You know, I think I will.
When I was little, I guess about 7 or 8 years old, I used to go into the big Post Office there in Huntington Park with Mom or Dad. It was such a magical place. Back then it was more like a bank than what we know today as a Post Office. The Postal Clerk was behind a grated window and dressed in a very proper uniform. I was too short to see over the window cile at the time. I could only get a view of what was back there while I was waiting in line to be waited on. There were windows where you got your stamps, or mailed packages and then there were the Business Windows. Yes, Business. At that time you could have a Postal Savings Account. Put funds in, take funds out, or have them make out Postal Money Orders. I believe they still make out the Postal Money Orders, but the Savings part is long gone.
There were two deliveries each day but Sunday. One in the morning, and then again in the afternoon. Post cards were just a penny and sending a letter was three cents. Of course you could put it in an AirMail envelope and put another two or three cents on it and it would get to the person a couple days quicker.
During the War we had what they called V-Mail. These were one sheet to write on one side and then when it was folded and sealed it made the envelope as well. They were pretty niffty, and what we all wrote to the Military on. They were pre-stamped so once you bought them, you were set to go. They were a light blue paper with red and darker blue stripes up the sides.
You could buy Picture Post Cards everywhere and mail them for a penny too. It was such a lark to get a picture post card from someone. They didn't necessarily need to be on vacation to write one. In fact it was quite a hobby for some - saving them, or collecting them. You could get them almost any place. Some were colorful while others were just like a photograph, black and white. I use to write to my relatives in the East and used a lot of penny post cards.
Today there is e-mail, blogging and facebook to keep us updated, but back then, it was great to go to the Mail Box and pull out a card or letter from someone. I always wrote more than I received, but then I guess that is how it is with some people. I know writting was such a natural thing for me to do. When the boys were in the War, I wrote them regularly and when Jay was in the Navy after we married, I wrote him everyday. I wrote Paul everyday while he was on his Mission as well.
Friends have told me that getting a letter from me was like setting down for a visit. I write just like I talk. I wouldn't know about that. The words just come, and I enjoy writting as I go. Funny how the mind pulls things forward and helps make the written word enjoyable to read.
I am not good at keeping a journal, but I have certainly written a passel of letters in my day. If they had of been saved, I guess it would tell my life pretty well. I have no idea if any of them have been reserved for posterity. Doesn't matter really.
My penmanship has been the product of getting good grades in Bookkeeping Classes. That and the fact I thought my Sister-in-law Willetta wrote the most beautiful handwritting I have ever seen. She impressed me in a good many things. The only Sister I ever really had, and who I loved, and still love very dearly.
Well, back to the Post Office. Over the years things have changed and I am not sure all the changes have been for the better. They say they keep loosing money, the service certainly has not improved. Costs have gone up and more ways to ship or mail have come into being, but they were only a way of making more money, and I don't think it has worked as planned. What ever you can still go to the Post Office and get Stamps, Mail and Package, rent a Postal Box or even get a Pass Port. Times changes things, and we soon forget the sights and sounds of the past, but I will long remember those trips to the Huntington Park Post Office. It was always such a special day when we took the Christmas Card down to stamp them and put them in the mail. What a time of year that was. The Mail Box was stuffed with cards from all over. Now the cost of the Cards as well as the Stamps has nearly stopped that kind of mailing all together. A shame really. It certainly added to the festivities of the Season. I still enjoy shopping for the cards that I send out to the LSM 330 Group at Christmas time. I want it to say something meaningful and make the families know they are special and loved long after the time spent in the Navy back in World War II.
The latest news is they will be stopping the mail deliveries on Saturday. Well that is no surprise. Once we had the mail put in the box at our front door, now we have to go down the street to open a box to get our mail. That way the Postman only has to make one stop per block and fill up the cubby holes with the mail for the various houses. Oh, and now we are vexed with those catalogs and handouts that no one really wants and ends up in the recycle bin. Where once we use to get the sales in the daily newspaper, we now get all the throw away junk mail. I guess that is what is known as progress. We have lost a lot of the good stuff, but then only those of us who enjoyed it in our youth really miss it. I am sorry however that my grand children and great grand children haven't had the sights, smells and sounds of my childhood. They were on the most part pretty wonderful. Being able to play and not worry about some weird person doing harm, or someone taking your things. I don't think I ever had anything stolen when I was younger. Not the case these days. You need to keep track of your things at all times, or you might come up missings something.
I have just returned from the Post Office, this one in Templeton where I mailed off some Genealogy papers to a cousin in Canada. Now that made the trip wonderful for me. Sharing something with someone I have never met, yet knowing they will be thrilled to get it. I still make my trips to the Post Office. I still send letters, cards and packages, and will hopefully continue to do so for some time. You might take a look around the next time you go into your Post Office and make a mental note of what you see, and how things are done. Who knows, you may just be able to share something with your posterity that they will have no idea existed - Once Upon A Time.
Written this 11th day of August 2009
By: Eileen Rosenberg
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