Book Read Free

Neither Snow Nor Rain

Page 35

by Devin Leonard


  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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