1. The riders, or post-boys, wore scarlet livery, and barely traveled more than three miles per hour in those early years. The Post Office Department hired post riders who would take desolate roads hundreds of miles through treacherous conditions to deliver the mail to the various post offices. Konwiser, Harry M. American Philatelic Dictionary and Colonial and Revolutionary Posts. The Birth of Modern Mail Systems . The system permits speedy delivery, is secure against threats of highway robbery, and enables vehicles to transport people and the mail at the same time. For example, 'Mrs Milliner at the sign of the Blue Bonnet, Cheapside', 'Mr Innkeeper at the sign of the Golden Lion, Strand', There was a postal service in the UK in the 18th century - one reason for the rise of the turnpike road was the need for speedy mail coach services. In 1653, Frenchman Jean-Jacques Renouard de Villayer (1607–1691) established a postal system in Paris. He set up mailboxes and delivered any letters placed in them if they used the postage pre-paid envelopes that he sold. Riders on horseback carried the mail, but due to the poor condition of the roads the Royal Mail system was slow and hard on the men and the horses they rode. The word mail comes from the Medieval English word male, referring to a travelling bag or pack. News in the Mail: the Press, Post Office, and Public Information, 1700-1860's. Kielbowicz, Richard B. They could manage a faster four miles per hour for an express delivery. “The list” looks at five unique methods that have been used to deliver mail through history. basis. Ideally,the early Postal Service, which possessed a federal mandate to deliver mail to the citizens of the United States, had significant power and influence on the population. Ever since, the post office has made it its mission to deliver the mail to all Americans, reaching ever further and faster to keep pace with the growing nation. In today's world of e-mail and overnight express mail service, the idea of a letter taking two weeks to travel from New York to Philadelphia seems almost comical. Through rain, sleet, and snow, Postal Service employees deliver more mail every delivery day, per capita, than most countries deliver in a month.1 Even though increases in population size and decreases in household size enlarge the U.S. delivery network to the tune of two million addresses each year, the Scholarly review of the Colonial Post and the press (chapter two). During the American Revolution, postal service between the new British colonies and the 13 colonies to the south is at first disrupted and finally severed. Bibliography. It was spelled in that manner until the 17th century and is distinct from the word male.The French have a similar word, malle, for a trunk or large box, and mála is the Irish term for a bag. 1784. 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