Photograph of letter carriers with handcarts

c. 1900

Group of city letter carriers and mail clerks pose with mail carts full to the brim with mail and mail sacks. Carriers often had more mail than they could handle along their routes, whether it was delivering mail or gathering letters from letter boxes around the city. In some instances postmasters purchased carts for some of their carriers. These three-wheeled carts were designed to be used by a single carrier, with the front wheel balancing the load. The wheels of the foremost wagon in the original photograph were faded and "repaired" in the past by being redrawn.