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It’s difficult to imagine that parcel delivery post has been around for more than 100 years in countries around the globe. But when you consider the innovations made by the Pony Express in the 1700s, it seems like parcel delivery post came along a little bit late in the game.

Parcel post became available in the domestic United States of American on January 1, 1913 and was an instant success. People immediately took to the new service and sent over 1,000 packages in its first few weeks of operation. This instant success gave advertisers and business gurus an excellent idea and soon after, mail order businesses and catalogs were born.

By 1918, post office parcel deliveries were not only a strong hit in the United States, but they also had their own trucks. And in 1948, air delivery became not a thing of the future, but a thing of the present.

During the early days of Post Office parcel delivery system, several interesting items were shipped. The largest item ever shipped was the Bank of Vernal, Utah—the bank was shipped almost brick by brick, 50 tons at a time. It may seem ludicrous but the new method cost 4 times less than shipping the bricks by freight wagon. The oddest item ever shipped weighed 48.5 lbs and cost 53 cents to move from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho. It was 4-year-old May Pierstorff heading for a visit with her grandparents, postage attached to her coat.

Today, the post office competes with some of the world’s largest and most successful parcel delivery companies, like FedEx and UPS, for a spot at the top of the world. The USPS delivers documents, packages and media all around the globe.