Mail Wagon

Square metal body - painted green - with canvas sides & removable windows at the front and above the doors. Wood doors - painted green with black striping. Decals on panels - eagles & flags. Flagpole socket. Interior - compartments for letters & postage supplies rack at the back for large parcels. Slots cut in the front window frame for the reins to pass.

Mail wagons such as this were used to deliver mail in rural areas where residents often lived far from the main post office. Carriers were required to furnish and maintain their own vehicle, many of whom adapted their personal wagon or buggy for their work.

This Mail Wagon has a square metal body set on elliptical springs parallel to the axles. It has painted canvas sides and removable glass windows at the front and above the doors. The canvas roof is stretched over a slightly curved frame of wooden bows. The lower panels are decorated with decals of eagles and flags, and a flag bracket is affixed to one of the lower front panels. A rack at the rear of the vehicle carried larger parcels, while interior compartments held letters and postal supplies such as stamps and envelopes. When the front window was in place, the driver's reins passed through two slots cut in the window frame.

This vehicle was purchased by the Museums for $37.50 from Andrew Bell of Cambridge, NY.