It’s been very satisfying to see the response to my series, ‘Themed pic of the day‘ that I started just two days ago. Each post is associated with some of the following themes:

• Society - the people, city, culture, etc
• Technology - ranging from the oldest to the newest, disruptive, gawky, funny, disruptive, and so on
• Lifestyle - moral standards, economic development, attitude, taste, richness, etc
• Travel - I’m a wanderlust!! Anything and everything related to cities, scenery, nature, infrastructure, castles, rivers, lakes, oceans, and so on
• Environment - e-waste, green house gases, hybrid cars, green technologies, etc
• Politics - I know this can be dirty, but will try to comment on a clean picture!
• Space - the deep, dark and the mysterious. We will be there, one fine day!!

You can also send in your pics, and a few words about the picture. It is advisable to send pics hosted on photo-sharing websites - easy and efficient. Please feel free to suggest new themes.

Today’s theme is about ‘technology, travel‘. Hmmm..nineteenth century ‘EXPRESS’ mail delivery technology

Here goes the pic..

Picture © Ubiquitense

On my way to the Horsetooth Reservoir at Fort Collins, Colorado, I stumbled into an antique shop with an intent to get a souvenir. I was looking around the shop and came face-to-face with this horseback rider.

The picture speaks for itself! Upon inquiry, I came to know that this Pony Express was indeed an express mail service between 1860 and 1861. Though it was in vogue only for a short time, it became the forerunner of express delivery mail technologies, and the logo is still in use by the United States Postal Service.

The Pony Express service operated between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. Wow! quite a distance these riders covered.

Did you notice the requirements for these horseback riders to get a job in Pony Express? Key requirements that caught my attention are:

1. Willing to risk death daily, and
2. Orphans preferred

Well, ‘m not sure how many volunteered to provide such a nobel service, but looks like it took about 10 to 12 days for the mails from one end to reach the other. From Wikipedia, I also came to know that the usual mail service was taking about six months to do the same service. What a difference!!

I strongly believe that technology innovations happen in societies that are willing to take a high degree of risks. What do you think? I can cite some examples if you want.. or you can google it..

Disclaimer: All photos posted in this section are rightfully attributed to the source, unless otherwise stated.