Would the Post Office really deliver a letter decades after postage like in Back To The Future?
Not that it ruins my enjoyment of the movie, but I'm curious about the scene in BTTF2, where a postman shows up in 1955 where the Doc had been blasted back to 1885 and gives Marty a letter that the Doc had posted 70 years earlier.
Would the Post Office would really agree to this? It seems like a very strange request - i.e. "Deliver this letter in 70 years to this location" which is not even an address, just somewhere on the side of the road which we can only assume exists in some form in 1885. It also seems logistically difficult, they'd have to keep the letter in a file somewhere through several generations of staff and still be sure that it was delivered at the appointed date. Do they have a system to do this kind of thing?
(The postman doesn't seem too surprised - he laughs it off, basically just saying he'd lost a bet.)
Best Answer
Maybe, but the Post Office wasn't involved.
The package wasn't delivered by the United States Postal Service, it was delivered by Western Union, a private company. Speaking as a former postal employee, I would expect the US Postal Service to lose the letter sometime in that 70 years. They may eventually find it... but find it and deliver it on time? Not likely.
As a private company, Western Union is more likely, willing, and able to deal with special/odd requests. They have more of a reputation to consider (the USPS is the government, and doesn't have to care, citizen). Furthermore, the package never actually left Hill Valley. While 70 years seems like a long time, it's entirely possible there only around half a dozen people (maybe even less) involved in caring for it. As indicated by the delivery man, whether or not Marty would be present became a running bet/joke at the office - people became emotionally invested in the mystery.
Pictures about "Would the Post Office really deliver a letter decades after postage like in Back To The Future?"
Would Western Union hold a letter for 70 years?
Western Union received a letter from Dr. Emmett Brown back on September 1, 1885, and were instructed to hold on to it for seventy years, and deliver it to the exact location of the future Lyon Estates at an exact time on November 12, 1955.Can you have a letter delivered in the future?
Future Mail customers simply fill out, address their cards, letters, or packages, and specify the date they want them delivered. These new companies will make it happen. One can even purchase gifts and flowers to be sent in the future.Why is mail delivery so slow?
The service is about to set longer delivery standards for first-class packages, in a move that its regulator says will not have a big effect on its finances. More of your mail is about to get slower. First it was letters and now some packages may take longer to arrive.What happens to your letter Once you post it?
Once that letter has been deposited into a collection box, a postal carrier removes all the mail from the box and takes it to the neighborhood post office.Journey of a Letter
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