Imagine a world where drones are hand-delivering Joe Wicks’ 74th recipe book, self-driving Amazon electric vans are silently motoring along our A-roads, billionaires are racing each other in spaceships and Abba are back with a sold-out tour, but as holograms. Oh wait, you don’t have to imagine it, that is the world we live in.
The more futuristic and unrecognisable the world becomes, the more we cling onto nostalgia; The good old days where music had easily decipherable lyrics, Woolworths was still going strong, selling cassettes and pick and mix, and animals delivered our mail. It was a simpler time.
Yes, it’s true. Back in the day, when we didn’t have flying robots and we had to utilise the resources we had, animals were used to ensure our letters reached their destination. Back then, dogs and their ilk didn’t just take our bones and curl up by the fire, they were put to work.
We’ve all heard of the carrier pigeon, but did you know we’ve been using these cute little bread munchers to deliver mail for over 3,000 years? During the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, pigeons were put to work delivering important mail; Loin cloths, statues, medals, and sandals were among the things that the ancient Greeks would send.
We also used these bad lads to send messages during both World War 1 and World War 2. Some exceptional pigeons were even recognised for their postal service, with Cher Ami, a British homing pigeon, presented with the French Croix de Guerre award for his service, after he delivered 12 hugely important messages despite being badly injured at the time. He later died at the ripe old age of 1. Pigeons are fast too, a pigeon can fly at an average speed of 60mph, in fact, some racer pigeons have been recorded flying at 100mph (I swear this is true).
You’ve probably heard this one before, a horse walks into a bar, the barman says ‘why the long face?’, the horse replies ‘Because I’ve had to carry four casks of beer here for you as I am a post horse.’ Whilst this joke is based on fiction (in reality horses are unable to speak), much of the latter part rings true, horses have been a primary means of delivering mail and essentials dating back thousands of years.
We all know Santa Claus uses magical flying reindeer and his knowledge of invisible wormholes in the Earth’s lower orbit to deliver Christmas presents to children all over the world. But did you know, less magically capable reindeer come in handy for delivering mail whilst keeping their hooves planted firmly on the ground? In the US state of Alaska where conditions can be harsh, especially in the winter months with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures, reindeer were the perfect mail animal. Reindeer were able to cover 30-50 miles a day and carry up to 140kg of weight and as such, were the most efficient mail carriers during the harsh winters of the 1800s.
One of the most foolish ideas when it comes to animals delivering mail was to use the famously stubborn, unhelpful and overwhelmingly apathetic animal, the cat. In the small town of Liege, in Belgium in the late 1870s, 37 house cats were recruited to deliver mail to the people of the town, who perhaps expected too much of their feline friends. They were rounded up, taken several miles away and a piece of mail was tied around the cats’ neck. The experiment was a marginal success, with at least some of the cats reportedly returning home with their little parcel and an overwhelming sense of pride at their accomplishment. The idea didn’t gain any momentum due to the fact that cats are far more likely to chew mail than deliver it.
A list of animals delivering mail wouldn’t be complete without the humpiest animal of them all, the camel. Camels are used worldwide for transport, usually in regions with harsher climates like the Middle Eastern Desert and Blackpool, but they’re mail warriors too, and not just in the places you’d expect. In Australia in the early 20th Century, camels were used to deliver mail and supplies. One main route which cameleers (camel riders, not what camels hear with) used to traverse, stretched over 520km. The journey, from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs took around four weeks depending on the sprightliness of the camel. Due to their famous fat-storing humps (I have these too), they were able to travel long distances in piping hot climates without much food or water. A fully grown camel bull can carry as much as 600kg and live until the ripe old age of 40. Live to work, not work to live, am I right, camels?
At bakergoodchild, we use exclusively non-animal-based couriers to make sure your clients and customers get their direct mail without the need for camels, reindeer, cats or pigeons. Get in touch today to find out how we can help you and your business drive sales using targeted print, mail and post.
