Postal Service During the Civil War

[unionblue]

Capt. Coxetter,

You and Ole are both right.

The Confederate Post Office did turn a profit.

The profits did not last very long.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[larry_cockerham]

I've seen lots of letters written from Middle Tennessee in 1864 received in the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. Since the roads are nothing to drive home on today, in 1864 they would have been trails at best, though perhaps well worn, since the Cherokee still moved about hunting and the white settlers had been there since the late 1700s. Another factor had to be at work. Some folks had to have had a desire to keep the communication open. My gg grandfather who served in the US 4th Cav spent a couple of years as postmaster post war at Benham, North Carolina. That's about as rural as you can get on relatively flat ground. Most small mountain communities had US postal service even during the war, if I'm not mistaken. Mountain folks depended on the communication. Postmen or rural carriers of freight, letters or food to the remote mountain areas were relatives of the customers. Part of their activity was based on love as well as necessity. I'm guessing they were often paid in ham and sweet corn rather than currency. Some of this service was added by trains but railroads weren't introduced to the mountains until the logging industry began about the turn of the 20th century. Methodist Circuit Riders also performed some of this duty in rural areas, but generally a few decades after the war.

[amhistoryguy]

The profit that the Confederate Postal Department showed, was at the expense of the Confederate Government itself. Government letters were charged an increased rate of $1 per letter, so the "profit" came when money was exchanged from the Treasury Department to the Postal Department.

Thanks for the kind words regarding my post. I appreciate hearing that I have made a worthwhile contribution.

Regards, Dave Gorski

[Capt Coxetter]

Originally Posted by amhistoryguy

The profit that the Confederate Postal Department showed, was at the expense of the Confederate Government itself. Government letters were charged an increased rate of $1 per letter, so the "profit" came when money was exchanged from the Treasury Department to the Postal Department.

Thanks for the kind words regarding my post. I appreciate hearing that I have made a worthwhile contribution.

Regards, Dave Gorski

At least, Confederate postal patrons didn't have to put up with franked junk mail from their representatives!

Dave, I think you made a very important contribution here.

Capt. Coxetter

[samgrant]

March 1, 2007, 11:18AM
Postal Service fixes long waits by removing clocks

Associated Press

FORT WORTH — The missing clock didn't stop postal customer Al Cunningham from noticing the amount of time spent waiting for service.

"It's always long here," said Cunningham, 49, an insurance adjuster and former postal employee who was standing in line at the Watson Post Office in Fort Worth.

The Watson Post Office is one of the nation's 37,000 post offices in which clocks have been removed from retail areas as part of a "retail standardization program" launched last year. The effort is designed to give the public-service areas a more uniform appearance, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Thursday editions.

"We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock," said Stephen Seewoester, Dallas spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

At the Fort Worth post office, the hook that once held up the small battery-powered clock now protrudes from a plaster wall. The clock was taken down months ago.

A customer-service expert at Texas A&M University was not impressed with the decision to take down the timepieces.

"It's silly," said Leonard Berry, holder of the M.B. Zale Chair in Retail and Marketing Leadership. "I guess they think people don't have watches."

[unionblue]

samgrant,

You mean to say that people WEAR watches?!!

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[samgrant]

Neal,

You are SO provincial. Us cosmopolitan folks naturally consult our pocket watches frequently thoughout the day. Ha!, You probably wonder what that pocket in your waistcoat is for!

Sam

[Capt Coxetter]

I've carried a pocket watch for some five years now. It broke me of the nervous habit of constantly looking at my wrist - whether I was really interested in knowing the time or not.

Capt. Coxetter

[ole]

Sounds like a good idea, Capt. I'd think sneaking a peek at your wrist wouldn't be as obvious as hauling out a pocket watch when you're impatient to be doing something other than what you're doing.
Ole

[Capt Coxetter]

Yer a man after my own black heart, Ole! And besides: with a pocket watch, you get to hold it up to the boring person, pop the hinged cover open, dramatically snap it shut, etc.!

Capt. Coxetter