Remember when...? In praise of the Post Office

Mail carrier Clifford Bodine, Michigan, 1955. (Wallace KirklandTime & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Rural Vermont mailman Mark Whalon makes rounds in sub-zero weather. (Alfred EisenstaedtTime & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Self-service, 24-hour automated post office, Maryland, 1964. (Francis MillerTime & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Singing cowboy Gene Autry (second from left) stands outside the post office in an Oklahoma town named for him, 1948. (Michael RougierTime & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Post office, Washington D.C., 1944. (George SkaddingTime & Life Pictures/Getty Images)