1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: a show that believes there's no time like the present 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: to learn about the past. I'm Gay Louzier, and in 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: this episode, we're talking about the time when an overworked 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: postal system got a much needed upgrade. Two somewhat mixed results. 7 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: The day was October twenty six, America's first fully automated 8 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: post office began service in Providence, Rhode Island. The facility 9 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,319 Speaker 1: featured the country's first automatic sorting and processing machines, as 10 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: well as three miles of conveyor belts that moved mail 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: through the plant and out to the loading docks for delivery. 12 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: The advanced system was housed in a sprawling, one floor 13 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: building that spanned thirteen acres of an industrial park. Construction 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: began in April of nineteen fifty nine and was completed 15 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: eighteen months later. When the facility opened, President Eisenhower himself 16 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: came to cut the ribbon. That may seem like a 17 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: lot of fuss over a post office, but the country 18 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: had a lot riding on the new technology that was 19 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: being tested there By the mid nineteen fifties, the post 20 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: war boom was in full effect, and post offices were 21 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: swamped with more mail than ever before. The traditional systems 22 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: began to buckle under the strain, so in nineteen fifty eight, 23 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield decided it was time to try 24 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: something new. He approved the plan to build the first 25 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: fully automated post office of the future. The project was 26 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: called Operation Turnkey, with the idea being that the new 27 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: machinery would make it possible to process the mail with 28 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: the turn of a key. The high speed equipment would 29 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: separate and assemble each piece of mail according to its class, priority, 30 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: and destination, allowing this single facility to move more than 31 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,519 Speaker 1: a million pieces of mail in one day. The only 32 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: problem was the machines that could do this didn't exist yet. 33 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: The project planners and their contractors had to create it 34 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: all themselves. It was a tall order, but the team 35 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: pulled it off. When completed, the system incorporated over two 36 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: dozen machines and nearly sixteen thousand feet of conveyor belts, 37 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: all of which was regulated by a twenty five foot 38 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: tall control tower located at the heart of the building. 39 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: But Operation Turnkey wasn't just a feat of engineering. It 40 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: was an artistic endeavor too. About four months before the 41 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: facility opened, it was proposed posed that a stamp should 42 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: be issued to publicize and celebrate the milestone event. When 43 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: the idea was presented to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, 44 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: it was unanimously rejected for being quote obviously self serving. 45 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,839 Speaker 1: The committee also pointed out that such a stamp might 46 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: be unpopular at a time when much of the public 47 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: blamed automation for increasing unemployment. Still, the committee's ruling wasn't binding, 48 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: and in the end, the postmaster went ahead and issued 49 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: the stamp anyway. The four cent stamp depicts in architects 50 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: rendering of the new facility in dark blue ink, and 51 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: says first automated post office in the United States in 52 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: deep red letters. It was issued on the same day 53 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: the post office opened for business, and its sales quickly 54 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: proved that the postmaster had been wise to ignore the 55 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: committee's objections. On the first day alone, over eight hundred 56 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: and thirty three thousand of the stamps were sold, plus 57 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: an additional four hundred and fifty eight thousand envelopes that 58 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: came with the stamp pre applied. It was such a 59 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: massive success that the US Post Office began issuing other 60 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: self referential stamps, including ones with the USPS logo and 61 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: a whole set of Postal Service employee stamps. Unfortunately, the 62 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: stamp proved more successful than the facility it promoted. A 63 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two report to Congress showed that the facility 64 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: wasn't as fast or efficient as it was supposed to be. 65 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: Several of the high tech machines weren't being used properly, 66 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: and others hadn't been switched on at all. It came 67 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: to light that employees hadn't been trained very well on 68 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: how to operate the new equipment, and they weren't sure 69 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: how to use it to its full potential. Postmaster General 70 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: Arthur summer Yield had an eye to the future when 71 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: he greenlit Operation Turnkey, but it was so dysfunctional in 72 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,239 Speaker 1: practice that his successor joked that the project's name quote 73 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: might be rendered more appropriate by knocking out the n 74 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: in turn key. Despite the initial embarrassment, the US Post 75 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 1: Office kept experimenting with automation. Cities across the country began 76 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: adopting similar technology, and after a few years of tinkering, 77 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: they had the process running much more smoothly. Today, the 78 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: majority of American post offices rely on automation to at 79 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: least some degree, if not almost entirely. So you see, 80 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't such a turkey after all, maybe more like 81 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: a goose. I'm Gabe Louisier and hopefully you now know 82 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 83 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: If you'd like to keep up with the show, you 84 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instant Graham at 85 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: t d i h C Show, and if you're feeling 86 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 1: inspired by today's episode, you can send me some electronic 87 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: mail at this Day at i heeart media dot com. 88 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 89 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 90 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For more 91 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 92 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.