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The Letter Box will not be Emptied

By Erik Jensen

In the past you could deliver your letters for forwarding directly on the mail-carrying trains on which the mail wagons served as rolling post offices. But there were, of course, exceptions


You take another look when four almost identical signs with the wording "The Letter Box will not be Emptied" catch your eye in the museum’s department for railway mail. Can this really be true? The message is, however, correct. On certain occasions the postal service has actually abstained from providing expected service and even displayed it …

There is, of course, a good reason for the existence of these signs. Every sign has three suspensory slits – which means that the signs were intended for occasional hanging. And that they have hung outdoor appears clearly from the oldest sign from before 1900 which is severely battered by wind and weather. The other three signs are enamelled and were therefore more durable.

The signs were used on wagons for conveyance of mail – the so-called mail wagons or moving post offices as they are also called because handling and sorting of the mail can take place while the train is running. Ever since the first mail wagon was put into service on 25th April 1856, such wagons have been provided with a letter slit enabling customers to deliver their letters for forwarding directly on the mail-carrying trains. In this way it was still possible to have a letter sent although the latest time of posting had been exceeded according to the wording on the ordinary letter box at the station or at the nearest post office.

When a mail wagon had been shunted and was perhaps only to run again the following day or after a weekend, the sign "The Letter Box will not be Emptied" was suspended under the letter slit instead of the sign indicating the route and destination of the mail train. It might also be that the mail wagon was used as parcel post wagon without personnel or that it had to be transported to another place in empty condition. Some may object that the letter slit could have been blocked, but that was not the way the postal service acted in those days. People should be able to get rid of their letters at any time, but, of course, be informed if the mail was not immediately conveyed. It has only recently been necessary to block the slits in the letter boxes occasionally, and such a drastic step is principally only taken on New Year’s Eve!




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