I just came across a great New York Times piece on the mail service in the Victorian era. It's full of trivia: for example, did you know that in 1889 London, mail was delivered TWELVE TIMES A DAY? Read this:
In Victorian London, though service wasn't 24/7, it was close to 12/6. Home delivery routes would go by every house 12 times a day — yes, 12. In 1889, for example, the first delivery began about 7:30 a.m. and the last one at about 7:30 p.m. In major cities like Birmingham by the
It certainly ended somewhere between 2001 and 2007. I remember where I was living when they stopped it.
When mail came twice a day, I used to get my post in the afternoon, consistently, and none in the morning, ever.
When they changed it, my post started turning up earlier, in the morning.
So it was weirdly an improvement. It seems strange now that there was ever two deliveries a day, given I get one letter a week at most now. (parcels are another matter, but again you don’t need Royal Mail delivering parcels twice a day even if you get a lot, so the fact they did this with letters is weird)
It certainly ended somewhere between 2001 and 2007. I remember where I was living when they stopped it.
When mail came twice a day, I used to get my post in the afternoon, consistently, and none in the morning, ever.
When they changed it, my post started turning up earlier, in the morning.
So it was weirdly an improvement. It seems strange now that there was ever two deliveries a day, given I get one letter a week at most now. (parcels are another matter, but again you don’t need Royal Mail delivering parcels twice a day even if you get a lot, so the fact they did this with letters is weird)