Mail Hook

1914 – 1965

In a mail crane system, mailbags were hung from a crane at the station and released as a Railway Post Office car passed through. The mail clerk on the train prepared the mail hook or "catcher arm" to snatch the incoming mailbag from the crane. "Mail-on-the-fly" was not easy to master. If an exchange was missed, the clerk received demerits.

Steel, wood. H 140, W 160, D 9 cm
Steamtown National Historic Site, STEA 3292