An undated photograph of post office “furniture” from a former Gratz Post Office, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. This was used as basic post office equipment when residents had to go to the post office to get their mail. Since the postmaster was politically appointed depending on who was elected to the presidency, the location often moved about the town, mostly to stores, but sometimes to private homes. This piece of furniture was moved each time the post office moved. There was one outgoing mail slot which can be seen just below the window. Each of the boxes was numbered and residents were assigned a box at no cost to them because there was no home delivery. Boxes were glass covered and only accessible from the rear; simply put, if you saw you had mail, you had to ask the postmaster for it and it was then passed to you through the window.
According to the red decal over the window, this equipment was made by the Sadler Company of Washington, D.C, St. Louis, and Kansas City, Missouri. From looking at on-line photos of similar post office windows and boxes made by this company, it can probably be dated to circa 1898.
Three additional observations:
The sign atop the furniture was not from the same period as the window and boxes. Zip Codes were not instituted until 1963, so the sign is post-1963. This sign was usually outside the building and hung somewhere over the door. The window and boxes are from well before 1963. It is not known when the Gratz Post Office went to boxes that could be accessed by combination or key lock by the customer.
The “mail bag” hanging under the window opening is a souvenir reproduction and does not seem to have any relationship with Gratz.
Supposedly, this furniture and sign was “found” in the garage of someone in Gratz and donated to the local historical society. It is not known whether and when it was officially decommissioned or whether the person(s) who had it in their garage had legally obtained it.
________________________________________
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.