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Life.com pays tribute to mail carriers, other postal workers and the U.S. Postal Service in earlier times. Here, a rural Vermont mail carrier makes his rounds in subzero weather. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A 24-hour automated post office in Maryland provides self-service in 1964. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
In New York in 1944, Christmas packages intended for American servicemen who have been listed as missing or killed in action await "return to sender" stamps. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A mail carrier stops on the sidewalk in Michigan in 1955. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A peek inside a Washington post office in 1942. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A Wisconsinite opens the family mailbox in 1946. See more photos of the classic Postal Service from Life.com. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images