With Parcel Post Service underway, letter carriers began to deliver all sorts of things in the mail. An industry quickly arose to offer farmers convenient packing boxes for their produce. These boxes were made especially for particular products - eggs, butter, or vegetables - or a combination of items.
A "farm-to-table" postal program enabled farmers to sell and ship directly to city dwellers via Parcel Post, bypassing delivery agents. Postmasters invited farmers to provide their names, addresses, and available produce. These lists were placed in city post office lobbies and newspaper advertisements. The US Department of Agriculture “Farmer's Bulletin” showed farmers how to arrange and pack produce to make it appealing to buyers. But farmers did not always pack their produce properly, and customers did not always pay promptly, and the farm-to-table program faded out of existence.
