In this final part in the History of Mail series, we examine how the Postal Service handled mail during World War Two with two stories – one on V-mail and help from the Six Triple Eight Postal Battalion. And we can’t wait to share the vintage 1960s music video used to introduce Mr. Zip. We finish up with an examination of Going Postal: high speed sorting and Informed delivery.

00:00 Open
01:00 144th Army Postal Unit Historical Marker
01:42 V-Mail
02:55 6888th Postal Directory Battalion - All Black Women
04:49 Mailster
06:10 Model "F" Stampmaster
07:12 Mr Zip Music Video
07:55 High Speed Sorting Machines
08:43 Informed Delivery
09:25 Close

Please visit www.hmdb.org to find more historical markers.

While the US Post Office had the task of supplying mail to every resident and business in the US, the military set up Army Post Offices or APOs around the world.

Throughout history, the United States Military has recognized the need for postal services as a morale enhancing and tactical asset. By 1918, military personnel started to operate overseas field postal stations and the first all-military mail service in American history.

Did you know that LONG before e-mail, there was v-mail? V, or Victory mail, was a valuable tool for the military during World War II. On June 15, 1942, the Post Office Department officially inaugurated V- Mail service in which letters to and from members of the Armed Forces overseas were microfilmed for transporting, then printed out for the recipient.

Letters were opened by machines at V-Mail stations, and then filmed mechanically at a rate of 2,000 to 2,500 letters an hour. 150,000 un-microfilmed V-Mail letters weighed 1,500 pounds and filled 37 mail sacks. When microfilmed, they weighed just 45 pounds and filled one mail sack. The reduction in weight and bulk of military mail created more space for other vital military cargo. And it provided safer, faster mail service for the military overseas.

More than a billion V-Mail letters were delivered between June 1942 and November 1, 1945, when V-Mail service ended after the war.


History of Mail Part One
   • History of US Mail - From the Beginning  

History of Mail Part Two
   • History of US Mail and the Birth of C...  

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