The joyous journey of Christmas mail

U.S. postal workers have always been the true carriers of the holiday spirit

Kelly Gonsalves's avatar
By
Published
Mailmen delivering Christmas presents.
(Image credit: Library of Congress/Flickr)
(Image credit: (Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo)This holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 15 billion pieces of mail, including some 850 million packages. During its busiest)

(Image credit: (Underwood Archives/UIG/REX/Shutterstock)Children have relied on the post for delivering their handwritten notes to the North Pole since at least the 1870s. Technically, the policy was to des)

(Underwood Archives/UIG/REX/Shutterstock)

(Image credit: (American Photo Archive / Alamy Stock Photo))

(Image credit: (Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo))

(Image credit: (Courtesy Smithsonian National Postal Museum))

(Image credit: (Public Domain/Courtesy Smithsonian National Postal Museum))

(Image credit: (Vecchio/Three Lions/Getty Images))

(Image credit: (Vecchio/Three Lions/Getty Images))

(Image credit: (Sherman/Getty Images))

(Image credit: (Smithsonian National Postal Museum))

Kelly Gonsalves
Kelly Gonsalves

Kelly Gonsalves is a sex and culture writer exploring love, lust, identity, and feminism. Her work has appeared at Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and more, and she previously worked as an associate editor for The Week. She's obsessed with badass ladies doing badass things, wellness movements, and very bad rom-coms.