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| I THOUGHT IT WAS A CHRISTMAS RUSH, DIDN'T YOU? |
I know that I have an exceedingly bad reputation as a guy who hasn't sent Christmas cards for ages. Despite my horrendous reputation, you have to admit that I do send a lot of Happy Christmas e-mails. C'mon now, you know that I do. This year, for many of you, there will be a nice long lead-in to the Christmas Day Holy Day, so you won't want to miss it. It's going to be religiously prayerful. I think you'll like it. If you don't, remember that there is a delete function on your device.
But that's not nostalgia, now is it. But this is.
Christmas used to be the incarnation of Hell for the USPS. Where we lived there was always a good chance that there would be snow. Actually, snow was not that bad because the weather warms up generally when there is snow. No snow, bbbrrrrrrr!!xx! Then, of course, there were the millions of Christmas cards of all sizes that had to be hand sorted by address. For all of you young people who are reading this, no, there were no zip codes back then.
And there were different rates for different classes of mail. Just like now. Really. Forever, man, forever!
1. Mail that was sealed and had a street address followed by "City." That meant that the mail was staying within the boundaries of the return address. Got that? Good. Cost, $0.015
2. Mail that was not sealed but had the flap tucked into the envelope, and all the same stuff as above ... it stayed in the city. This mail cost $0.01.
3. Mail that was sealed and was going out of the city. $0.03, first class.
4. Mail that was not sealed but had the flap tucked into the inside of the envelope and was going out of the city.
$0.02, second class
5. Air mail to far away places, like Los Angeles, or God forbid to Montreal or some other place in Quebec...forget it. Only rich people could do that. I didn't look it up, but I seem to remember that it was something like $0.05 per 1/2 ounce. I assure you that I do not exaggerate when I say that people mailed that stuff in the Thanksgiving season by 1st class to save the outrageous cost of the air mail "rip-off." (By the way, we didn't have the exprression "rip-off" then. I figured you could handle an anomally or two, now and then.)
So that's the nostalgia about the mail rates.
Now let me drop a few words on you about the mail delivery during the Christmas Season. I must confess that I don't remember Sunday delivery. But I do remember this:
a> Twice a day delivery, at least Monday through Saturday. This started, I think, on December 1.
b> An army of temporary mail delivery people on just about every single route. No, there were no little convenient postal jeeps in those days. You got dropped off, filled your bag and walked...snow or no snow...-10 degrees or +5, it didn't matter.
c> High schoolers of a certain age were recruited to fill the ranks. I know, my uncles did it in South Hadley and I have a friend, a reader of these lines who did it too. I don't remember the "detail of the certain age definition."
If anyone of you remembers, please let me know and we'll announce it for the record.
The best for last.
Remember, that for several years as I was growing up there was a War going on, in Europe and in Asia. There were more houses with missing husbands, children (mostly boys) and all kinds of other friends and or relatives. Most, I think, were just absent. Many, too many, were simply GONE.
Our family, by the grace of God saw all of our members come back in one piece.
Mailing something to them was the best price of all, FREE.
It was possible to send as many letters and cards that you wanted. You could even address it "Soldier with the least mail" and it would be taken and some soldier in a forgotten corner of the upheaving world would get it and cry silently because someone had thought of him.
All good things come to an end. When the Postal Service flattened all the rates to three cents, my mother and father cut back from about 200+ cards to only the closest and dearest 120+ in a snit of desperation and exasperation. Maybe one of my siblings can enrich that memory.
================ Those are my thoughts and memories on the first day of the Christmas Season, also known as The First Sunday of Advent.
if you have something to share with the world, now is your chance. Send it to me. It's Christmas, remember. Our thoughts and memories are the best gift that we can unwrap for those who are seeking something precious. There is nothing more precious than what God has filled us with. Do it.
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