Uncle Mort

remembers the 1974 event vividly when the lady in front of him at the post office protested the cost of first-class stamps going up 25%–from eight to ten cents.

“Are you telling me that it’s going to cost a dime to mail a letter to my daughter in Houston?” she fumed.

Unruffled, the postal guy had this rejoinder: “Ma’am, you’re looking at it all wrong; that’s only a penny a day.”…

*****

I’ve pondered

often about “the way things were” in Pony Express days, when the cost of sending a single letter–in today’s dollars–was $170. The route had about 200 stations for fresh riders and horses.

Little wonder that the Pony Express ran just 19 months, 1860-1862. After all, riders–though richly compensated–faced strict requirements, including a maximum weight of 125 pounds and the poss

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