My father's first job with the post office was as a Mail Handler in the main post office in downtown Minneapolis. He went to the nearby Great Northern and Milwaukee Road depots to deliver and collect mail from the mail trains. He was required to be armed, like the RPO clerks were. There was an armory in the basement of the post office with an employee who was in charge of issuing and maintaining the weapons.
I wonder if the policy of arming postal clerks goes back to the days of Butch and Sundance. I'm not aware of train robberies being much of an issue for most of the 20th century but maybe that's my ignorance. Organized crime found trucks to be easier pickings.
John-NYBW I wonder if the policy of arming postal clerks goes back to the days of Butch and Sundance. I'm not aware of train robberies being much of an issue for most of the 20th century but maybe that's my ignorance. Organized crime found trucks to be easier pickings.
Actually, if you do some research, you find out there were not all that many train robberies in the 19th Century.
The amount of crime in the old west is greatly exaggerated by Hollywood and folk lore.
In fact, that is why Billy the Kid, the gun fight at the OK coral, the James Gang, were all such a big deal - that level of lawlessness was rare.
But, firearms are a proven deterrent, they save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives every day without leaving their holsters, reminding wouldbe criminals that someone will fight back. And as such, they are an equalizer, reminding those who would use their size or strength to intimidate, that one need not be big and strong to protect one's self and family.
A message that clearly worked for the Post Office.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRAL John-NYBW I wonder if the policy of arming postal clerks goes back to the days of Butch and Sundance. I'm not aware of train robberies being much of an issue for most of the 20th century but maybe that's my ignorance. Organized crime found trucks to be easier pickings. Actually, if you do some research, you find out there were not all that many train robberies in the 19th Century. The amount of crime in the old west is greatly exaggerated by Hollywood and folk lore. In fact, that is why Billy the Kid, the gun fight at the OK coral, the James Gang, were all such a big deal - that level of lawlessness was rare. But, firearms are a proven deterrent, they save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives every day without leaving their holsters, reminding wouldbe criminals that someone will fight back. And as such, they are an equalizer, reminding those who would use their size or strength to intimidate, that one need not be big and strong to protect one's self and family. A message that clearly worked for the Post Office. Sheldon
I agree completely but because this has the risk of developing into a political discussion, I'll leave it at that.
I don't know who was the original source for this but as the saying goes, "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.". The movie The Untouchables attributed it to Al Capone, but I don't think that was his line. I did some googling and the best evidence is it came from comedian Professor Irwin Corey who first suggested it came from Hamlet which of course it didn't. Later it was Corey who attributed it to Al Capone which may be why the writers of the Untouchable script decided to use it.