AMERICANS AT WORK - LETTER CARRIERS

[Music] oh [Music] Americans at work bringing us news Pleasant and sad words from near and far letters postcards advertisements Publications bringing a world full of life to our doors through the magic of our mailboxes where does a letter start sometimes it's a simple thing sometimes it's quite a [Music] problem delivering one is an even bigger job it requires men who take the letters from the mailboxes to the post office then postal clerks to cancel the stamps sort the mail and send it on its way it takes another another man to deliver the letter and of course someone on the other end to receive it the letters we write travel by every conceivable method at air terminals the world over bags of mail written on thin lightweight paper bearing the words air mail in every modern language board planes along with passengers and cargo letters flying through the air over thousands of miles shortening the distances between friends and relatives drawing the marketplaces of the world closer [Music] together cargos of communications at ports on every ocean and along the Great Lakes letters sent from the post offices of Many Lands embark on voyages across the Great expanses of water that cross our globe joining the peoples of the world with a common means of communicating from City to City the maale Travels by train riding the rails moving day and night to be delivered to its destination letters and packages travel by truck as well over short distances between neighboring towns and in the cities too from main post office to Branch from Branch to substation and to the storage [Music] box the letter carriers have to go everywhere down streams in canoes or across mountains with the aid of mules and pack horses and the lowly mule is elevated to assistant carrier to bring the mail over the mountain for the most part it's male traveling on foot almost every letter we write every one we read is delivered by a letter carrier traveling on foot walking the horizontal miles of residential streets and the vertical miles of Office Buildings and apartment houses of course some letter carriers use Satchel carts to carry large loads mail to be delivered is increasing every day so these wheeled pack horses take the load off his back another helper is the three- whe mailster used to cover large areas and combine deliveries of first and second class mail and parcel post but no one has yet been able to drive a maer up a flight of steps hundreds of stairs that take their toll in men making the letter carrier's job the occupation with the highest incidents of death and disability due to heart failure and coronary disease no matter who you are you depend on the males like the businessmen who use them to communicate with clients to operate America's businesses you are cordially invited the pleasure of your company how often these words reach us as our social life revolves through the mails subscribe now reads the advertisement and every week or every month the postman brings a world of reading to your home big sale now going on every item reduced read the circular and because of your letter carrier you know what and where to buy and of course the first of the month wouldn't be the same without male telling you whom and how much to pay and for friends and loved ones like a serviceman at a lonely post nothing brightens the day like a letter from home [Music] 4 a.m. someone set the alarm by mistake no every working day begins at this hour for your letter carrier few people like getting up before the sun just to take a walk but the men who carry the mail are ready to do exactly that every day the mail is delivered like any husband the carrier bids his wife goodbye and leaves for work unhampered by rush hour [Music] traffic While most of us are still asleep the letter carrier has reached his post office to begin his day in the main post office the mail is sorted and delivered to the Zone Branch to be sorted Again by Route the carrier does the final sorting first by Street then by block house floor and apartment with Incredible speed he reads each address separating the pieces of first class mail at a minimum rate of 18 a minute second class mail magazines advertising and other Publications at the rate of eight pieces a minute keeping track of current addresses of our friends is often a difficult job for most of us but to our Postman it is a matter of record and while he knows from his book the whereabouts of all the people on his root who have moved he relies on his memory to root their mail quickly [Music] when the carrier has finished the Sorting he will have every letter in order from left to right beginning with the first house on his route and ending with the last when all of the letters are placed in the proper pigeon holes they're strapped into small bundles and placed in the sack this is known as casing a job requiring a lot of experience to be able to place each letter each magazine in proper sequence just as the Black black bag identifies the family doctor the mail sack identifies our letter carriers with 35 lb of mail in the sack and the remainder delivered to storage boxes by truck the carrier is ready to make deliveries at the checkout desk he signs for special keys that will open storage boxes and apartment house delivery boxes he also signs for registered mail and pays the postage due on any letters headed for the people on his route money he must later collect [Music] about the time many of us are punching in the postman is punching out changing from office worker to a door-to-door representative from his post office the carrier travels to his route on the sidewalks he travels the same paths every day knows everyone on his route by name as well as by the number of the house in many communities the letter carrier is like a friendly neighbor coming to call almost every day he has a schedule to keep work to do but he always has time to say good morning to comment on the weather to hear about the family greet the children at their play time to keep track of the hundreds of people who depend on him to bring words from all over the world when the leather bag is empty it isn't a sign that the carrier's day is through instead it signals him to stop at a storage box to refill the sack with more first class mail and with the great amounts of second class the magazines and other Printed Matter some days his loads are smaller than others but never light on Thursdays and Fridays when the weekly publication are distributed his storage box is filled many [Music] times apartment dwellers make life a little easier for the postman if the mail doesn't come registered or postage due for an occupant on the 10th floor of a building without an elevator here one stop serves many people [Music] unless you happen to be standing near your mailbox when deliveries are made you don't always see your carrier but when there is a letter requiring a receipt or postage due the postman makes every effort to deliver the mail personally it may require return trips and if he fails to find you at home a notice that the letter awaits you at the branch post office [Music] large packages sent parcel post require the services of a truck these two are delivered right to your door handled with care because the postman realizes the value of parcels deemed important enough to be entrusted to him we the public recognize the value of the letter carrier too we recognize him as a messenger of sympathy and love servant of parted friends counselor of the Lonely Bond of the scattered family and larger of the common [Music] life our Postman who with his bulging leather mail sack is The Courier of the people according to long-standing tradition the mail must go through when people write letters they want to communicate with others it is the letter carrier who supplies the line of communication a line that cannot be [Music] broken these union members walk everywhere everywhere that is but on picket lines for they are employed by you through the government which represents you and their responsibility is to ensure the delivery of your mail a child's letter to Santa is as important to the letter carrier as any other even though it may cause no end of Havoc when added to the already overflowing Christmas [Music] rush actually the Christmas season only looks that frantic Through The Eyes of the post office workers and somehow the pleasure he brings is worth the [Music] [Applause] effort when you mail your next letter whether it goes across town or across the continent remember that the mail goes through delivered personally by a member of the National Association of letter carriers of the AFL CIO Americans at work for you Americans at work presented as a public service by the AFL CIO next week another interesting story of Americans at work Americans whose skill and effort help keep our country great and strong [Music]