.

I've lived with these community mailboxes (originally
they called them super mail boxes) now for about 30 years
and no worse for wear.

First house we owned in Richmond Hill in the late seventies,
door to door ofcourse, no problems.
When we bought in a new subdivision in the early eighties in Thornhill
we ended up with a super mail box and had no problems.
Moved in 1986 to an older home in Thornhill were we again got
door to door delivery, again no problem , only a bit more
convenient.

Ten years later moved to a fairly new home in Newmarket which
again was serviced by a community mail box.
Again basically no problems except the odd time the mail man
(who works for Canada Post but is self employed on contract)
has put my mail in someone else spot or vice versa.
Only complaint I have is that these square boxes are too small and
some larger envelopes which happen to have stamps on them
get bent and these I believe he is supposed to put into the larger
parcel box.
When I phoned recently to CP to complain they informed me that
they will replace in the future these older types with newer
community mailbox, with flatter slots and bigger parcel boxes.
I think I'll be dead before this future will come.

As far as distance, its only about 5 houses down, again no big deal.
The only thing that peeved me off was that why should I be stuck
with this and other people still get theirs delivered to their door.
My belief is either all or none.
Isn't that how a democracy is supposed to work?

I'm not sure of the numbers but I believe a majority of household
in Canada already have their mail delivered this way.

So let Canada Post roll them out as fast as possible.

Again lithograving...I repeat what I said earlier.

Wert, in those cases Canada Post has already stated
that in cases of disabilities, old age, etc etc they
will still get door to door delivery.

Heh, I'm older , if around seventy is nowadays
considered old.

I go for walks usually daily and just pick up the mail
or if either I or the wife pass by with the car on the way home.

People just don't want to give up what they think
they are entitled to.

Well welcome to the New World.

edited to add car