Letters and Mail!
It was hard to come up with a mail system that would actually work. Letters used to be delivered by men riding horseback. They would ride on special roads called post roads, which would have special stations called "posts" to give the riders fresh horses. Not many people used the mail. As a matter of fact, soon after the nation gained independence, for every twelve people, only one letter a year would be delivered to them. The person who received the letter would pay the postman, and if you did not pay, you did not get the letter. There was no home delivery, you would have to go to the post office to receive letters. In 1825, the postmaster of the town was allowed to give letters to mail carriers that would deliver letters to the peoples homes. The carriers would be paid by the postage that the person paid them when they delivered the letter. In the 1840s, there was more of a need for a working post system. In 1845, Congress passed a law to allow cheap postage to try to improve the system. In the beginning, every postmaster would print his own stamps, which caused chaos. In 1847, the post office department issued the first national postage stamps. One was a five cent stamp with the head of Benjamin Franklin and a second was a ten cent stamp with the head of George Washington on it. Still, most of the people, if they did not live in the city, they would still have to go to the post office to receive mail. In 1896, Congress adopted "rule free delivery." That way, every family would have the mail brought to their home.
Congradulations! You are the 
person to learn about the old time mail system.