| Different
mailing methods over the years
Submitted by Cottonwood Postmaster-Lori Schmidt 1. Stagecoaches. Delivery by horse and wagon began in the 1700s and continued into the early 1900s. 2. Balloons. The first official air mail delivery in the United States was by hot air balloon in 1859, when balloonist John Wise completed a 30-mile demonstration flight from Lafayette to Crawfordsville, IN. 3. Railway Post Offices. From the 1860s to the 1970s, postal clerks aboard trains sorted mail traveling between cities. 4. Dog sleds. During the winter months of the 1890s Alaskan gold rush, dog sleds had the difficult task of delivering mail to traveling miners. Dog sled delivery ended in 1963 as small aircraft could carry larger, heavier loads more quickly. 5. Guided missiles. “Missile mail” was tested in 1959. Two mail containers replaced a nuclear warhead fired from a submarine to a Florida Naval station. The experimental delivery was intended partly to demonstrate the “great progress being made in guided missilery.” 
Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield, fourth from left, postal officials and U.S. Navy personnel watch the loading of “missile mail” into the Navy submarine USS Barbero. |
 |