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The pneumatic tube mail system in New York City

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Re: The pneumatic tube mail system in New York City

#111

Post by TheFreim »

appplication wrote: post #106
TheFreim wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They still use those here. My local bank had candies, like tootsie rolls, that they'd send with withdrawals if parents let them know they had kids in the car. It was always such a treat to watch the cool pneumatic tube and then get a sugary treat to top it all off.

Same experience. Getting flavored tootsie rolls out of a pneumatic bank tube is basically a core memory.

Ahhh yes, the flavored ones. The bank was the only place I ever ate the flavored ones, added an air of mystery to the experience.

Re: The pneumatic tube mail system in New York City

#112

Post by TheFreim »

ghaff wrote: post #100
TheFreim wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They still use those here. My local bank had candies, like tootsie rolls, that they'd send with withdrawals if parents let them know they had kids in the car. It was always such a treat to watch the cool pneumatic tube and then get a sugary treat to top it all off.

I think my local bank branch still has a drive through and (I assume) pneumatic tubes although I've never used it. But then I think I've used the ATM once in maybe the past three or four years.

> although I've never used it

I'm seriously considering going to the bank drive-through just to experience the pneumatic tubes again. I rarely ever get cash from the bank, I've only ever actually used an ATM a couple times in my entire life, but I feel a strong desire to relive this childhood experience.

Re: The pneumatic tube mail system in New York City

#113

Post by WorldMaker »

bombcar wrote: post #105
ghaff wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Probably literally) tons of paper used to be shuffled around office buildings. My first (mechanical) engineering job basically everything was typed (by a secretary) in triplicate(?) with a copy sent off to central filing. If you started a new project, one of the first things you did was head to central filing to take a look for related paperwork. We didn't have a pneumatic system but we did have internal mail delive…

You see that in Monsters Inc and the sequel - they started off in the mail room. Most people think of the mail room as where incoming mail is sorted by the company, but the vast majority of it was often sorting internal mail, because mail from "outside" usually went to accounts receivable or accounts payable. But inter-office communication was huge, before it was all emailed away.

It's also a trope explored in The Hudsucker Proxy and Elf for a wider variety of movies to watch. Both I believe reference that the Empire State Building in New York has (had?) a pneumatic inter-floor (inter-office) mail system. I don't recall if it still operates and I don't know if either or both filmed in the actual ESB mail room or not.

(Also if you want a videogame that plays with the trope, Grim Fandango has a fascinating pneumatic tube mail room and it factors into some of the puzzles. I believe it is also indirectly referencing the Empire State Building.)

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