 
Home Mail Delivery
Joseph W. Briggs instituted the first free home
mail delivery in Cleveland in 1863, and the Federal Government called him to
Washington to institute the system nationwide. He also designed the first mail
carriers uniform. Briggs said he thought of home delivery during the winter of
1862-1863 while watching how women had to wait in line in freezing weather for
letters from loved ones fighting in the Civil War.
Though not required to do so, Briggs encouraged
other postal employees to deliver mail to the citizens of Cleveland for free.
Home delivery was such a hit with residents that the idea swiftly expanded to
other cities. In 1863, 49 northern offices participated, which employed
some 450 letter carriers. Letter carriers were encouraged to wear distinctive
blue-grey uniforms beginning in 1968.
 Until
1887, the Post Office Department determined that cities eligible for free
delivery had to have a population in excess of 20,000. After 1887, threshold
dropped to cities with 10,000 residents, or with postal revenues in excess of
$10,000.
By the end of the 1800's, 13,696 letter carriers
were delivering city mail. Today, over 250,000 men and women deliver mail to
cities across the U.S.
Did You Know?
- American households were required to have
mailboxes beginning in 1916, when the Post Office Department made them
mandatory.
- Before every house had its own mailbox,
postmen were instructed to "ring twice" to alert residents to the arrival of
the mail.
- The first uniforms for letter carriers were
blue-grey, to distinguish them from the dark blue worn at the time by the
police and firefighters.
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