My first stop was the 2nd floor, Mailing Division, where I first began my Postal career. Of course, all of the sorting machines and letter cases have been removed, so the workroom floors are all pretty wide open. In one corner, there were several carts we used to move boxes of mail from area to area. It was a very strange feeling being back here again, with everything completely quiet. These areas used to be filled with hundreds of letter cases, letter sorting machines, postage canceling machines, and the hustle and bustle of hundreds of people sorting mail.
In the photo below, you can see the enclosed "alleys" suspended from the ceiling, used by postal inspectors to conduct surveillance on the clerks as they worked. We never knew if and when they were up there, where they would watch through the view ports with reflective glass. These "alleys" allowed the inspectors to view every area of the work floor and lunch rooms, and they could move from floor to floor without being observed. You can see these view ports in nearly all of the following photos.
In the photo below, imagine rows and rows of letter cases extending to the other end of the photo.
The photo below shows what used to be the Mailing Division swing room, where I ate many, many of my lunches while working 9:30 pm to 6:00 am. The ceiling here is about 6'5" high. And yes, the view ports are here too.
When I worked here 20 years ago, everything was painted a pale green. There were none of these happy colors...
One of the many postal inspector view ports.
A row of old sinks.
While many of the bathrooms had been updated since I worked there nearly 20 years ago, I found one bathroom that still had solid wood stall doors. These doors are mounted to a stone or marble-like frame.
The old style urinals with foot pedal flushers. You don't see these every day.
An old postal scale from 1953.
Most areas had limited lighting. On the workroom floors, I was able to use what few lights there were plus the light coming in the windows. The photo below was taken in the sub-basement which is actually below the waterline of the Mississippi River.
A special Thanks to my friend Ken for piloting the Way-Back Machine and making my trip down memory lane possible!
ReplyDeleteStrange, quite... prison-like. I can't imagine working in conditions like this for one month, much less 10 years, or an entire career. That said, I do love looking through old buildings like this. It takes very little imagination to conjure up all sorts of stories and situations of things that could have, or did, happen in buildings like this. Wonderful tour, Dave! I bet it brought back tons of old memories for you.
I sense more condos coming to Lowertown. The inspector alleys would have to go- can't be spying on your neighbors...
I presently work for the Post office and it's quit clear how much we've down sized. When I first started I went through orientation here. The building was filled with employees, on all 14 floors. After I chose my current position I was required to visit the hustle and bustle of the lower floors which processed the billions of letters and magazines that came through daily. Three full shifts of employee's filled these now empty walls. Ten years ago you wouldn't have been able to get one snap shot off without being run over by either employees, some sort of equipment, or both. Lets not forget to mention the Postal Inspector's how would have never let this photo opportunity happen at all! Nice photo's but I hope my building and career won't become as desolate as this!!
ReplyDeleteThe other writer is correct, condos are in the future.
Amen to that, Steve! And you're right about the Postal Inspectors; taking pictures on the workroom floor during that building's heyday would have been a HUGE no-no. Sure, the Postal Service has changed it's look dramatically over the past 20 years, but they're still here. Even back then, we used to have service talks and safety talks during which "privatization" was the biggest threat to the P.O. They survived that, but that was before the Internet - I mean, who saw that coming? I believe that 20 years from now, the P.O. will still be here. It will undoubtedly look different, but it will still be here. At least I hope so, because two very important people in my life still depend on it for their livelihood.
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