I just keep finding more books to use on my 'mail trail'! Another book by Neill D. Mullen, Whatcom County Post Offices and Post Masters 1857 - 1985 was an interesting look back at the local postal service. There are maps of the routes, as well as lists of those who delivered the mail, and how much was delivered. Of special interest were the Centennial Post Office Cachets issued by the Whatcom County Historical Society.

This book would fit beautifully with The Victorian Internet (June 17, 2014), in fact, I suggest reading them back to back. The Tyranny of E-Mail: the Four-Thousand Year Journey to Your Inbox, by John Freeman was a fascinating look at the evolution of mail from clay tablets to the virtual version we know as email. As we moved from handwritten letters, to the brief post card, to telegraphs the same concerns are voiced again and again ... less personal, less contact, demise of manners (not to mention handwriting), unwanted mail (think mostly politicians!!), responses sent in haste ... little has changed, really! If nothing else, take a moment to read the beginning of chapter one and the description of a letter leaving a mountain home in Finland, traveling in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer to it's final destination in the U.S. Midwest.

Cats delivering the mail? Only the government could come up with this idea. (In this case the city fathers of Liege, Belgium in 1879). Based on a true event, The Mail Carrier Cats of Liege (Les Chats Facteurs de Liege), by Gretchen Lamont with pictures by Hugh Harrison is charming and funny as well as a quick read. (And fits so nicely with this trail I'm on!) ;-)

There was a time when you could order a house from Sears. It was a in the form of a kit and you put it together yourself. The House in the Mail, by Rosemary and Tom Wells and illustrated by Dan Andreasen is the story of a family who gets a brand new house this way. Emily looks forward to her very own room with a secret hiding place to keep her things away from her pest of a brother. :-)

There are many other books about delivering the mail including September 20, 2014 (Pony Express), February 7, 2015 (Owney, the Mail Dog), January 16, 2015 (Mavericks of the Sky), and the most recent, February 4, 2016.

Reading Hermit With Dog