Bye, Bye Saturday

Beginning in August, mailboxes will be lonely on Saturday, as the United States Postal Service is expected to announce an end to Saturday delivery. The USPS faces significant financial hurdles, most of them imposed by Congress, and the five-day delivery schedule is an attempt to reduce costs.

New York Times Article

They Live in a Little Doll House

Postmarked 8 October 1946
Chicago, Illinois

POSTCARD CAPTION:

THE NEW CHICAGO POST OFFICE / Dedicated February 15, 1933 / Cost approximately $22,000,000 / The structure spans the railroad tracks leading into the Union Railway Station and extends from Harrison Street, North to Van Buren Street and from Canal Street to the river. It is the largest and most modernly equipped Post Office in the world. The flat roof, 790x200 feet is designed for the use as an aeroplane landing field.

MESSAGE:

Spending the week in Chicago just beautiful weather very warm. We came after Mary but she is in the hostpial. They live in a little doll house. Ha. Laura

This is no longer the new post office. Indeed, it is no longer owned by the postal service at all but was purchased at auction by a private developer.

USPS on the Brink of Default

Today, The New York Times reports:

The [US Postal Service] is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.

The paper included this graphic to illustrate some of the tensions faced by the USPS.

I'm doing all I can to increase the volume of mail! Join me in this campaign by sending more postcards, preferably to me!

Postal Service Nearing Default as Loses Mount

Sometime I'll Really Write

Postmarked 16 August 1940
?, Wisconsin

POSTCARD CAPTION:

Main Post Office Bldg, on E. Wisconsin Ave., total floor space 323,128 sq. ft, houses 38 departments, among which are the Federal Court, the U.S. Weather Bureau, Internal Revenue Department, the U.S. Engineers, and nearly one thousand employees. Solomon Juneau was the first Postmaster of Milwaukee, 1835 - 1847.

Message:

Dear Elma and all / Have been here for 3 weeks now. Henry is expected to-morrow night. / Hope you are all well. so pleased to have Harlan's picture. / Sometime I'll really write but the way I've been it has been better not to. You know how it is! I do hope you're feeling better. / Somehow the time just flies here. Am interested to know Harlan's plans. / Do just drop me a card - / Love "K"

GSA Entry

The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse

In it's May 30 - June 5, 2011 issue, Business Week's cover story profiles what they see is the imminent collapse of the U.S. Postal System. This, of course, terrifies me because of my postcard hobby. The article is interesting to anyone who uses mail or who wants to understand decision-making in Washington.

Some of the highlights include the difficulty benchmarking the USPS: the other delivery companies (which are private) also handle logistics and seem inappropriate comparisons. Instead, authors of a report of the state of the postal system looked to other countries' mail services. (We don't compare favorably.) Since I am a management professor, one of the issues interesting to me is the lack of a long-term plan as well as the culture of the post office that is focused on efficiency rather than survival.

If the article is correct, something will happen that forces the hand of the government by the end of this year.

Hello Folks

Postmarked 18 May 1951
De Witt, Michigan

Message:

Hello Folks. / We are having a wonderful time visiting Pauls and Lucilles Had a nice trip and the weather is wonderful. Will see you I hope when we get back / Helen and Bob

The Lansing, Michigan post office today:


View Larger Map

We Are Not Worrying about the Lake Going Dry

Postmarked 27 March 1913
Canandaigua, New York

Message:

The sweets arrived yesterday and we thank you very much for them. We are already at work on them. They tasted very good and we shall certainly enjoy them very much. Thanks again. We are all about as usual. Kate / Have you any water out there? We are not worrying about the lake's going dry this week.

The Canadaigua Post Office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Recent photo of the post office is here. The building is no longer operating as a post office, but was purchased by the YMCA.