You’ve Got Mail: A History of the Post Office
These days, what we find in the mailbox tends to fall into one of two categories: junk mail or quaint hand-written reminders of times past. While the mail may now vacillate between irritating or antiquated, for the more than two hundred years the U.S. Post Office played a central role in American life. It was not only the institution that allowed us to communicate with each other across state lines and beyond, but it played a vital part in our country’s political organization and hierarchies.
The History Guys explore the rise – and fall – of our postal system. We 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. We also poke some holes in the myth of the Pony Express.
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
Further Exploration:
Listen to individual show segments.
Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Post Office and more with a list of resources the History Guys have put together on the subject.
Even Further:
See a listing of music used in the episode.
Read the listener comments that helped shape the show.
7 Responses
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
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You’ve Got Mail: Show Segments | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] The following are individual show segments included in the BackStory episode “You’ve Got Mail: A History of the Post Office” broadcast in July of 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- July 23, 2012 @ 10:48 am -
You’ve Got Mail: Music | BackStory with the American History Guys :
[...] This is a list of the music used in the BackStory episode “You’ve Got Mail: A History of the Post Office” broadcast in July of 2012. You can listen to the entire episode here. [...]
Quote -- July 23, 2012 @ 4:09 pm -
Christopher Corbett, English, on BackStory With the American History Guys | UMBC Insights Weekly :
[...] the American History Guys tackled the history of postal delivery in America in an episode entitled “You’ve Got Mail: A History of the Post Office.” Among the guests who appeared was Christopher Corbett, professor and interim chair of English. [...]
Quote -- July 24, 2012 @ 9:12 am -
Media Mining Digest 68 – Mar 1, 2013: Addiction Treatments, Afghani Women, African Time, American Meals, American Postal System, Anthony S. Fauci, Assisted Suicide, Australian Innovation, Bin Laden Operation, Bio-friendly Plastics, Chicago Schools, Chin :
[...] American Postal System 53 mins – “These days, what we find in the mailbox tends to fall into one of two categories: junk mail or quaint hand-written reminders of times past. While the mail may now vacillate between irritating or antiquated, for the more than two hundred years the U.S. Post Office played a central role in American life. It was not only the institution that allowed us to communicate with each other across state lines and beyond, but it played a vital part in our country’s political organization and hierarchies.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the drop-down menu. [...]
Quote -- March 1, 2013 @ 4:26 pm -
Media Mining Digest 68 – Mar 1, 2013: Addiction Treatments, Afghani Women, African Time, American Meals, American Postal System, Anthony S. Fauci, Assisted Suicide, Australian Innovation, Bin Laden Operation, Bio-friendly Plastics, Chicago Schools, Chin :
[...] American Postal System 53 mins – “These days, what we find in the mailbox tends to fall into one of two categories: junk mail or quaint hand-written reminders of times past. While the mail may now vacillate between irritating or antiquated, for the more than two hundred years the U.S. Post Office played a central role in American life. It was not only the institution that allowed us to communicate with each other across state lines and beyond, but it played a vital part in our country’s political organization and hierarchies.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the drop-down menu. [...]
Quote -- March 1, 2013 @ 6:42 pm
Just listened to this episode – one of the best of your show or any other history based podcast.
QuoteHello, I recently heard this episode again and thought of an interesting event that wasn’t covered – I read that during the Great Depression that the post office was under-funded so the military tried to take over the mail delivery, but the scope of the operations was such that there were many accidents and plane crashes and the program had to be stopped. It would be interesting to hear more about this topic.
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