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Sharing Memories Of Moving Mountains Of Mail

Tuesday December 12, 2017

By Cookie Steponaitis

As the full hustle and bustle of the holiday season commences, Santa has a legion of helpers. Wearing the uniforms of the US Postal Service, UPS, Fed Ex and others, it is estimated that Americans will send and receive a staggering 15 billion packages and letters between December 5th and December 31st. Moving this incredible number of wishes, gifts and purchases is a well-oiled machine of people, trucks, airplanes that work round the clock to make the holidays go off without a hitch. With computers and tracking, we can even follow our items along their path and trace the route by train, air and truck that it takes to reach out door. We seldom give a though to the process unless it breaks and our package is late. But what about these people who do all this work, and what about transportation at a time in American history when the roads were not paved, there was no way to track any package and America was poised to enter into a World War.
    Sent in to the Valley Voice as a treasured holiday memory is the story of Jessie Perkins, who lived in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont and was one of the area’s most diligent and dependable provider of mail service. A newspaper clipping sharing her Yankee ingenuity and skill set was brought to our attention by her aunt and showcases a woman who went above and beyond on a daily basis. “The Mail Goes Through with Hardy Girl at the Wheel”, touts the February 26, 1941 paper and goes on to explain that in the four years Jessie Perkins was on the route from Ferrisburgh to Monkton she never missed a day or failed to make a connection with the train. Perkins carried mail three times a day from North Ferrisburgh to Monkton and then would also pick up and deliver sacks of mail to the train in time to make its route continue on safely. Driving a 1931 Model A Ford with no heat, Perkins layered up and found herself often with road side repairs and challenges. “Roads are exactly a boulevard,” shared Perkins. She went on to describe times that the water would come into the floor boards and through the doors. Often, she would have to change a tire or push herself out of a ditch, but that did not seem to daunt Perkins. “I don’t see a reason why a woman can’t do these things as well as a man,” explained the mail carrier.
    Perkins was given a chance at the position when a brother in-law had to take a break from the route and asked Perkins to fill in until a man could be found. “I can’t think of any work I’d rather be doing,” remarked Perkins. “I’ve always been an outdoors girl. I get plenty of fresh air and exercise. And I know I am doing something worthwhile.” While the newspaper leaves us wanting of information to see how long the intrepid Perkins worked for the Postal Service, family shared with us documentation of her passing in 1965 at the age of 53.
    So, as the holiday trucks roll by you with destinations a plenty, or you wait frantically for a 3:00 delivery that might make it at 5:00 pm, pause a moment and give thanks for all the people who work in this field and perhaps even a salute into the night for Jessie Perkins who did it on her own, with stellar precision, in a 1931 Model A Ford with no heat. Then proceed to have yourself a merry little holiday and realize that this time of year may stress us out, but we are only the shoppers, not the delivery service that has 15 billion to go before the clocks strikes Christmas.

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