Segment from You’ve Got Mail

Nickled and Dimed

Ed talks with David Henkin about the earliest letter writers, and how they cheated the postage rates of the 1830s.

00:00:00 / 00:04:20

A Walk in the Woods

Peter tells the story of Alexis de Tocqueville wandering the Michigan wilderness and stumbling upon a magical institution unlike anything in France: The Post Office.

00:03:10

Nickled and Dimed

Ed talks with David Henkin about the earliest letter writers, and how they cheated the postage rates of the 1830s.

00:04:20

How Much Is Too Much?

Richard John and Jennifer Mercieca recount the events surrounding the first mass mailing campaign, and how it went up in flames… LITERALLY!

00:03:24

After the Deluge

The Backstory hosts put the mass mailing into context and ask why the Post Office suddenly became a hotbed of controversy.

00:01:56

Try Anything Once

The National Postal Museum’s Nancy Pope shares some of the technological innovations in postal history, some more practical than others.

00:05:40

Listener Calls

The Backstory hosts take calls from listeners.

00:05:23

Cowboys and Mailmen

BackStory producer Eric Mennel acts like a big jerk and debunks everybody’s favorite postal memory: the Pony Express.

00:05:36

Web Only Audio Extra: Children’s Show Post Office Montage

Montage from Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Blue’s Clues.

00:00:15