Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
After setting up the vintage equipment to view them, I found that they are a mix of both internal (USPS instructional) tapes and external (USPS educational) tapes. Several contain excellent footage of the sorting, facing, and cancelling equipment and processing of the mail stream. I have not been able to find any information on these tapes and I believe that these have never been published before.
Being 40-year-old VHS tapes presented some challenges in converting them to a digital format especially in terms of video quality. VHS format was interlaced which means the video signal contains two fields of a frame captured consecutively. After a learning curve, the right equipment, and figuring out the best software configurations, I was able to generate a fairly decent quality level. But please remember that these are old VHS tapes.
I have released the first tape, it is titled "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice". I believe it was an internal USPS video positioned to be an overview on the importance of making mail stream decisions for USPS employees. Circa 1985. The video has some excellent footage of the equipment and handling procedures of US letter mail.
Anyone interest in how US mail was being handled and processed in the mid-1980s should find this interesting.
Don
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Interesting stuff Don-thanks for the sharing. The thought crosses my mind that this is historically of interest, and ought to be brought to the attention of the MT. There may be a way to archive it for the future SOR members, long after we're gone.
Perhaps a reachout to our President David might be the next step.
Thoughts?
Dan C.
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Our local stamp club visited the USPS service center for Fort Myers, Florida 10 or 15 years ago, who can keep track of them anymore, and it was already showing how far outdated that video was from when we visited ours. I'm sure if there are any other clubs around they might be able do the same and see how much more advanced it had been than what we were able to see. It was certainly an eye opening experience to say the least.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Agreed, the footage is showing the state of processing the mail stream in 1985. I would add that postal historians are interested in how the mail is handled in every era and this is why I am trying to preserve these videos. The taped themselves, like many (all?) VHS tapes of that era are deteriorating and will soon not be readable at all.
Don
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At our local post office, the building is fairly open so when at the postal counter you can see a lot of the backroom. I see no automation. There are lots of large fabric containers used for sorting. I cannot see where they sort for local delivery. You can see along the back side of all the post office boxes.
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Al,
Correct.
All sorting, facing, and bar code cancelling occurs at one of the Distribution Centers (never at local PO). The change to Distribution Centers started in 1960. Your local PO would only be tossing items into the bins. Even mail pieces which are for that town go to the Distribution Center snf then turn around and come back.
So your local Hillsborogh PO sends everything to the Distribution Center on the other side of Raleigh as shown here...
Don
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Yup.
Mail being sent TO our little town of Greenville, MI FROM our little town of Greenville is trucked 40+ miles away to Grand Rapids, MI to be sorted and then sent BACK to our little town of Greenville.....where it originated IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THAT my friends is called 'progress'.
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Here in mountains of Western North Carolina they truck it out of state to South Carolina and back again. Making it worse, this requires them to go up and down a mountain over a 3-mile stretch on 5-degree grade. This steep grade averages one accident per week.
Also note that when someone uses Mediamail or the cheap eBay shipping option, they will show the mailed item 'Out For Delivery' as soon as it is scanned at the closest Distribution Center (and not when it is at your local PO and actually out for delivery). For me, this is often a full day before it is actually being delivered from my local PO. FYI, USPS calls this kind of tracking 'Point-To-Point'.
Don
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I think it was back in 1968 the mail stopped completely in Chicago, correct me if I'm wrong date wise. Wonder what was done then and how it affects the mail flow that affected right and proper IAW subject original posting?
1898
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Don (51Studebaker)
I enjoyed your video showing the "old-style" mail sorters. The letters just fed straight in, and then were sorted to the stacker pockets. It was a much simpler design, no imaging yet, and at much slower speeds than today's sorters, which use high-speed acceleration wheels to kick the speed up. The 1980s were the early days of the handwriting recognition software, which could read your letter's address if you printed it neatly. Lots of rejects that had to be manually keyed by on-site machine operators. The software got better over the years, less rejects, leading to remote keying centers, where operators keyed the mail for many cities from a computer terminal screen. West Des Moines, Iowa had a remote keying center. That software today is incredibly good, combined with lower first-class mail volumes, has eliminated the majority of those keying center jobs. If you think of it, the handwriting recognition software was one of the beginnings of AI (artificial intelligence): a machine reading the address of an envelope in all the possible ways people write on envelopes. That software has replaced many human jobs. Remember that the next time you write out an address on a letter: this is for an AI program to "read."
The new model for today's mail delivery has mail delivered straight from distribution centers. It does not all go to your local post office for delivery anymore. I am not sure how much mail is being delivered this way and where this is implemented, USPS is not saying, but this is where we are headed:
https://www.savethepostoffice.com/introd ...
Thanks Don and Mike for saving this old footage from VCR tape. It makes me wish there were tapes of some of the old sorters I used to work on back in the day.
Linus
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Good friend of philately Mike Ludeman has uncovered and sent me a number of 1980s USPS VHS video tapes. Mike and I both feel that they are worth the effort to be recovered and preserved.
After setting up the vintage equipment to view them, I found that they are a mix of both internal (USPS instructional) tapes and external (USPS educational) tapes. Several contain excellent footage of the sorting, facing, and cancelling equipment and processing of the mail stream. I have not been able to find any information on these tapes and I believe that these have never been published before.
Being 40-year-old VHS tapes presented some challenges in converting them to a digital format especially in terms of video quality. VHS format was interlaced which means the video signal contains two fields of a frame captured consecutively. After a learning curve, the right equipment, and figuring out the best software configurations, I was able to generate a fairly decent quality level. But please remember that these are old VHS tapes.
I have released the first tape, it is titled "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice". I believe it was an internal USPS video positioned to be an overview on the importance of making mail stream decisions for USPS employees. Circa 1985. The video has some excellent footage of the equipment and handling procedures of US letter mail.
Anyone interest in how US mail was being handled and processed in the mid-1980s should find this interesting.
Don
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re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Interesting stuff Don-thanks for the sharing. The thought crosses my mind that this is historically of interest, and ought to be brought to the attention of the MT. There may be a way to archive it for the future SOR members, long after we're gone.
Perhaps a reachout to our President David might be the next step.
Thoughts?
Dan C.
Login to Like
this post
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Our local stamp club visited the USPS service center for Fort Myers, Florida 10 or 15 years ago, who can keep track of them anymore, and it was already showing how far outdated that video was from when we visited ours. I'm sure if there are any other clubs around they might be able do the same and see how much more advanced it had been than what we were able to see. It was certainly an eye opening experience to say the least.
Mike
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this post
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Hi Mike,
Agreed, the footage is showing the state of processing the mail stream in 1985. I would add that postal historians are interested in how the mail is handled in every era and this is why I am trying to preserve these videos. The taped themselves, like many (all?) VHS tapes of that era are deteriorating and will soon not be readable at all.
Don
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this post
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
At our local post office, the building is fairly open so when at the postal counter you can see a lot of the backroom. I see no automation. There are lots of large fabric containers used for sorting. I cannot see where they sort for local delivery. You can see along the back side of all the post office boxes.
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re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Al,
Correct.
All sorting, facing, and bar code cancelling occurs at one of the Distribution Centers (never at local PO). The change to Distribution Centers started in 1960. Your local PO would only be tossing items into the bins. Even mail pieces which are for that town go to the Distribution Center snf then turn around and come back.
So your local Hillsborogh PO sends everything to the Distribution Center on the other side of Raleigh as shown here...
Don
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re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Yup.
Mail being sent TO our little town of Greenville, MI FROM our little town of Greenville is trucked 40+ miles away to Grand Rapids, MI to be sorted and then sent BACK to our little town of Greenville.....where it originated IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THAT my friends is called 'progress'.
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like this post.
Login to Like.
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Here in mountains of Western North Carolina they truck it out of state to South Carolina and back again. Making it worse, this requires them to go up and down a mountain over a 3-mile stretch on 5-degree grade. This steep grade averages one accident per week.
Also note that when someone uses Mediamail or the cheap eBay shipping option, they will show the mailed item 'Out For Delivery' as soon as it is scanned at the closest Distribution Center (and not when it is at your local PO and actually out for delivery). For me, this is often a full day before it is actually being delivered from my local PO. FYI, USPS calls this kind of tracking 'Point-To-Point'.
Don
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03:29:29pm
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
I think it was back in 1968 the mail stopped completely in Chicago, correct me if I'm wrong date wise. Wonder what was done then and how it affects the mail flow that affected right and proper IAW subject original posting?
1898
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this post
re: USPS "Manual, Mechanized, or Automated - It's Your Choice"
Don (51Studebaker)
I enjoyed your video showing the "old-style" mail sorters. The letters just fed straight in, and then were sorted to the stacker pockets. It was a much simpler design, no imaging yet, and at much slower speeds than today's sorters, which use high-speed acceleration wheels to kick the speed up. The 1980s were the early days of the handwriting recognition software, which could read your letter's address if you printed it neatly. Lots of rejects that had to be manually keyed by on-site machine operators. The software got better over the years, less rejects, leading to remote keying centers, where operators keyed the mail for many cities from a computer terminal screen. West Des Moines, Iowa had a remote keying center. That software today is incredibly good, combined with lower first-class mail volumes, has eliminated the majority of those keying center jobs. If you think of it, the handwriting recognition software was one of the beginnings of AI (artificial intelligence): a machine reading the address of an envelope in all the possible ways people write on envelopes. That software has replaced many human jobs. Remember that the next time you write out an address on a letter: this is for an AI program to "read."
The new model for today's mail delivery has mail delivered straight from distribution centers. It does not all go to your local post office for delivery anymore. I am not sure how much mail is being delivered this way and where this is implemented, USPS is not saying, but this is where we are headed:
https://www.savethepostoffice.com/introd ...
Thanks Don and Mike for saving this old footage from VCR tape. It makes me wish there were tapes of some of the old sorters I used to work on back in the day.
Linus
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