November 22, 2009

The People's Postal Service

Illustration by Sir John Everett Millais

“When the letter was completed, she found it to be one which she could not send”: from Anthony Trollope’s novel Kept in the Dark, 1882

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Illustration by Sir John Everett Millais

“When the letter was completed, she found it to be one which she could not send”: from Anthony Trollope’s novel Kept in the Dark, 1882

By Kacie Glenn

In the era of the BlackBerry, postal systems are showing their age. Much important correspondence now takes place via cheap and environmentally friendly communications technology, while "snail mail" delivers a hodgepodge of bills, catalogs, and pre-approvals for credit cards.

"If today we characterize the post as old-fashioned, slow, and inefficient, in Victorian times, with the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840, it swiftly became synonymous with affordability, social equality,