The Fascinating History of Mail

Mail Service Went International in 1874

Headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, the General Postal Union was established when 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern on October 9, 1874. The organization was formed with the intent of unifying the multitude of international postal services into a single postal territory and establishing regulations for international mail exchanges. 

In 1878, the group’s name was changed to the Universal Postal Union to reflect its fast-growing global membership. Today, the UPU has expanded to 192 member countries and not only sets the guidelines for international mail exchanges, but also serves to advise, mediate, and act as a liaison in postal matters, making recommendations for growth and providing technical assistance as needed.

People Mailed Fruit, Eggs, and Even Children

Starting January 1, 1913, people were able to send parcels that weighed more than 4 pounds via the U.S. Post Office’s parcel post service. Prior to that, Americans had to rely on private, unregulated express companies to transport their packages. 

The service was used primarily by rural farm families to ship their goods, and around 300 million parcels were mailed during the first six months of operations, spurring box manufacturers to design boxes capable of carrying the wide variety of items consumers wanted to ship. Some of these first packages included items such as apples and eggs, but other resourceful customers took advantage by “mailing” their children, because the cost of postage to have a child chaperoned to their destination by a postal worker was cheaper than a train ticket. However, only a few children were “mailed” via the postal service before the postmaster established regulations prohibiting the practice.

Each Digit of Your ZIP Code Has a Meaning

The 1963 introduction of Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) codes in the United States aimed to streamline the mail sorting process for faster delivery. Two-digit numerical codes originated during World War II, when post offices faced staffing shortages; the first digit denoted the city, while the second denoted the state.  

Those two-digit codes evolved into the five-digit ZIP codes we know today. The first digit represents a broad geographical area, from 0 in the Northeast to 9 in the West; the following two digits designate the code of a central post office facility in that region; and the last two digits represent small post offices or postal zones. 

In 1983, the ZIP+4 code was introduced to further increase the precision of mail sorting by adding a hyphen and four more numbers to the five-digit ZIP code. These additional numbers serve to identify specific delivery routes that can represent houses on one side of a street or even a particular building that receives a lot of mail.  

“Snail Mail” Still Isn't Obsolete — Yet

The prevalence of letter writing began to fade in the 19th and 20th centuries as the telegraph and telephone became widely available. Over the past three decades, the convenience of email, texting, and other forms of digital communication have caused another steep drop in the sending and receiving of “snail mail.” A 2021 survey found that 37% percent of Americans hadn’t written a personal letter for more than five years, while 15% of adults reported that they had never written one. 

But the sending and receiving of handwritten messages continues to endure on a smaller scale; in fact, the U.S. Postal Service noted an uptick in handwritten notes and cards during the pandemic as people sought to connect during an uncertain and isolating time. In addition, volunteer organizations have used postcard-writing programs to help grassroots groups foster community and encourage people to vote.