When I couldn't seem to find the Great Migration exhibit at Union Station, I went next door to the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum because if a nerd sets out see an exhibit she wants to see an exhibit, no matter what. I later found the Great Migration exhibit, but not before I went through the Postal Museum.
I had been to this museum once before, years ago when I first arrived in DC and then I thought nothing of it…but now being in a post museum seems prescient--will a national postal service one day be a thing of the past?
While there, I learned that rich people used to pay someone to bring their mail to them, but most people had to go to their local post office themselves and post offices were no place for a lady.
The USPO is not shy about its missteps (or maybe I should say the Smithsonian isn't shy about exhibiting these missteps). In several places, there is much made of failed attempts a mail delivery systems, including a video that chronicles a number of unpopular (and sometimes even unsafe) delivery vehicles.
Even the famed Pony Express, while a great and important service, was not all it has been glorified to be. Brave men risked their lives, true, but the museum tackles some of the myths about the service (they rode horses, not ponies; it lasted a little over a year; it would have cost about $75 in today's money to send something using this method).
Since my last visit, the Postal Museum has gotten a lot more interactive. You can hear people read letters that immigrants sent back home about life in the United States. There was an interactive Oregon Trail-like game in which a player has to choose the best, fastest and least risky way to send mail across the U.S. (the route I chose was way more costly and time-consuming than the actual route taken at the time). And there was an exhibit about postal inspectors and crime that was reminiscent of something at the Spy Museum. Plus the kiddies can climb into the cab of a big mail delivery rig.
And stamps! Where would we be without stamps? They are part of an exhibit on philately and you can even buy some while you're there.
If you have not checked out any of the Smithsonian museums that are not on the National Mall, the Postal Museum is worth a visit.
National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
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