Snail Mail Struggles: The Postal Service Series Since its creation in 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has been delivering mail and helping knit together the nation. But in the digital age, it is losing money. NPR examines the challenges facing the Postal Service as those who head it push to raise rates and reduce delivery to five days a week.

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Snail Mail Struggles: The Postal Service Series

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Imagine No Mail On Saturdays

November 27, 2010 • The U.S. Postal Service is losing billions and is considering whether to drop Saturday delivery. The idea falls flat with some, who point to people who rely on checks and prescriptions that could arrive on Saturday. But with UPS and FedEx serving our mail needs, do we need the post office at all?

The Loss Of Its Post Office Changes W.Va. Town

The old Hacker Valley Post Office building. Noah Adams/NPR hide caption

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Noah Adams/NPR

The Loss Of Its Post Office Changes W.Va. Town

November 26, 2010 • If you fly over West Virginia on a clear day, you might see Hacker Valley as just a wisp of smoking rising from the mountains. The 600 people who live there are facing a second winter of icy, treacherous driving just to get to a post office. It can be a 40-mile round trip.

Post Office Cuts Cause Economic, Emotional Blow

Robyn Hales, a resident of East Cleveland, Ohio, and daughter of a mail carrier, was a vocal protester against the post office cutbacks. Bridget Caswell for NPR hide caption

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Bridget Caswell for NPR

Post Office Cuts Cause Economic, Emotional Blow

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November 26, 2010 • Faced with an $8.5 billion loss, the U.S. Postal Service has been cutting back: slashing hours, combining routes and closing offices. The post office in East Cleveland, Ohio, has lost nearly all of its staff, and the cutback is deeply troubling for this hard-pressed urban community.

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When You Care Enough To Send ... An E-Card

November 19, 2010 • Time was when you'd take out your favorite pen to write a heartfelt note in a Christmas card and then put a stamp on it. That changed for many when e-cards came along. And now, e-cards have gone social on networks like Facebook. But is it the same as sending or receiving a card through the mail?

Its unofficial motto may be that "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" will stop mail deliveries, but the digital age has been challenging for the Postal Service as people e-mail, text and fax to communicate. Kelly Etzel/AP/Cedar Rapids Gazette hide caption

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Kelly Etzel/AP/Cedar Rapids Gazette

Series Overview: Snail Mail Struggles

November 25, 2010 • The U.S. Postal Service is struggling as its customers migrate to the digital world. Americans are texting and e-mailing instead of sending paper greetings and documents. An NPR series explores the importance of the post office and what changes may be coming.

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Mailed Memories: Your Cherished Letters

November 24, 2010 • As the digital age pushes our correspondence with each other online, we see fewer invitations, cards and handwritten letters arrive in our mailboxes. But we no doubt all have special mail -- a faded postcard, a well-worn greeting card, an old love letter -- that we keep tucked away.

Timeline: The Postal Service And Its Competition

November 24, 2010 • Over the past 100 years, the U.S. Postal Service has met a slew of formidable challengers from the telephone to the Internet. In recent years, the Postal Service has seen a sharp decline in mail. Follow the history of mail and the U.S. Postal Service over the past century in this interactive timeline.

Photo Gallery: The Nine Lives Of Old Post Offices

The General Post Office in Washington, D.C., was originally home to the Post Office Department, a forerunner of the U.S. Postal Service. Today, it is a hotel. Coburn Dukehart/NPR hide caption

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