It is obvious that with this huge body of men, who have great responsibility thrown upon them, something approaching to the discipline of an army has to be preserved. Let me mention a few of the marching orders of the town postman. A postman, when he has once started on his walk, must not go to his own house or to any other except to deliver a letter; he must not smoke on duty; he must not deliver letters to owners in the streets, but only at the houses to which they are addressed; he must not put letters under doors even if asked to do so; he must not take letters from the public for registration; he must carry no other missives than those that have been regularly posted; he must not act as a newsagent; must not borrow money from persons on his walk; he must not agitate or help in any agitation for a discontinuance of Sunday work; and he must not in any way be connected with a public-house or inn.
The Postman's Bell.
In the eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth century the town postman carried a bell, which he rang vigorously to give notice of his approach.
There are all sorts and conditions of men employed as postmen, and among them are to be found men of education and culture. I have known several such men, who could talk on any subject, and had read widely. I asked one postman how he spent his annual holiday, and I think I suggested to him that he probably lay on the beach all day resting his tired limbs. “Good gracious, no!” he replied; “I go on a walking tour. I have done the Lakes, Wales, and Scotland. You see, sir, it's really a change of movement for me, for we postmen don't walk, we shuffle.” And this is perhaps the reason why the postman fails to impress us as an individual. In Mr. H. J. Barker's delightful book, The Comic Side of School Life, there is an amusing essay entitled The Postman, supposed to have been written by a little boy. Perhaps if all writers were to follow his example, and record what they have actually observed, rather than what has been communicated to them second hand, they would be equally entertaining.
“Nobody could be happy in the world except for the useful gentleman what we call a postman. For how would you no whether those arnts and uncles of yours who live right acrost the fields and rivers was dead if the gentleman didn't bring a henvelop with black all round? You would think they are still alive and you'd keep on all writing to them. Thet is why postmen are allis little thin men without beards, cuz they have to keep on walking quick all day. They are not dressed up so fine as soldiers cuz they havent to go and fight acrost the sea. You never see postmen fight: not even with their fists, cuz they havent got no time with all those letters to take round. I dont think postmen dare even fight boys cuz when me and some more boys was a looking at a postman unlocking a pillar box and one of the boys pushed his head in the hole and we all run away: he wouldn't even run after us but only told a polleceman when he came round the corner and when he came away from the polleceman he was frightened of walking our way past us but jumped on a tramway and shammed not to see us. Postmen allis knocks so as to waken babies and then they tries to look as if they didn't no as baby was behind the door. If the postman doesn't bring your letters you can summons him, thats why they're so frightened. Two or three postmen come together without letters at Christmas and they ask your mothers for a Christmas box. My mother gave them a penny to share amongst them, but some didn't. Many boys become postmen cuz they think it is a good trade. I dont think they get good dinners same as men who hasnt to dress up. My father has a lot of meat and bread and he keeps on a eatin. Postmen allis black their boots cuz they are frightened of being summonsed. They are very frightened men and wont hurt you whatever you do. Never be cruel to them for they have to take care of their clothes more than you and are not so big as they would like. I once see a postman not dressed up an he was smoking a pipe and he put it away when he seed me and the other boys. But we seed him though and some of the boys called out after him 'You'll go and get summoned for smoking yer fathers pipe yer will,' but he wouldn't turn round, and he puffed the terbacca out again as he got further on. This is all I know about postmen except they are very clean men most any time you like to look.”
We understand exactly how the boy formed his delightful impressions, and it is curious that in an article in the Mirror of the 1st June 1839 I have found many of the ideas anticipated. “The letter carrier himself may be said to be deficient of any very striking characteristic, any peculiar recommendation as a national portrait; he himself is indeed a commonplace; he is only for the time being elevated by our hopes and fears.... He literally walks through life, absolutely knocks through a whole existence transacting small Government bargains, with no time to sit or stand or think of the iniquities, real or imaginary, of his political masters. We never heard of a postman being concerned in a conspiracy. If a postman start in life with a dapper figure shall he not be slim and elegant to the last? Is he not certain of carrying to the grave his original greyhound outline? Gout shuns him, corpulency visits him not, while exercise crowns him with its gifts.”
Some of this, however, does not apply to the modern postman; he has learnt the art of combination, and the Postmen's Union can scarcely be called an ineffective organisation. And, of course, in hundreds of cases the charge of personal ineffectiveness is ludicrously false. The opportunities of their calling for brave and effective action in the streets and wayside roads on behalf of their fellow-creatures are constantly being taken advantage of by postmen, and the Royal Humane Society's medals are held by quite a number of these men. And Post Office history is full of stories of the way they stood by the mail to the last moment in crises of difficulty and danger. The impression of personal ineffectiveness is one that cannot be justified logically; but it persists, just as the reproach of femininity is still associated with the clergy. Here is a case where the rural postman scored. Motorists do not always get their own way on country roads. A mail cart was suddenly confronted with a large motor on a very narrow road in the north-west of Scotland. The postman was told in peremptory tones to shift on to the heather. He refused to budge. Language which appears to be common to the driver in all classes of society followed from the motor gentleman. But the mail-man merely remarked with dignity: “Every minute you detain me, you are detaining his Majesty's mails. You must make way for me.” The result was the car had to back a considerable distance, and the mail-man drove past triumphant. And even the motor gentleman realised the absurdity of reporting the matter to the Postmaster-General. He merely continued to use strong language.