Saturday, May 9, 2009

The good (?) old days

In response to a query as to whatever happened to Railway Express

Now that you mention it, Railway Express was used by purveyors of pornography to avoid Post Office prosecution. There were also post offices on trains where mail was sorted as it was picked up by hooks that hung out and snatched the mail bags at whistle stops where the train was not going to stop. Mail was also dropped off in the same manner. Imagine sorting mail in a rocking train! I sorted mail in the post office for a few summers in the '30s and it was hard enough to get it right standing on terra firma. Gone, man; man, gone . . . Norman

7 comments:

  1. What other summer jobs have you had?

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  2. I never thought about the fact that pornography (prior to the internet) had to have "traveled" much less about "how". Your blog shoots down the romantic rail express we've seen for eons in the movies!

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  3. Looking forward to more of your stories.

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  4. I think it would suck if you missed the hook!

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  5. Keep posting your life experiences, Norman, we youngsters love hearing them!

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  6. Looking forward to following your Blog
    Larry

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  7. I always wondered what was in the bags that they picked up!!

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