Friday, September 19, 2025
Before they were famous, they were postal workers
USPS updates its list of VIP employees
The Postal Service has updated its list of famous postal workers.
The list, compiled by the USPS historian’s office, features 35 names, including actors, artists, athletes, musicians and politicians.
Here’s a sample:
• Steve Carrell: “The Office” star was a rural carrier in Littleton, MA, in 1985.
• Bing Crosby: The popular actor and singer — ranked as “the most admired man alive” in a 1948 poll — was a substitute and regular clerk in Spokane, WA, in 1921.
• Walt Disney: The animator, film producer and theme park pioneer was a substitute carrier in Chicago in 1918 and a temporary holiday worker in Kansas City, MO, in 1919.
• William Faulkner: The novelist and Nobel laureate served as acting postmaster and postmaster in University, MS, from 1921-1924.
• Dennis Franz: Before he starred on “NYPD Blue” in the 1990s, Franz was a substitute letter carrier in Illinois in the 1970s.
• Ace Frehley: The KISS guitarist was a New York City substitute letter carrier in the 1970s.
• Morgan Freeman: The Academy Award-winning actor was a substitute letter carrier in San Francisco around 1965.
• Sherman Hemsley: Before he moved on up as a star of “The Jeffersons,” Hemsley worked as a clerk in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1960s.
• Rock Hudson: The film and TV actor was a substitute letter carrier in Winnetka, IL, around 1947.
• Abraham Lincoln: The 16th president was the postmaster in New Salem, IL, from 1833-1836.
• Charles Lindbergh: The aviator was an airmail pilot from 1926-1927.
• Jason Mraz: The singer-songwriter was a casual clerk in Richmond, VA, around 1995.
• Knute Rockne: The football coach was a substitute and regular clerk in Chicago from 1907–1910.
• Harry S. Truman: The 33rd president was the postmaster in Grandview, MO, from 1914-1915.
• Hal Williams: The “227” and “Private Benjamin” star was a Los Angeles clerk from 1968 until the 1970s.
As the historian’s office notes, 16 of the names — including Crosby, Disney, Faulkner, Lincoln and Truman — were honored with stamps after their postal service.
The full list is available on the usps.com postal history page. Employees who know about other famous postal workers can email their tips to the historian’s office.
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
These stamps offer chill vibes
Winter Landscapes showcase the work of five photographers
The Postal Service will release its latest set of stamps, Winter Landscapes, on Friday, Sept. 19.
The stamps feature five frozen scenes taken by different photographers: Red barns in a white landscape by John Moore; a rustic fence amid snow-laden trees by Juanita Phillips; ghostly evergreens by Katherine Plessner; icicles set against a fiery sunset by Carson O’Ffill; and a home among frosty pines by Mike Blottenberger.
Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps.
Winter Landscapes will be available in panes of 20 at Post Offices and on usps.com.
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
People
The way back
A postcard is returned after 72 years, employees keep up with a building boom and a small office marks a big event
An undelivered postcard found in the United Nations complex in New York City — 72 years after it was written — recently made its way back to the writer.
The U.N. sent the postcard on to Ottawa, IL, the location of the intended recipient, who was long gone.
It took Ottawa Postmaster Mark Thompson several days to determine who the writer was. Thompson and a local reporter, Tom Collins, consulted with genealogists who figured out that the man was Sandpoint, ID, resident Alan Ball, 88.
Ball was interviewed in his local paper — and photographed with Ben Squires, a rural carrier who delivered the postcard — about the story of how he had saved his money from working summer jobs as a teen for several years to visit his aunt in Puerto Rico, stopping in New York for the trip.
Shortly before his flight to the Caribbean, he visited the United Nations and sent the postcard home — or so he thought.
“I’ll be doggoned,” Ball said in a phone interview with Collins when first told the news. “It’s a beautiful day here. You just made it more beautiful.”
The story of the postcard’s journey also appeared in The New York Times this week.
Welcome to Boomtown
Construction is booming in the Los Angeles area — and that means the region is getting lots of new mailing addresses.
Two USPS employees — Otika Horn and Martha Maher, acting growth coordinators for California 5 District — are doing their part to ensure the organization keeps pace with the changes.
So far this year, Horn and Maher have helped add more than 14,000 new delivery points by identifying construction sites, contacting developers and creating plans to add mailboxes and cluster box units at the completed properties.
“As a growth coordinator, I help drive revenue by building strong relationships with homeowners and land surveyors,” said Horn. “I actively engage with them to understand their needs, offer support and ensure smooth collaboration throughout the building process — supporting new home construction and ongoing community development.”
Little office, lots of enthusiasm
The Lauglin, NV, Post Office isn’t huge, but it’s making a big deal of the Postal Service’s 250th anniversary.
The office — which has six mail carriers, three retail associates and one custodian — is decked out in red, white and blue to help mark the milestone.
“I feel very honored to be part of an amazing organization, and as a postmaster, it’s my goal to truly make a difference in my customers’ and employees’ lives,” said Regina Montalvo, the local postmaster.
“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.
News Quiz
Top-tier cheer
How much do you know about the new holiday stamps?
“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.
1. Which three fruits are featured on one of the recently released Holiday Cheer stamps?
a) An apple, cherries and a pear
b) Blueberries, a clementine and a pomegranate
c) A pear, a pomegranate and a clementine
d) Strawberries, a pear and a mango
2. True or false: In a new scam, cybercriminals are impersonating Postal Service leadership and asking employees for personal data by sending text messages.
a) True
b) False
3. What did Postmaster General David Steiner say was the best part of his recent tour of nine USPS facilities in Colorado and Texas?
a) Attending a special Mr. ZIP ceremony
b) Driving a next-generation delivery vehicle
c) Seeing new processing equipment up close
d) Talking with employees on the workroom floor
4. What is the prerequisite age range for prospective postal inspector applicants?
a) 18 and 45
b) 21 and 37
c) 22 and 41
d) 24 and 42
5. While delivering mail recently, how did Kerrville, TX, Letter Carrier Cecil Cloyed know one of his customers needed help?
a) He heard a faint cry coming from inside the house.
b) He heard the customer’s dog barking incessantly.
c) He noticed two uncollected packages on the porch.
d) He saw the customer frantically waving at him.
Answers: 1) c. 2) a. 3) d. 4) b. 5) a.
Postal Bulletin focuses on energy efficiency
Postal Bulletin’s latest edition, published Sept. 18, takes a look at the Postal Service’s various initiatives to be a more energy efficient organization.
Updates to the organization’s policies, procedures and forms are also included.
Employees can go to usps.com to read and download the latest Postal Bulletin, along with past issues.
View past printouts
Printout details
What's included
-
Before they were famous, they were postal workers
-
These stamps offer chill vibes
Winter Landscapes showcase the work of five photographers
-
People
The way back
A postcard is returned after 72 years, employees keep up with a building boom and a small office marks a big event
-
News Quiz
Top-tier cheer
How much do you know about the new holiday stamps?
-
Brief
Postal Bulletin focuses on energy efficiency