We're all familiar with
e-mail, but have you have every heard of v-mail? Victory Mail, or
v-mail for short, was a mail system used during WWII. It was a
brilliant idea that dramatically reduced the volume of mail being
transported to the millions of people stationed overseas, thus
freeing up valuable cargo space for war materiel. The National Postal
Museum estimates that “the 37 mail bags required to carry 150,000
one-page letters could be replaced by a single mail sack [of v-mail.]
The weight of that same amount of mail was reduced from 2,575 pounds
to a mere 45.”
Correspondents wrote their
letters on specially designed forms that were a combination letter
and envelope. The pages were censored before being microfilmed then
shipped overseas to a receiving station where they were printed at
60% of their original size and delivered. The use of v-mail was not
mandated, so people continued to send their mail via regular first
class. It is estimated that for every one piece of v-mail sent,
approximately seven pieces of first class letters were sent.
Because troops were
constantly on the move, one of the greatest challenges was to get the
mail delivered. However, the postal service bent over backwards to
work with the military to get letters in the hands
Is there a time in your life
when mail was of great importance to you?
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A freelance writer for over ten years, Linda Matchett also writes historical fiction. She is currently seeking a publisher for her series about war correspondent Ruth Brown. Visit her at www.lindashentonmatchett.com
Mail was of great importance to me when my future husband and I met. He was in the army and I was in college. Our many, many precious letters and cards were priceless!
ReplyDeletemauback55 at gmail dot com
My future husband and I met during high school and we attended two different colleges - so I know exactly how you feel! I still like getting mail!
DeleteWhen I was submitting stories via snail mail, I hung out at my mailbox every day, waiting for that acceptance letter. Of course, more often than not it was a "sorry but this does not meet the needs..." :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it's better or not that we get our rejections faster by email!
DeleteWhen I was away at school, mail was a lifeline from home.
ReplyDeleteI was a 9 hour drive from home during college so I can related. Our mailboxes had a little window and I loved when I could see an envelope through the glass!
DeleteWow. I so did not know this. Thanks for sharing the tidbit, Linda. How very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Amazing how much flotsam is floating around in my head, isn't it?? :-)
DeleteI actually have a letter sent V-mail during WWII. Mail back in those days was just as important as it is today. To see your loved one's handwriting, to know they held the letter in their hands, and also the time it took to put one's thoughts on paper.
ReplyDeleteThanks for entering me in your weekly giveaway.
Janet E.
von1janet(at)gmail(dot)com
How exciting to still have a v-mail letter. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteIt's interesting that the British Army has a similar system today. You can go to a special website, type your letter, then when you hit "submit" it will spit out as a paper letter on the other end. The letter is collected, folded, then forwarded to wherever your soldier is serving. They call it "Blue Mail".
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I only got married a few years ago, so we mainly exchanged e-mails. However, part of me wishes we had written to each other so I could have some old-fashioned letter to preserve. A few months after our wedding, I realized our e-mails were in an old account of mine that I hadn't checked in a while. When I hastily checked it again, I found that our letters had been deleted by the e-mail company! That still haunts me. Sometimes there really are advantages to doing it the old-fashioned way.