This is the Post Office. It is right up the street from me. It isn’t the only one around here… but one of them. It relates to today’s snidbit… mainly because I lack a better venue tonight.
On this Day in 1792, on the 20th day of February…… President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office. It was a Monday. Now, here is how it came about. Washington’s birthday was just around the corner. Two days away. He wanted BIRTHDAY CARDS! So good old George canoodled this grand scheme of a thing called the Post Office… yes…… where people could take letters and correspondence….. and envelopes filled with cash inside cards that said Happy Birthday Georgie-Boy.
The Colonials could walk their dusty shoebuckles right in to a building and deposit this envelope, with an address or a name scribed on the front, the government would charge them a small pittance, and that letter would be taken to the intended recipient. Magic. Presto Chango. There it goes. And better yet, to prove the fee has been paid for such a delivery, there would be a thing called stamps…..mmmm hmmmmm…….. with President’s faces on them.
That George W. was a thinker I’ll tell you. A real thinker. He had this one all tied up, neat & tidy, with twine. But wait! There’s more! Oh yes, wait just a little minute Mr. Postman. You guessed it. One of George’s very closest cronies was Benny “The Kite” Franklin. Guess who the first Postmaster General was…… Mr. Electricity….. you got it. Oh yes, send me a letter…..
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