Moving the Mail: Horses to Horsepower
"I venture the opinion that no feature of postal or engineering work has undergone such a fundamental change and with such beneficial results to those services …as the method of dealing with the various activities of the Post Office. Motor transport is the agent which has made such changes possible."
Captain A. Hudson, Chief Motor Transport Officer
Post Office Green Paper number 28, 1936
Moving the Mail examines the move from horses to horsepower in the vehicles used by the Post Office. It is based on research done for an exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum between August and October 2006. The exhibition has since gone on tour. You can see the rest of our vehicle collection at our Museum Store on special tours throughout the year.
Introduction
Over 100 years of transport operations have provided lessons on what does and doesn't work.
Timeline - Horses to Horsepower
Key dates in Post Office transport operations - from horses to horsepower.
Post Boys & Mail Coaches
Even before the establishment of the Post Office, horses were used to deliver despatches.
Use of horses
The last London-based mail coach ran in 1846, but the use of horses continued for another 100 years.
Early motor vehicles
Prior to World War 1, the Post Office had relied on contractors for its road transport operations.
You may also be interested in...
Mail by Road
An original look at postal road transport by BPMA Assistant Curator Julian Stray
An overview of the major developments in mail transport by road since the postal system began in 1635.
Pedal cycles
Mail delivery is often associated with humble pedal cycle
From the Pashley Mailstar to the five-wheeled Hen & Chicks, our collection includes around 30 cycles.
