Unlike their city counterparts, rural carriers had to post a
bond before being eligible for hiring. This requirement, along
with standard arguments of the day regarding women’s strength
and abilities, kept the job in men’s hands at first. As time
passed, women gradually joined the ranks of RFD carriers,
unofficially at first, as substitutes for ill husbands, fathers
or brothers, but soon on their own merit, and with their own
bonds. Male or female, RFD carriers faced the challenge of
keeping warm in freezing cold winters, keeping wagons or sleds
moving across rutted, snow-filled, or muddy roads, and of course
successfully completing their daily rounds. Many carriers found
small heaters to be an absolute necessity during cold winter
months, others found comfort in blankets and lap robes. Local
newspapers and national carrier and postmaster publications were
filled with a variety of goods aimed at the keeping RFD carriers
warm, and their wallets empty.