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Handheld door knocker for letter carriers

National Postal Museum

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Object Details

Description
Some letter carriers chose to use wooden, dumb-bell shaped door knockers on their city free delivery service rounds. Convenient, light-weight, and easy to grasp, the knocker saved wear and tear on hands and sounded a load crack to announce the carrier’s arrival.
The postman really did ring twice, or knocked, or blew a whistle. Letter carriers waited for someone to answer their signal, if no one was home, they took the mail back to the post office and tried again the next day. Studies showed carriers spent an average of two hours daily waiting at the doorstep. To save work hours, the Post Office Department required residents to install mailboxes or letter slots in 1916.
After 1863
Object number
0.263796.1
Type
Employee Gear
Medium
wood
Dimensions
Height x Width x Depth: 2 × 2 × 2 in. (5.08 × 5.08 × 5.08 cm)
Place
Pennsylvania
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
On View
Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
National Postal Museum
Topic
Postal Employees
Record ID
npm_0.263796.1
Metadata Usage (text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8d1ae0cc9-55f1-4e26-8c33-1b9b0ac4b787
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