Imagine, mail being carried by a man on the back of a horse. The man carries a big, heavy bag filled with letters intended to allow people to communicate from Saint Joseph, MO and Sacramento, CA and everywhere in between.
The Pony Express was only necessary for a short time (about a year and a half), until the Pacific Telegraph line created a safer, easier way for people to communicate with each other.
Yet how quixotic, this time in American history: men facing the dangers of weather exposure and wildlife, not to mention trying to meet their basic human need for nourishment. All this simply to carry mail. Yet communication is never simple, even (especially) when done face to face.
We can take our hats off to The Pony Express, though, for the great fact that in all its days and all its obstacles, only one letter was ever reported lost.
Would we rebuild this system in America again, if needed? In this age of ingenuity and technological advances, it is hard to imagine the need to carry mail by horse.
Not only has the way we communicate with each other improved vastly over the centuries, but the things we care to ship. When crating and packing in Houston, Texas today, we can be thankful that we don’t have to have our artwork and our computers shipped via a galloping horse and a man riding a saddle. Though horse rides and cowboy boots are available like desert heat in Huston, so are several better ways to ship valuables.
Today, fragile items should be packed with care in individual boxes that were created unique, just like the items they carry. Crates can be built in order to provide a hard, protective surface.
Contact us for more information regarding modern shipping techniques.
We pick up & deliver worldwide, as well as in our backyard.