Pneumatic tube mail in New York City facts for kids

The pneumatic tube mail was a special mail system in New York City. It worked from 1897 to 1953. This system used pneumatic tubes to send mail quickly. Imagine sending letters through underground tunnels using air pressure!

Other cities had similar systems before New York. London had one in the mid-1800s, and so did Paris. The first American system started in Philadelphia in 1893. New York City's system began soon after. It first connected the old General Post Office on Park Row to the Produce Exchange on Bowling Green. This was a distance of about 1,143 meters (3,750 feet).

Eventually, the network grew huge. It stretched up both sides of Manhattan to Manhattanville on the west and "Triborough" in East Harlem. This formed a big loop just a few feet underground. Mail could travel from the General Post Office to Harlem in just 20 minutes! A line also connected the new General Post Office on the west side to Grand Central Terminal on the east. This trip took only four minutes. There was even a line to Brooklyn using the Brooklyn Bridge. It went from Church Street in lower Manhattan to the general post office in Brooklyn. This trip also took four minutes. The people who operated this fast system were called "Rocketeers."

New York's system was the biggest in the United States. While 10 cities were planned for pneumatic mail, New York's was the most developed. By 1907, five other cities had contracts for the system: Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.

The Big Launch

The pneumatic tube mail system officially started on October 7, 1897. Senator Chauncey M. Depew was there for the big event. He said, "This is the age of speed. Everything that makes for speed contributes to happiness." He hoped the system would spread across all of "Greater New York" because quick communication was so important.

The very first package was sent by Senator Depew. It went from the General Post Office to the Produce Exchange Post Office. Inside, there was a bible, an American flag, a copy of the Constitution, and President William McKinley's speech. The bible was included to reference a verse about speed. The package came back with a bouquet of violets. The whole trip took less than three minutes! Most of that time was spent loading and unloading the container.

Later, people sent all sorts of funny things through the tubes. These included a large artificial peach, clothes, a candlestick, and even a live black cat! A postal supervisor named Howard Wallace Connelly remembered the cat. He said it was amazing the cat survived after being shot through the tubes at "terrific speed." The cat was a bit dazed but fine!

Different companies built and ran the system. The Tubular Dispatch Company built the first part in Manhattan. Then, the New York Pneumatic Service Company bought it and ran the tubes. After 1902, the New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company built more lines, like the one to Brooklyn. All these companies were owned by the American Pneumatic Service Company.

Why the System Stopped

Over time, people started to question the pneumatic tube mail. Government studies suggested that mail could be handled more cheaply and quickly in other ways. The amount of mail kept growing, but the tubes had limited space. Also, cars were becoming more common. This made the tubes seem old-fashioned and sometimes even slowed down mail delivery.

The companies running the tubes disagreed with these studies. But later investigations showed that the studies were actually fair. If the tubes were truly the best, more businesses would have used them.

Sometimes, the tubes broke down. Workers had to dig up streets to fix them and get the mail out. There was even a sad accident where a tube burst during a test. This injured the repair crew working underground.

End of an Era

The pneumatic tube service was stopped during World War I. This was done to save money for the war. The system was very expensive to run. By 1918, the government thought the yearly payments for the tubes were too high. They believed cars were a better and cheaper way to transport mail. For example, the Brooklyn section alone cost $14,000 in rent each year, plus $6,200 for workers.

After some effort by the companies, the service was brought back in 1922. However, the line between Brooklyn and Manhattan stopped again in April 1950 for repairs and never reopened. Finally, in 1953, the rest of the system was halted for review. It was never started again.

Quick Facts

• Each mail container could hold 600 letters.
• The containers traveled up to 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour).
• At its busiest, the system carried 95,000 letters every day. This was 30% of all mail in New York City!
• The entire system had about 43 kilometers (27 miles) of tubes.
• These tubes connected 23 different post offices.
• The containers were steel cylinders. They weighed 25 pounds and were either 53 centimeters (21 inches) long and 18 centimeters (7 inches) wide, or 61 centimeters (24 inches) long and 20 centimeters (8 inches) wide.

Images for kids

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  Terminals of the Tube

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  Receiving and Sending Apparatus in the Sub-Postoffice