FX.co ★ Seven amazing postal records
Seven amazing postal records
Oldest operating post office
The oldest of the currently operating post offices is located in Britain, in the town of Sanquhar. This post office holds the record for the longest duration of operation: it has been functioning continuously since 1712. The second oldest operating post office is located in Sweden, in Stockholm. It has been operating since 1720, and the third is in Santiago, Chile (active since 1772).
World’s largest postal service
Currently, the largest postal network operates in India, the second most populous country in the world. According to experts, as of March 31, 2011, India had 154,866 post offices. It is worth noting that 139,040 of these are located in rural areas.
Longest distance covered by postal stamp
The postal service can operate not only on Earth but also in space. Postal workers proved this when they sent a letter beyond our planet. In January 2006, the United States Postal Service placed a stamp on the New Horizons spacecraft. It reached Pluto's orbit in July 2015. Notably, the stamp depicted this planet in 1991. The total distance covered by the postal stamp was 5,250,843,896 kilometers.
Stamp with most text
According to analysts' observations, a special stamp can boast the most text. In 1969, the United Nations Postal Administration printed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a postage stamp. It was accompanied by a preamble in French. As a result, the text included 1,771 words.
First child sent by mail
Earlier, in the early 20th century, there was an unusual practice in the United States: children could be sent by mail. The first such case was recorded in Ohio in 1913. A little boy, whose name is unknown, was delivered to his grandparents who lived nearby. They paid 15 cents for this delivery. Fortunately, this practice was abolished quite quickly.
Most significant mail delay
In 2008, Janet Barrett, a resident of Britain, received an unusual letter. It was practically from the past, as it was sent on November 29, 1919. It turned out to be a positive response to an invitation to a party in honor of Gift Day. The most surprising thing was that the country's postal service apologized for the delay but did not explain the reason for such a "surprise."
Longest collective letter to Ded Moroz
In December 2019, an initiative called "The Longest Letter to Ded Moroz" was launched in Russia, in the city of Chelyabinsk. Anyone could participate in it. To do this, you needed to write or draw your wish and hand it over to the organizers. After the end of the initiative, all the letters were combined and measured. The length of the shipment was 112 meters and 66 centimeters. The youngest author was under 1 year old, and the oldest was 85 years old.
