Ways Done in the Past - Postal Services (Part I)

 
 The song "Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley was a top hit in 1962.

The Songwriters: Fitzgerald Scott and Lemar O'Bika

How was letters delivered in the past?

The first stanza of the lyric in this song:

[ I gave a letter to the postman,
  he put it in his sack
  Bright in early next morning
  he brought my letter back ]

The ways done in the past to send a letter is known today as "snail mail" or "slow mail".

For communication via Internet using email, Twitters,  Facebook messages or wireless cell phones with SMS (short message service),  the online connection is almost immediate to any destination anywhere in the world.

"Return to sender" is responded with either unanswered phone tone or bounced email ... it doesn't need to wait until early next morning for the postman to bring the letter back!

Modernisation of telecommuncation technology has changed the world and the lifestyle of  everyone today.

According to a cell-phone advertisement, a monk on top of the mountain in Tibet gets connected on the phone... talking directly with someone located thousands of miles away.

For the fun of telling "grandfather stories" to our young friends about the postmen, the post pillar boxes, the postal services done in the past (Part I) and the Philatelic Services, General Post Office (GPO) in Singapore (Part II) with old photos curated from National Archives of Singapore with thanks and acknowledgement on this nostalgia blog to share here.  These are facts, not fiction.

The Postmen

Postman in 1930

Delivery by hand to the shop in 1952 

The postmen leaving the GPO in 1952

Postman deliver by scooter in the 1980s

 Post Pillar Boxes

Mail box at the Oxley Road sign post in 1970s

The antique Post Pillar Box in the 1960s

The mail box for posting in the 1980s

Ways done in the past  to process mail ...

Mail sorting at GPO in the 1960s

Mail franking at GPO in the 1960s

Mail sorting and franking at GPO in the 1960s

Sorting the parcels at GPO in the 1960s

Bundles of mail bags at GPO in the 1960s

The Royal Mail van to transport the mail bags at GPO in the 1960s

German mail steamer to leave the wharf  c 1960s

The Royal Mail van unload mail bags at the wharf  c 1960

Next Blog: Ways Done in the Past - Postal Services (Part II) .