#4 Smithsonian National Postal Museum
On the rainy Saturday of September 8, 2018, PA and I headed to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and checked off the first item on my 40 Before 40 List! We saw rare stamps, tried (and failed) to sort letters by zip code on a 1960s machine, and learned about the evolution of mail delivery via backcountry trails, stagecoaches, the Pony Express (my dream job), rail, and air!
The real star attraction was a special exhibit on Alexander Hamilton featuring the dueling pistols used by him and Aaron Burr in the 1804 fatal duel - they don't know which of the two pistols it was.
Other cool historical objects included a letter that traveled the Silk Road in 1390 and a letter that was stamped on the moon in 1971! And did you know that the Pony Express riders could cross 1,966 miles from Missouri to California in 10 days in the summer and 12/16 days in the winter?
I had not thought much about the complexity and importance of our mail system until this visit. We take e-mail and instantaneous messaging for granted so easily - think of how important it was for people to risk their lives in the elements or in a temperamental 1930s plane to share the news of the day and to connect people across the country and around the world!
Item 4 Completed 9/8/18
1/40 items complete = 2.5%
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| The Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton dueling pistols - one of these killed Hamilton in 1804. |
The real star attraction was a special exhibit on Alexander Hamilton featuring the dueling pistols used by him and Aaron Burr in the 1804 fatal duel - they don't know which of the two pistols it was.
Other cool historical objects included a letter that traveled the Silk Road in 1390 and a letter that was stamped on the moon in 1971! And did you know that the Pony Express riders could cross 1,966 miles from Missouri to California in 10 days in the summer and 12/16 days in the winter?
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| On August 2, 1971, Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott postmarked this letter on the Moon—the smudges on the left are from his spacesuit glove. |
I had not thought much about the complexity and importance of our mail system until this visit. We take e-mail and instantaneous messaging for granted so easily - think of how important it was for people to risk their lives in the elements or in a temperamental 1930s plane to share the news of the day and to connect people across the country and around the world!
Item 4 Completed 9/8/18
1/40 items complete = 2.5%
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