I just came across a great New York Times piece on the mail service in the Victorian era. It's full of trivia: for example, did you know that in 1889 London, mail was delivered TWELVE TIMES A DAY? Read this:
In Victorian London, though service wasn't 24/7, it was close to 12/6. Home delivery routes would go by every house 12 times a day — yes, 12. In 1889, for example, the first delivery began about 7:30 a.m. and the last one at about 7:30 p.m. In major cities like Birmingham by the
I mean if nothing else, the need for it has just utterly collapsed. Even in a largely still print-driven country like Germany.
Parcels, that’s an entirely different thing. And you will notice that DHL, UPS, they all do at-home pickup. Or DHL and Hermes have drop of spots in what feels like every single little kiosk, bakery or ice cream parlor.
But mail? Actual, proper, snail-mail? That’s mostly on the way out, actually. It’s no longer a big need for virtually anybody. Most people I know check their physical mailbox at most once a week, sometimes once a month (since invoices arrive monthly usually).
In my experience in the U.S. shipping with USPS is the best for smaller packages and UPS for heavier packages. UPS doesn’t run on weekends, but they are still very efficient and they’re unionized, which I support. They also have convenient dropoff locations/lockers inside pharmacies and office supply stores as well as their own storefronts that will accept dropoffs later in the day and on weekends. USPS has dropboxes in their lobbies, which are usually open 24/7. Not sure why anyone would use FedEx unless they get a volume benefit. I’m really not sure why anyone would use DHL in the U.S. unless maybe they’re shipping internationally.
I can’t believe that DHL is popular in most places, because in the U.S. you would be better off handing your package to a random crackhead on the street.
Some years ago, someone half the globe away announced to me he’d sent me a package that day, via DHL. It arrived at my address less than a week later. I’ve recently had packages delivered from across the country that arrived within days.
I mean if nothing else, the need for it has just utterly collapsed. Even in a largely still print-driven country like Germany.
Parcels, that’s an entirely different thing. And you will notice that DHL, UPS, they all do at-home pickup. Or DHL and Hermes have drop of spots in what feels like every single little kiosk, bakery or ice cream parlor.
But mail? Actual, proper, snail-mail? That’s mostly on the way out, actually. It’s no longer a big need for virtually anybody. Most people I know check their physical mailbox at most once a week, sometimes once a month (since invoices arrive monthly usually).
In my experience in the U.S. shipping with USPS is the best for smaller packages and UPS for heavier packages. UPS doesn’t run on weekends, but they are still very efficient and they’re unionized, which I support. They also have convenient dropoff locations/lockers inside pharmacies and office supply stores as well as their own storefronts that will accept dropoffs later in the day and on weekends. USPS has dropboxes in their lobbies, which are usually open 24/7. Not sure why anyone would use FedEx unless they get a volume benefit. I’m really not sure why anyone would use DHL in the U.S. unless maybe they’re shipping internationally.
I can’t believe that DHL is popular in most places, because in the U.S. you would be better off handing your package to a random crackhead on the street.
Some years ago, someone half the globe away announced to me he’d sent me a package that day, via DHL. It arrived at my address less than a week later. I’ve recently had packages delivered from across the country that arrived within days.