109 Years Ago
The August 10, 1916 Colorado Transcript announced that the Federal Postal Service was offering to provide free mail delivery to individual homes and businesses. Up to that time, everyone had to call at the post office to get their mail. Golden’s downtown merchants were opposed to the change. The article quoted “one prominent business man” as follows.
I most decidedly am not in favor of the free delivery system. At the present time we get a few people down town each day who would come for no other reason than to get their mails. This is a good thing for the town and is a stimulant to business. The limits of our town are not so large that it is a hardship on any person to come to the postoffice.”
The following week (August 17, 1916), the Transcript printed a Letter to the Editor that began with
Having read the arguments of Golden business men against the proposed free mail delivery, I wish to express through the columns of The Transcript my great and hearty approval of their far-sightedness.
The letter went on to say that anything that prevented Golden people from spending their money in Golden stores should be abolished–that Golden people would certainly forget the existence of the downtown stores if they were not forced to see them daily. The writer opined that–if Golden got home mail delivery–people were likely to give up buying anything, ever.
The author also suggested that the town give up the system of pipes and taps that delivered water to individual homes. If we had a single town pump downtown, the entire population would need to visit it daily and thus be reminded daily of the existence of the stores. He further thought we should eliminate telephones so that people couldn’t order things by phone, and delivery services so that people had to visit the stores to obtain goods. Thus, they would be exposed to the merchants’ alluring displays and would be enticed to buy more things.
The letter was signed, “A Booster for Golden’s Progress.”
All in all, it was an impressive display of sarcasm.
