The Postman Used To Ring Nine Times a Day

According to Brooklyn-born Canadian journalist, Allen Abel, writing in Canada's Winnipeg Free Press, "In New York and other cities, late in the 19th century, the postman rang not twice, but nine times a day, but that was before most homes and businesses had a telephone."

Calling the Postal Regulatory Commission the 'The Supreme Court of Sticky Stamps,' Allen, who is based in Washington, D.C, pens that probably sometime next month the commission will vote on the elimination of Saturday delivery, "a luxury... that was abolished in Canada in 1969."

He goes on to say,"But to a writer who first learned about the nations of the world and their proud, sad histories from a stamp album, and who still rushes to buy and use the latest commemorative issues, the deeper worry is that the letter to Grandma and the postcard from the seaside soon will follow Morse code and the singing telegram to extinction."

Shown above, advertisment for the 1946 movie "The Post Man Always Rings Twice." 

Editor's Note: According to Wikipedia, the title of the film comes from the idea that "when a person is expecting to receive a letter, it is of no concern if at first he does not hear the postman ring the doorbell, because the postman will always ring a second time, and that second ring will invariably be heard."

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