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Express mail bicycle delivery boy

Francisco Santos Cordeiro1937 - 20th century

Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações

Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações
Lisboa, Portugal

The job of the express mail bicycle delivery boy was to deliver urgent correspondence, such as telegrams and express mail, and was usually the work of young men between the ages of 15 and 20. They followed standard procedures that began with receiving the correspondence and putting it in order to reduce the delivery time. Telegrams were placed in a cartridge belt attached to the waist and express mail in a special sack that could be carried around the neck or on the bicycle frame. They were responsible for maintaining their means of transport, checking the state of the brakes and other parts, so that they could travel in safety. Rules on adjusting their helmet to avoid it coming off, or keeping their wheels outside the tram rails or far from the gutters, were valuable pieces of advice that were reinforced at weekly meetings with the service managers.

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Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações

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