A Talking Mailbox- Oh My, How Useful!
I have no idea why the Talking Mailbox didn’t catch on. This publicity photo is said to be from 1943, taken in California, and the young lovely listening to the mailbox is Lynn Baggett, whose story is a cautionary tale for young women with stars in their eyes. Miss Baggett was “discovered” at the age of 19 by a Warner Brothers talent scout while walking to work in downtown Dallas, and came to Los Angeles where she landed a movie contract and appeared in 24 films.
She was, however, credited in only three of them. She is remembered in some circles as a beautiful but silent waitress in Mildred Pierce (1945), as a jilted beauty in Douglas Sirk’s Lured (1947), and as the widow Mrs. Philips in the film noir D.O.A. (1950).
I admit, I’ve noticed for years that many postal items appear to be uncancelled. That is to say, the stamps appear to be non-cancelled. I chalked it up to some nifty “invisible” cancel, that the postal scanners would recognize, and kick any mailpiece that utilized a stamp already used. Too futuristic?
Well, that may not be the case. In my short time digging online, this discussion points more toward the stamps simply overlooked by the machinery. Now, if my miserly ways compelled me to break the law and reuse said postage (an act I would never consider), I assume the result would be another delivered missive.
Are the machines at fault? Is the postal volume too high for proper checks? COMMENTS WELCOME!