[wtn]

USPS was probably much more adamant about delivering lost mail in the 1950s. The level of service was higher, with twice daily delivery.

[codezero]

I never knew they did twice daily deliver, time to google up some more info!

[_whiteCaps_]

http://500years.royalmailgroup.com/gallery/delivery-frequenc...

In the UK it was up to 12 times / day in cities!

[ghaff]

To some degree, I'm sure it was a plot device but 19th century English novels often depended on rapid/same-day communications via letter at least in the environs of London.

[hdjdbtbgwjsn]

That was considered standard then in London. Royal Mail even had its own underground railways in London.

[eru]

Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Penny_Post

[Spooky23]

It was more in some places. My grandma and aunt would mail letters like IMs in 1930s NYC.

[codezero]

I guess the telephone was able to replace a lot of those messages - and is possibly the reason they dialed back in the 1950s?