While cleaning out the basement at the Greeley, CO, Post Office’s downtown location recently, employees made an interesting discovery: a stash of postal publications from the 1940s.
Most of the publications were issues of Postmasters Gazette, a magazine published by a professional association for postmasters. There was also a rarer find: a Post Office Department publication dated 1946.
“During these projects, we tend to find little treasures now and again, but it was interesting to find this postal time capsule,” said James Tanner, a USPS inventory control specialist in Denver who assisted with the cleanup.
The cover of the publication, called Your Postal Service, shows letter carriers on the steps of what is now known as the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City. The employees wear uniform coats similar to the kind replicated in the new Ralph Lauren clothing line.
The publication offers interesting statistics, such as the amount of twine (4.3 million pounds) and leather straps (295,000) purchased by the Post Office Department in fiscal year 1945.
“It was an honor to find these magazines in this building,” said Stacey Carey, the local customer services manager.
Managers at facilities where postal artifacts are discovered should email photos and a description of each item to the Postal Service historian’s office.
Mailing love
The Buffalo Gap, TX, Post Office recently processed 550 Priority Mail boxes destined for Texas Army National Guard troops deployed overseas.
Members of a local church filled each box with Texas-themed items such as chili and beef jerky, along with socks, toiletries and other essentials. Each box was emblazoned with “America Supports You.”
Allyse Lamb, a local USPS retail associate, scanned all the boxes before sending them to the Abilene, TX, Processing and Distribution Center.
“There are many moving parts involved, and a lot of scheduling and networking has to be planned,” Lamb said. “It’s very rewarding to see everything [come together] for our guardsmen who can’t be home this year.”
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