Today, the postman delivers your letters to your doorstep, but it was not always like that. In the early part of the 19th century, envelopes were 
not used. Instead, a letter was folded and the address placed on the outside of the sheet. The customer had to take a letter to the post office to mail it, and the addressee had to pick up the letter at the post office. In big cities in the USA, mail would be delivered home if you paid the carrier. In 1863, free city delivery was instituted in 49 of the largest cities in the USA. By 1890, 454 post offices were delivering mail to residents of United States cities. It was not until the turn of the century, however, that free delivery came to farmers and other rural residents
