There might be books available on jobs at the post office, or taking the test necessary to work there. There are books on how the mail is delivered (mentioned in this very blog!) including the Pony Express. And kid's books, of course, on where a letter goes, but there sure wasn't much on the actual history ... and then I found How the Post Office Created America: a History, by Winifred Gallagher! The author said the same thing in her intro, too, which inspired her to write this book. Detailed and comprehensive this covers it all. Mostly quite good, it does get a bit dry in places (where politicians are/were involved). Even in the early days the Post Office hired women and minorities. Some postmasters were corrupt, others were noble and made sure the mail was delivered even if they did so themselves in dreadful conditions. I loved reading about the evolution of sorting the mail ... by hand or machine, on a train or conveyer belt, the addition of the zip code, and so forth. Oh, and the horse and rider seen on the patches of the past? It's not a pony express rider!

Here's a nice little history of the Pony Express for kids: Off Like the Wind! The First Ride of the Pony Express, by Michael P. Spradlin with paintings by Layne Johnson. The possibility of delivering cross country mail in less than the several months it usually took was exciting! The first riders (one heading east, one west) left under banners and to cheers in St. Louis and Sacramento. Although not many records survived, the author was able to recreate that first ride. Be sure to read the more complete history at the back, too.

I am having excellent luck at ordering used books via amazon! (All right, I've only done it twice ... ) This time it was An American Postal Portrait: a Photographic Legacy from the U.S. Postal Service. It's a wonderful collection of old photos of post offices (one was a converted chicken coop in the Oklahoma territory) and the means of delivery. In WWI so many men left to fight that women where hired ... at the same pay as the men! There's a picture of Carrie Hurly, who sewed mail bags ... made up of 48 million seams. In 1923 51 horses were sent to France via the mail. There were miles and miles of pneumatic tubes running under the larger cities. In 1949 there was a post office in Vermont that straddled the Canadian border. There's a post office staffed by nuns (since 1899), their salary went to the convent. And, a wonderful discovery, a picture of the post office in Fairhaven, Washington!

For another look at the history of the post office, there's Neither Snow Nor Rain: a History of the United States Postal Service, by Devin Leonard. This book included chapters dealing with mail strikes and 'going postal' (and a discussion on why it happened) as well as less serious issues. Stamp collecting was considered a hobby for children until one popular President changed public opinion. There's a wonderful picture of a child in a mail bag ... there was a brief period of time when parcel post was cheaper than a train ticket! Again, a bit dry with the political stuff, but overall most interesting.

Reading Hermit With Dog