EOTO #1

   

    The first official invention of the postal service within the United States was in 1792, and it was based on the postal service act. This act endowed Congress with authority over postal route designation, which greatly expanded the scope and status of the Post Office. The postal service itself was not a unique invention, since multiple countries already had their own version of a postal system and the US had an incomplete postal system run by local authorities. What made the new American system unique, however, was the involvement of technological innovations. This new postal system established new postal routes and new methods and tools for distribution. For instance, the early postal service utilized contracted mail coaches to deliver mail, so these had to be altered to help cover a wider variety of climates and terrain as the postal routes expanded. As the volume of mail increased, tools like the hand-cranked canceling machines were also created to help streamline delivery services. The success of the US Postal System prompted changes across the world, as other nations attempted to mimic America’s communication innovation.

 

   

    In 1971, Congress founded the United States Postal Service and it became an independent establishment of the executive branch of the U.S. government. This is the postal service we know today and we typically refer to it as USPS. Their mission is to provide the nation with reliable, affordable, and universal mail service. 

    As the postal service changed within the United States, so did their logos. In 1782, the Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard used an image of Mercury, the winged-messenger of the Roman gods, in his official postal seal. As the postal service sought for a modern representation of the mail in motion, an image of a horse carrying a rider and a mailbag was chosen in 1837, and this was the first seal chosen since the postal service act, which established the post office department. In 1970, when the Postal Reorganization Act transformed the Post Office Department into USPS, officials unveiled a new seal designed by Raymond Loewy which featured an eagle positioned for flight. Finally in 1993, USPS adopted its current logo, which features a blue eagle looking forward to symbolize the organization’s future.

For centuries, the postal service has been a way for people across the world to connect and communicate with one another through affordable and accessible distributing and delivering methods.