Rural Free Delivery (RFD), which began as an experiment in a few West Virginia towns on October 1, 1896, quickly became one of the Post Office Department’s most popular services. There was no denying that the service was here to stay and in 1902 it became an official service covering over 186,000 miles. By 1910, the RFD service reached rural Americans along almost one million miles of county roads across the continental United States.
Unlike their city counterparts, RFD carriers were responsible for providing their own transportation. For the first carriers, this meant some variation of a horse-drawn vehicle. The L.C. Graves Company of Springboro, Pennsylvania built this one-horse, one-man wagon. Wagons like this could cost as much as $100 in the early twentieth century. Carriers used their own horses and paid for their feed and care.
| Date | 1899 |
| Maker | L.C. Graves |
| Place | Indiana |
| Place of Origin | Pennsylvania |
| Medium | painted wood; painted canvas; brass; metal; glass |
| Dimensions | Height x Width x Depth (overall): 84 × 65 × 110 1/2 in. (213.36 × 165.1 × 280.67 cm) Height x Width x Depth (crate): 101 × 89 × 132 in. (256.54 × 226.06 × 335.28 cm) Height x Width x Depth (wagon): 52 × 28 × 69 in. (132.08 × 71.12 × 175.26 cm) Height x Width (front wheels): 41 1/2 × 41 1/2 in. (105.41 × 105.41 cm) Height x Width (rear wheels): 45 1/2 × 45 1/2 in. (115.57 × 115.57 cm) |
| Credit line | Museum purchase |
| Object number | 1984.0676.1 |
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许可协议： CC0 1.0（公有领域） · 改编自 postalmuseum.si.edu
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