I just came across a great New York Times piece on the mail service in the Victorian era. It's full of trivia: for example, did you know that in 1889 London, mail was delivered TWELVE TIMES A DAY? Read this:
In Victorian London, though service wasn't 24/7, it was close to 12/6. Home delivery routes would go by every house 12 times a day — yes, 12. In 1889, for example, the first delivery began about 7:30 a.m. and the last one at about 7:30 p.m. In major cities like Birmingham by the
I mean if nothing else, the need for it has just utterly collapsed. Even in a largely still print-driven country like Germany.
Parcels, that’s an entirely different thing. And you will notice that DHL, UPS, they all do at-home pickup. Or DHL and Hermes have drop of spots in what feels like every single little kiosk, bakery or ice cream parlor.
But mail? Actual, proper, snail-mail? That’s mostly on the way out, actually. It’s no longer a big need for virtually anybody. Most people I know check their physical mailbox at most once a week, sometimes once a month (since invoices arrive monthly usually).
I can’t believe that DHL is popular in most places, because in the U.S. you would be better off handing your package to a random crackhead on the street.
Here in Germany it’s more or less the best service. UPS is costly and unless you need highly insured parcels is annoying because they don’t even deliver on Saturdays.
Meanwhile Hermes is alright but they kick parcels around really badly, even more so than usual. DPD is similar but even worse, but hey, cheap in return so if you got something that’s resistant they’re an okay choice.
Some years ago, someone half the globe away announced to me he’d sent me a package that day, via DHL. It arrived at my address less than a week later. I’ve recently had packages delivered from across the country that arrived within days.
In my experience in the U.S. shipping with USPS is the best for smaller packages and UPS for heavier packages. UPS doesn’t run on weekends, but they are still very efficient and they’re unionized, which I support. They also have convenient dropoff locations/lockers inside pharmacies and office supply stores as well as their own storefronts that will accept dropoffs later in the day and on weekends. USPS has dropboxes in their lobbies, which are usually open 24/7. Not sure why anyone would use FedEx unless they get a volume benefit. I’m really not sure why anyone would use DHL in the U.S. unless maybe they’re shipping internationally.
I mean if nothing else, the need for it has just utterly collapsed. Even in a largely still print-driven country like Germany.
Parcels, that’s an entirely different thing. And you will notice that DHL, UPS, they all do at-home pickup. Or DHL and Hermes have drop of spots in what feels like every single little kiosk, bakery or ice cream parlor.
But mail? Actual, proper, snail-mail? That’s mostly on the way out, actually. It’s no longer a big need for virtually anybody. Most people I know check their physical mailbox at most once a week, sometimes once a month (since invoices arrive monthly usually).
I can’t believe that DHL is popular in most places, because in the U.S. you would be better off handing your package to a random crackhead on the street.
Here in Germany it’s more or less the best service. UPS is costly and unless you need highly insured parcels is annoying because they don’t even deliver on Saturdays.
Meanwhile Hermes is alright but they kick parcels around really badly, even more so than usual. DPD is similar but even worse, but hey, cheap in return so if you got something that’s resistant they’re an okay choice.
Some years ago, someone half the globe away announced to me he’d sent me a package that day, via DHL. It arrived at my address less than a week later. I’ve recently had packages delivered from across the country that arrived within days.
In my experience in the U.S. shipping with USPS is the best for smaller packages and UPS for heavier packages. UPS doesn’t run on weekends, but they are still very efficient and they’re unionized, which I support. They also have convenient dropoff locations/lockers inside pharmacies and office supply stores as well as their own storefronts that will accept dropoffs later in the day and on weekends. USPS has dropboxes in their lobbies, which are usually open 24/7. Not sure why anyone would use FedEx unless they get a volume benefit. I’m really not sure why anyone would use DHL in the U.S. unless maybe they’re shipping internationally.