Busy Time for Post Office

With every year, the Christmas avalanche of greeting cards and gift parcels seems to grow heavier and heavier. From every house in every street a river of envelopes flows through suburban letterboxes and Post Office counters and posting slots, addressed to here, there, and almost everywhere, bearing goodwill messages for fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, uncles and aunts, friends and acquaintances. Within a few days, even hours, this avalanche has been put in order, diverted into its proper channels, and safely delivered according to directions. To the outsider, the only indications of the vast and complicated machinery by which this miracle is accomplished are that be might notice that the lights are burning all night at the Post Office, and that the mailman is a little later than usual.

To give some idea of what goes on in the Post Office during the Christmas rush, "Photo News" visited the mailroom one evening and took these pictures.

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R. Allen, N. Carter, S. Ransley and R. Nissen sorting letters and packets.

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Sorting letters here are A. Martin, H. Pearce, P. Lamont, F. Ransley, L. Fuller and F. Pudney.

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Big hold-up is caused by insufficient address on letters. Here, with directories and electorial rolls, P. Lamont works his way through piles of mail rejected by the sorters. Proportion goes into dead-letter bag.