dispensing of jobs, 10
Elliott Benger and, 4–5
financial statement auditing, 12
in France, 15
“frank” letters, 4
lobbying British government, 12
loss of frank mail privileges, 16
Pennsylvania Gazette, 2–3
Poor Richard’s Almanack, 4
as postmaster, 4–5
removal from post, 14
stamp, 37
Stamp Act and, 13
as teenager, 1–2
Thomas Hutchinson and, 14
Franklin, William, 10, 13
free home delivery, 48–49, 78
Freeman, Gaylord, 222
French, Clark, 215
Frezza, John, 210–211
Frock, Roger, 191, 199
Fry, Johnny, 43
Gardner, Eddie
background, 97–98
death of, 103
fired by Praeger, 102
Project Pathfinder, 99–102
Garfield, James, 161
Garrett, Jesse, 250–251
General Post Office. See also Post Office
creation debate, 18
defined, 17
expansion, 20
fine for opening mail, 18
George Washington view, 17
home delivery and, 23
interlopers and, 26
letter rate, 18–19
newspaper delivery charge, 18
number of post offices, 23
number of postmasters, 24
public dissatisfaction with postage rates, 26
Thomas Jefferson view, 17
Tocqueville description, 22–23
use of private contractors, 23
Gensler, Gary, 232
Gerry, Elbridge, 18
Gildea, James, 179
Gleiman, Edward, 228
Goddard, William, 14, 15
“going postal,” 219, 220
“Going Postal” blog, xi, xii
Google, 251
Gould, George, 234
Grand Depot, 70, 74
Granger, Gideon, 20
Great Mails, 49
Green, Ned, 117–118
Grimes, Absalom, 48
Gringrich, Arnold, 136
Grover, Irving, 116
Hale, James, 27–28, 31–32
Hale and Company, 31–32
Hallmark greeting cards, 108, 236, 246
Hamilton, Alexander, 26
Hamilton, Andrew, 9
Hamilton, Margaret, 52
Hamilton, William, 43
Harding, Warren, 105, 118
Harlow, Bryce, 156
Harnden, William
advertisement, 27
background, 27
brother Adolphus, 28
Cunard deal, 28
death of, 30
“The Express,” 27
letter monopoly violation, 28–29
“responsible agents,” 28
Wickliffe and, 29–30
Harnden Foreign Passenger Express, 30
Harris, Joseph, 213–214
Harrison, Benjamin, 65, 71, 84
Haslam, Robert “Pony Bob,” 44
Hayes, Rutherford, 61
Hazard, Ebenezer, 16
Healy, Tim, 117
Henderson, William
background, 230
free e-mail address idea, 231
giving up letter monopoly, 231–232
Internet and, 230–231
privatization plan, 232
as regional manager, 205
resignation of, 232
Heywood, Ezra
background, 58
Comstock and, 58–62
Cupid’s Yokes, 58, 60, 61, 62
found not guilty, 62
pardoning of, 61
sentenced to jail, 60
Sexual Physiology, 60
Hickok, Wild Bill, 43
Hill, Rowland, 34–35
Hillblom, Larry
background, 186–187
battle in Hong Kong, 188
battle in United States, 188–189
Charlie Wilson and, 198
Fred Smith and, 193–194
opportunities seen by, 187
postal law and, 189
start of DHL, 187
USPS and, 189
Hitchcock, Frank, 91–92
Hobbie, Selah, 32–33
Holt, Rush, 246
home delivery
beginning of, 48–49
free, 48–49, 78
letter carriers, 48–49
rural, 74, 77
spread of, 49
Hoover, Herbert, 111, 119, 122, 128
Hopkins, Harry, 132
House Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services, 195–197
Howe, Louis, 123
Hudson, Rock, xiv
Hunter, William, 5, 11, 12
Hutchinson, Thomas, 14
Imperial Gazette, 7
Ingomar Montana post office, 244
interlopers. See also private express companies
arrest of, 26
Harnden, 27–30
Hillblom, 186–189
Smith, 189–197
Wells, 30–32
Internet, USPS and, xviii, 224–225, 230–231
Inverted Jennies, 117
Issa, Darrell, 241
Itella (Finnish) postal service, 247
Jackson, Andrew
on abolitionist mailing, 25–26
getting rid of postal workers, 24
Jackson, Andrew (continued)
Tocqueville description, 23
Van Rensselaer and, 24–25
James A. Farley Post Office, 6
Jefferson, Thomas
fear of government creation, 19
post office expansion and, 20
as Vice President, 19
view of George Washington’s actions, 15
Jeffries, Dr. John, 90
Jesup, Morris, 52, 53, 57
John Wanamaker & Company on Chestnut Street, 69–70
Johnson, Cave, 37
Johnson, Gene
Advanced Services, 221
background, 221
E-COM, 222–224
Mailgrams, 221–222
Johnson, Gustave, 170, 173, 174
Johnson, Lyndon
Henry McGee appointment, 145
Kappel Commission and, 154
Lawrence O’Brien appointment, 147
O’Brien and, 149
junk mail, 224, 225, 234, 236
Jupiter balloon, 90–91
Kalish, Evan, xi–xiii, 257–259
Kamarck, Elaine, 232
Kambara, M. K., 87
Kappel, Frederick
AT&T, 151–152
background, 152
Blount and, 157
Kappel Commission, 151–155
Kaufman, Stephen, 110
Kehr, Ernest A., 135
Kendall, William Mitchell, 6, 25
Kennedy, John F., 148, 166
Kennedy, Joseph, 148
Kennedy, Robert, 154
Kent, Rockwell, 129
Khan, Kublai, 7
King Charles I, 8
King Darius of Persia, 5
King Henry VIII, 8
King William III, 9
“King’s Highway,” 9
“King’s Posts,” 8
Knight, Jack
background, 106
to Chicago, 1
07–108
to Omaha, 106–107
Praeger congratulations, 108
Lawrence, D. H., 139
Leary, William, 105
Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 77
Leavitt, Joshua
American Anti-Slavery Society, 33, 34
background, 33
British postal system and, 35
cheap postage and, 34–35
Emancipator, 34
New York Evangelist, 33
pamphlets, 37
Leonhardt, Elmer, 106
Leslie, Eliza, 38–39
letter carriers
first, 48–49
as first to unionize, 162
“job security,” xvi
as political appointees, 161
private, arrest of, 32
as special breed, 161
strike, 168, 171–172
letter writing, 38, 39
Letters to Santa program, 137–138
Leventhal, Jack, 171, 173
Lewis, William, 106
Lexington, 28
Life magazine cover story, 157
Lincoln, Abraham, xiv, 44, 47, 51
Lindbergh, Charles, 111
Lipsner, Benjamin, 99, 101
Little, Raymond, 106
Litton, Henry, 188
Lodge, Henry Cabot Jr., 148
Lord Lichfield, 34
Lord Sandwich, 13
Lynn, Robert, 187
Mackie, Bert, 225
Madison, James, 19
mail bags, 51
Mailgrams, 221–222
Majors, Alexander, 42, 43, 44
Mansur, Abu Jafar, 7
McAfee, R. W., 57
McClure, Samuel S., 66
McGee, Henry, 145
McGrory, Mary, xvi
McIlvane, Thomas
background, 211
Carlisle firing of, 212
death of, 216
escort out of post office, 213
Frezza altercation, 210–211
ruling against, 214
terror at Royal Oak post office, 215–216
Withers and, 211–212
McKim, Mead & White, 6
McLaughlin, Robert, 204
McLean, John, 24
Meany, George, 179
mechanical letter-sorting machines, 183, 184
Medill, Joseph, 49–50
Mencken, H. L., 63
merit-based hiring, 156
Merrick, William, 36
Millard, Charles, 125–126
Miller, James, 200
Miller, Max
background, 97
death of, 103
Project Pathfinder, 99–102
resignation in protest, 102
Mingus, Charles, xv
Miracle on 34th Street, 137–138, 199
Morgan, J. Pierpont, 57
Morton, Thurston, 156
Mount Semrow, 145, 146
Mr. Zip, 141, 142, 143
murals, post office, 129–130, 257
Murray, James, 105, 106
Muslim mail routes, 7
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)
Branch No. 36, 170, 171, 172, 174
Branch No. 41, 172
Burleson and, 164
clout on Capito Hill, 164
collective bargaining, 173, 181
dual chapters, 167
dues collector, 160
membership, 168
race relations and, 165
Rademacher as leader, 158, 161
success of, 162
National Federation of Post Office Clerks (NFPOC), 163
National Federation of Postal Clerks, 168
National Guard, 177–179
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, 162
Neale, Thomas, 9, 11
“Neither snow nor rain” slogan, 6
New Deal, 132, 136
New York Evangelist, 33
New Zealand delivery cutback, 247
night flight training, 109
nine-digit zip code, 194–195
Nixon, Richard
Blount and, 155–156
Kappel Commission and, 154–155
Nixon, Richard (continued)
National Guard and, 177–179
Postal Reorganization Act, 180–181
postal strike and, 177–178
Nonen, William, 160
Nutter, Farr, 106
Oak Hall, 68–69
Obama, Barack, 242
O’Brien, Lawrence
background, 147–148
crisis in Post Office and, 150–151
in Dallas motorcade, 149
Jack Kennedy and, 148–149
Kappel Commission and, 151–154
Lyndon Johnson and, 149
Nixon and, 156–157
Post Office removal from cabinet, 151
as postmaster general, 149
Robert Kennedy and, 154
speech, xvi, 150–151
Time magazine cover, 148–149
O’Donnell, James, 79
Ohlman, Max, 128
optical character readers, 143, 150, 207
Orchard Iowa post office, 243–244
Ormsby, Waterman, 42
Ott, Carol, 213–214
Overland Mail Company, 41–42
Owney, 72
Palladino, Vince, 226
Palmer, George Herbert, 6
parcel post
first packages sent, 84–85
mail-order companies and, 85
weight limit, 85
Parcel Post Act, 84
Payne, William, 36
Peary, Robert, 87
Peck, Gregory, 176
Penn Central Railroad boxcar, 182
Pennsylvania Chronicle, 14
Pennsylvania Gazette, 2–3
Peon, Jaclynn, 209
Perkins, Frances, 132
Persian messengers, 5–6
Pierstorff, May, 85
Pitney Bowes, 236
pneumatic tube system, 79
Polk, James, 37
Polo, Marco, 7
Pomeroy, George, 31, 32
Pony Express
background, 42
as failure, 44
Johnny Fry, 43
last days of, 44
length of existence, 42
“Pony Bob,” 44
relay system, 43
riders, 43–44
riders as Wells Fargo employees, 44–45
story of, 43, 44
telegraph line completion and, 44
William Hamilton, 43
Ponzi, Charles, 108–109
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Franklin), 4
pornography, 51–52, 54
Post Office. See also Air Mail Service
battle with private competitors, 45
black’s ban from carrying, 20–21
cheap postage and, 34–38
deficiency of revenues, 36
deficits, 39, 138
Harnden letter monopoly violation, 28
Letters to Santa program, 137–138
in 1920s, 108–112
post-World War II, 137–138
prestamped penny postcards, 72
privatization of, 153–154
railroad charges to, 84
Railway Mail Service closure, 139
reconstituted, functioning of, 154
rise of yearly letter volume, 37
sinister use and, 20
telephone
s and, 138
transition to U.S. Postal Service (USPS), 182, 185
Wickliffe Great Britain study and, 35
zenith of, 137
post office clerks. See also postal workers
organizations, 167–168
stamp collectors and, 116
Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicality (Hill), 34
post offices
as community anchor, 132
Confederate, 48
deterioration of, 140
merchandise sales in, 226
murals, 129–130, 257
number (1854), 39
number (end of eighteenth century), 19
number (General Post Office), 23
seized by Confederacy, 46
telephones in, 74
postage rates
cheap, 34–38
lowering of, 38
reform, 37–38
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, 235
postal act, 19
Postal Day, 133
postal inspectors
Blair and, 50–51
as crime solvers, 51
Farley and, 122
Postal Rate commission, 217, 228, 235
postal reforms, 173, 180–181
Postal Reorganization Act, 180–181
postal savings bank deposits, 137
postal strike
beginning of, 172
Branch No. 36 and, 170, 171, 172
Congress need to act and, 180
economic effects of, 175–176
irony of, 173
map, 175
National Guard and, 177–179
sealing of mailboxes, 172
stories of ordinary users, 176–177
telegraph orders and, 176
union meeting and, 171
postal workers. See also letter carriers; post office clerks
changing image of, 199
darker side, xv
positive side, xv–xvi
raging, as stereotype, 219
reduction of wages, 164
zip code introduction and, 143
postcards, prestamped penny, 72
PostNord (Sweden), 247–248
Potter, Jack
anthrax attacks and, 234
appointment as postmaster general, 233
Forever Stamp, 234–235
on mail delivery volume, 234
9/11 terrorist attacks and, 233
package business, 235
proposed reforms, 236
retirement of, 236
Praeger, Otto
Air Mail Service and, 87–89
background, 93–94
Boyle and, 88–89
Burleson and, 94–95
characterization, 87
coast-to-coast airmail service, 105–108
Dallas Morning News, 94
departure of star pilots, 102–103
extension of air mail service, 97
Praeger, Otto (continued)
firing of Gardner, 102
Knight telegram, 108
pilots, 97–98
postal trucks, 95
Project Pathfinder, 99–102
relay system, 88
Prang, Louis, 72
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