As you may recall, each month in 2025, we're releasing a new postcard in our 12-postcard Commemorative Collection celebrating 250 years of postal service in the United States.
Each postcard highlights a pivotal moment in U.S. postal history—complete with fascinating facts and trivia providing historical context.
We're excited to release the third of 12 postcards today. Our newest postcard highlights the establishment of the Railway Post Office (RPO) in 1864:
At the time, mail was transported by various methods, including horseback, stagecoaches, steamboats, and trains.
For mail transported by train, the mail remained in sacks, unopened from one post office to the next. This system was inefficient and led to delays.
The Railway Post Office introduced the innovation of sorting mail en route, significantly improving delivery speed and efficiency.
Some fun bits of trivia:
- Mail on the Fly: As trains sped through small towns along their route, RPO clerks used a special hook to snatch incoming mailbags from trackside poles while tossing out outgoing ones—enabling mail collection and delivery in towns where trains didn't stop.
- Widespread Use: By 1951, the RPO network employed 30,000 clerks, utilized 3,200 cars, covered 165,000 miles, and handled 93% of all non-local mail.
- Longevity: The RPO system operated for over 113 years—from 1864 to 1977.
As you continue collecting all 12 postcards and align them in the pattern shown above, they'll reveal a timeline spanning from 1775 to 2025, highlighting the Post Office's amazing history.
PLUS—a hidden image will gradually emerge, with the first three postcards starting to reveal this cool design.