There is mail in your mailbox six days a week, so let’s take time out of our day to thank the mail carrier who is responsible for getting it there! Thank a Mail Carrier Day (also known as Thank a Mailman Day) is always observed on February 4th. It is a reminder of just how important mail carriers are to our everyday lives.
The motto of the Pony Express riders, who were the most famous early American mailmen, was “Neither rain, or snow, nor death of night, can keep us from our duty.” This motto is believed to be taken, in part, from a motto dating back to ancient times. The most popular variation of this motto is “Through rain or snow, or sleet or hail, we’ll carry the mail. We will not fail.”
FUN FACTS:
- In 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Constitutional Post — the first organized mail service in America.
- As the nation’s first Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin established many of the conventions we are accustomed to today.
- Postage stamps were invented in 1847.
- On April 3, 1860, the famous Pony Express officially took off.
- In 1863, free city delivery started, and in 1896, free rural delivery began.
- In 1963, the ZIP Code was instituted.