Caption: Motorcycle Postman, 1912, Credit: Library of Congress
Image by: Library of Congress 
Motorcycle Postman, 1912 

You've Got Mail: A History of the Post Office

From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Length: 54:00

Embed_button
The History Guys explore the rise - and fall - of our postal system. They consider the how the Post Office stitched together a disparate country in the nation's early days and look at the ways the USPS has been on the cutting edge of technology. They also poke some holes in the myth of the Pony Express. Read the full description.
Playing
You've Got Mail: A History of the Post Office
From
BackStory with the American History Guys

Bicycle-postman3-237x300_small

Between all the Christmas cards, Amazon orders, and letters to Santa, December is a big month for the U.S. Post Office. Because for the rest of the year, the USPS has become largely a conduit for bills and junk mail. But for more than 200 years, the Post Office played a central role in American life. Not only did it enable Americans to keep in touch with each other as they moved west in the middle of the 19th century, it also played a key role in the nation’s political development in the decades following the Revolution.

In this episode, we explore the rise—and fall—of the Post Office. From the origins of “direct mail” to the Pony Express; from frontier post offices to experiments with a missile delivery system, the History Guys consider an American innovation that has unified the nation through rain, snow, sleet and hail.

[powerpress]

Guests Include:

  • David Henkin , Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley
  • Richard John , author, journalist, and historian of communications
  • Jennifer Mercieca , Associate Professor of Communications at Texas A&M University
  • Nancy Pope , Historian and Curator of Postal History at the National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution
  • Chris Corbett , author and journalist

You've Got Mail: A History of the Post Office | 54:00

Privacy

Also in the BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes series

Caption: 1814 wood engraving of two types of locking mechanisms., Credit: (Library of Congress).

Patent Pending: A History of Intellectual Property (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

Can genes be patented? Are downloaders inhibiting musical creativity – or enhancing it? This week’s BackStory explores how Americans have viewed “intellectual property" over ...
Caption: Migrant cotton picker and her baby, Buckeye, AZ, 1940, Credit: (National Archives).

Born in the USA: A History of Birth [rebroadcast] (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

It’s BackStory’s birthday! To celebrate one year as a weekly show, the American History Guys are going back to where it all begins: birth. From midwives to maternity wards, ...
Caption: May 1, 2003: President George W. Bush declares an end to major combat operations in Iraq , Credit: (Paul Morse, White House photographer).

Mission Accomplished: How Wars End (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

The declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq was famously premature. But have America's other wars had neat or definitive endings?  In this episode, BackStory looks at ...
Caption: Woodcut of the 1886 Haymarket Square Bombing., Credit: Harper's Weekly, LOC.

Fear Tactics: A History of Domestic Terrorism [rebroadcast] (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

With recent events in Boston highlighting the horrors of domestic terrorism, we're re-broadcasting this episode of BackStory, which originally aired last fall.
Caption: African-American emigrants to the U.S.S.R., aboard the German ship Deutschland, c1930s, Credit: Yelena Khanga.

American Exodus: A History of Emigration (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

With lawmakers tackling immigration, we're devoting an episode to its flip-side -- emigration. We’ll consider the stories of those who left the U.S. in search of a better ...
Caption: "O, the fatal Stamp Act" (one colonial newspaper's reaction to the Stamp Act of 1765.)

BackStory - Paying Up: A History of Taxation (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

Just in time for Tax Day, BackStory delves into the long and turbulent history of taxation in America.
Caption: Gridlock, Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Stuck: A History of Gridlock (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

On this episode of BackStory, Brian, Ed, and Peter take an in-depth look at stalemate in American history. Are there other times when the system has so routinely ground to a ...
Caption: A version of P.T. Barnum's Fiji Mermaid. It may actually be his... in true Barnum fashion, the origins are unknown.

Bridge For Sale: Deception in America (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

In America, you can be whoever you want to be. Literally. In this episode of BackStory, we look at some of the greatest cons, swindles, and counterfeits, in American history.
Caption: Chicago Kent College of Law indoor baseball player, M. Ryan, 1910, Credit: Library of Congress

Turf War: A History of College Sports [rebroadcast] (53:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

Just in time for March Madness, we're taking on the history of college sports. It's a subject that has provided some especially heated controversies over the past few years, ...
Caption: Wedding ceremony, 1908., Credit: LOC

Committed: Marriage in America [Rebroadcast] (54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys

Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear challenges to two major laws on marriage -- California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Both define ...

Piece Description

Between all the Christmas cards, Amazon orders, and letters to Santa, December is a big month for the U.S. Post Office. Because for the rest of the year, the USPS has become largely a conduit for bills and junk mail. But for more than 200 years, the Post Office played a central role in American life. Not only did it enable Americans to keep in touch with each other as they moved west in the middle of the 19th century, it also played a key role in the nation’s political development in the decades following the Revolution.

In this episode, we explore the rise—and fall—of the Post Office. From the origins of “direct mail” to the Pony Express; from frontier post offices to experiments with a missile delivery system, the History Guys consider an American innovation that has unified the nation through rain, snow, sleet and hail.

[powerpress]

Guests Include:

  • David Henkin , Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley
  • Richard John , author, journalist, and historian of communications
  • Jennifer Mercieca , Associate Professor of Communications at Texas A&M University
  • Nancy Pope , Historian and Curator of Postal History at the National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution
  • Chris Corbett , author and journalist

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Major support for Backstory is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

OUTRO:

Additional Credits

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, The History Channel, and an Anonymous Donor

Related Website

www.backstoryradio.org

Sign up for PRX

Log in

Production Information

Piece Statistics

Actions

Topics

Formats

Tones