Email Credited With Public Mailbox Deaths
Email is being credited with the murder of the sidewalk mailbox, joining cell phones in a plot to destroy public communication hubs.
The United States Post Office has removed 42,000 street mailboxes in the last six years, and nobody’s really noticing.
Like superheroes losing a place to change in public, some are equating the loss of the mailbox with the loss of an American cultural icon. Letter writing, perhaps like calligraphy, is becoming a lost art.
The USPS is also downsizing the number of mail carriers on staff. That doesn’t mean the Internet has killed the organization. Shipping has never been more in demand since the advent of eBay and Amazon.
Photo by dziner.
Jon on October 17th, 2006 7:51 am
It’s interesting that the overall volume of mail has not gone down or even gone up, but personal letters, which would mostly be dropped into mail boxes, have almost completely disappeared. I’m old enough to remember sending and receiving them and it is sad that they aren’t used anymore.
annalaura on October 17th, 2006 1:52 pm
yes I agree it is sad in a way but sometimes I really like getting email cards
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