I used to be in the habit of emailing myself links to read later. I once had an email arrive at my gmail account 3 months after I sent it. That's like what 1000 years in internet time? :D
Email is literally a store-and-forward technology!
Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
51–60 of 141 posts
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#52In 2120, we'll be reading "votes sent by mail delivered 100 years later".
The post office will have time machine by then to get back and deliver on time and change the temporarily altered history. May be we already living in that alternative branch.
> May be we already living in that alternative branch.
You conjugated the future semiconditionally modified subinverted plagal past subjunctive intentional incorrectly.
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#53I ordered a package of plastic worms (for bass fishing) back in June. They were shipped from Texas on 06-21, and as of today (09-10), they still haven't arrived (Chapel Hill, NC).
Yet strangely enough, the postal service tracking system updated the status about a month ago, from "In Transit" to "In Transit - Arriving Late". Derp, derp.
Anyway, I've pretty much given up on them at this point, but I wonder if like 100 years from now, or at some other arbitrary point in time down the line, somebody who lives here after me is going to find a package of plastic worms in the mailbox...
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> We did reach out to the post office for comment and a spokesperson told me, “In most cases these incidents do not involve mail that had been lost in our network and later found. What we typically find is that old letters and postcards – sometimes purchased at flea markets, antique shops and even online – are re-entered into our system. The end result is what we do best – as long as there is a deliverable address an…
> sensationalized headline No, the postmark is 1920 according to the article. See https://i.imgur.com/r8HqDc2.png
I see two postmarks. One stamped from 1920, and a second one sprayed on from 2020 (just to the left of the first one).
The second postmark suggests that this was possibly redeposited into the mail somewhere.
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#55You get your postmark from the originating post office. If I drop something in the mail here, the local post office marks the item (verifying & invalidating the postage), perhaps encodes the address in the barcode at the bottom (I don't recall whether that's centralized work or not), and sends it along its merry way to the destination.
The postmark is obviously printed by a modern (impact?) printer. Why the post office would accept a mailing with incorrect postage for current times is notable - maybe someone making the call just shrugged it off an allowed it to pass.
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#56I ordered a package of plastic worms (for bass fishing) back in June. They were shipped from Texas on 06-21, and as of today (09-10), they still haven't arrived (Chapel Hill, NC). Yet strangely enough, the postal service tracking system updated the status about a month ago, from "In Transit" to "In Transit - Arriving Late". Derp, derp. Anyway, I've pretty much given up on them at this point, but I wonder if like 100…
It would be fun down the line to hear "Wait, Amazon used to sell physical things like this??"
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#57I ordered a package of plastic worms (for bass fishing) back in June. They were shipped from Texas on 06-21, and as of today (09-10), they still haven't arrived (Chapel Hill, NC). Yet strangely enough, the postal service tracking system updated the status about a month ago, from "In Transit" to "In Transit - Arriving Late". Derp, derp. Anyway, I've pretty much given up on them at this point, but I wonder if like 100…
I had a small package in customs in Chicago for three months recently. Seems to be the norm in these times.
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
> sensationalized headline No, the postmark is 1920 according to the article. See https://i.imgur.com/r8HqDc2.png
Can it not have multiple postmarks? The stamp at the top (which says 1920) and the modern barcode underneath?
The barcode is not a postmark, it's a machine readable version of the address
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remember the USPS is rumored to have recently dismantled hundreds of sorting machines. Entirely possible that some old mail was jammed in there somehow. Also, cf. "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett.
I had that initial thought as well, but there's no way those machines are anywhere near a century old.
The sorting machines themselves are certainly not, but the general infrastructure around them sure can be. The World's Most Mechanized Post Office video [1] was filmed circa 1959 and it shows a crazy level of industrialization in the DC facility. Conveyor belts were invented in 1901 or so and such systems can run for a very long time with proper maintenance - for centuries even, replacing everything but the frame. Given how slowly government usually moves, they must have built up to that scale over decades.
Re: Postcard stamped in 1920 delivered 100 years later
#60> In most cases these incidents do not involve mail that had been lost in our network and later found. What we typically find is that old letters and postcards – sometimes purchased at flea markets, antique shops and even online – are re-entered into our system. The end result is what we do best – as long as there is a deliverable address and postage, the card or letter gets delivered.