The chapter about mailable matters is designed to explore the historical development of mail on the territory of the United States of America and the changes of attitude towards it among the population of the country. The chapter explains that in different periods, mail was playing various roles in the lives of the American citizens. The roles were different, yet all of them were quite important.
The ability to send mail to relatives or friends, who lived far away, was crucial to maintain communication and relationships between people. The author follows the changes that happened in the sphere of mailing during 1840– 1850s and emphasizes that the development of mail became the force that enabled multiple essential aspects of human life and country development on many levels.
The past of the mailing system and its history is truly captivating for the modern reader. The chapter refers to the history of the United States a lot and is written to suggest the reader a glance to the past when the technologies were not as developed, and communication between close people, business partners, beloved couples, friends and relatives happened in a much slower, yet much more private manner.
The revolution of mail started with its strong connection with the newspaper publishers. Then more changes came, the mailing system was reformed, so the citizens of the States were able to send handwritten letters to each other, instead of just directing the newspapers with coded messages.
The chapter follows the actual history of the society of the United States, reporting real facts about a mail and the role its evolution played in the development of the whole country.
First, it was a simple exchange of newspapers, then handwritten letters, then people were able to send objects to each other, valued personal things and money, then photographs started to be included into the letters, then the fascination with celebrities and autographs began. The world without mail was impossible to imagine.
I think articles like “Mailable Matters” are of great importance from the ethical point of view. The specific audience of this article is youth. Modern people, especially younger generations that have never even got to send a handwritten letter to someone, who lives far away, must know how crucial the post connections were in the past, and how all moving forces of the country development – economical, political and social – were empowered by mail.
The author’s main point was to reveal the details about the history of mail and post offices, which the readers were unaware of and demonstrate how fascinating every change, every new channel of communication was to our forefathers. Development of mail served as a base for the development of photography too. Over time Americans mailed all kinds of objects of all sizes and shapes to one another.
The waves of exchanging personal objects and photographs were added to the waves of exchanging seeds of local plants. The mail was suspected as a means of transmitting serious infections and reason of epidemics of diseases like smallpox. This caused a wave of mailing vaccines and medications to cure various illnesses. In conclusion, I think the author’s point was clear and proven in the article.
Mail did serve the main power to enable development and communication in spheres like news and information, business and finance, politics and economy, medicine and public health care; it also helped maintain contact and communication that are so necessary for all human beings.