The first Pony Express rider reached Fort Laramie, Wyoming
Territory, on April 6, 1860. It had taken only three days from St. Joe,
Missouri to reach Fort Laramie at the confluence of the North Platte and
Laramie rivers. The trip would continue, following the approximate path of the
Oregon Trail, for another ten days, reaching San Francisco on the Pacific
coast. This was a pretty remarkable feat, Saint Joseph Missouri to San
Francisco, California in a day under two weeks. Sending a letter was expensive,
five dollars for a half ounce of letter. Even the Government thought this was
too much; lowering the price, via government subsides, to one dollar for a half
ounce in July of 1861. The Express would last only another six months, ending in
late October of 1861. But, hey, it was fun for a while!
-Meanwhile - The United States Postal Service announced proposed price changes, including an increase in the price of a First-Class Mail single-piece letter from 46 cents to 49 cents. The proposed changes, went into effect January 1, 2014.
Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents 
2 comments:
Hard to compete with email. Someone said Canada is stopping mail delivery altogether. I suppose that's next.
I love email and despite my efforts to not, send lots of texts.
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