The Story of the U.S. Post Office: 250 Years from Franklin to the ZIP Code

In 1958 the jeweler Harry Winston sent the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian by registered mail, and the postage came to two dollars and forty-four cents. This documentary tells the story of the United States Post Office from the beginning: Benjamin Franklin and the colonial post, the law of 1792, post riders and stagecoaches, the first postage stamps, the Pony Express, mail sorted on moving trains, free delivery to the door, Rural Free Delivery, Parcel Post and the children who went by mail, the first airmail pilots, the words carved on the New York General Post Office, the ZIP Code and Mr. ZIP, the strike of 1970, the machines that read handwriting, and where the mail stands today. Clear narration over photographs and film from open archives. The whole story, told in order from start to finish. Chapters 00:00 A Diamond by Mail 01:10 The King's Post 02:56 The Law of 1792 04:03 Riders and Coaches 05:14 The Price of a Letter 06:54 The Pony Express 08:43 Mail on the Rails 10:25 To the Door 11:39 Out to the Farm 13:47 More Than Letters 15:29 Children by Mail 16:45 Mail by Air 19:37 Neither Snow Nor Rain 20:37 Five Digits 22:28 The Strike 24:16 Machines That Read 25:13 The Mail Today Pictures from Wikimedia Commons, in order of appearance: "HopeDiamondwithLighting2" by 350z33 (CC BY-SA 3.0); "National Museum of Natural History - Madison Drive - 2026…" by ajay_suresh (CC BY 4.0); "George B. Armstrong (2925218725)" by Cliff (CC BY 2.0); "William Lyne Wilson (1843-1900) (10506895356)" by Political Graveyard (CC BY 2.0); "Mailbox US in the shade" by Rootology (CC BY-SA 3.0); "Queen mailing cage" by AutoElectEngr (CC BY-SA 4.0); "Transcontinental Air Mail Route Beacon 37A" by Dppowell (CC BY-SA 4.0); "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" by Shannon McGee (CC BY-SA 2.0); "Tribute Bearers on the Apadana Staircase 22 (Best Viewed Size…" by A.Davey (CC BY 2.0); "Youngstown-Stambaugh Building (OHPTC) - 14665954817" by Ohio Redevelopment Projects - ODSA (CC BY 2.0); "United States Post Office-Chicago (6039060300)" by Teemu008 (CC BY-SA 2.0); "Chicago Central Post Office (old)2" by Zol87 (CC BY-SA 2.0); "US Postal Strike 1970- apwu" by APWUcommunications (CC BY-SA 3.0); "James farley post office 2009" by chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0); "Dozens of trays of mail with USPS nonprofit bulk mail" by Yonghokim (CC BY-SA 4.0); "United States Postal Service Headquarters - USPS Washington D.C." by Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0); "USPS Mail Carrier Trucks in Hays Kansas (54557321982)" by Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0); "Postman of the United States Postal Service 2007 Salt Lake City" by Bobjgalindo (CC BY 4.0); "Mail Truck, Flower Hill, Long Island, New York June 13, 2022" by AITFFan1 (CC BY-SA 4.0); "U.S. Mail - Flickr - desertdutchman" by Ken Bosma (CC BY 2.0); "National Postal Museum (55266859203)" by ajay_suresh (CC BY 4.0). License texts: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0.