Strikes

Labor unrest led to trolley strikes in several cities between 1890 and 1920. Strikes sometimes forced postmasters to find alternate ways to move the mail during the strife. Crowds often moved out of the way of the mail trolleys, having no complaint with the Post Office.

During the 1905 teamsters strike in Chicago a trolley car company painted their cars white, hoping that strikers would pause before attacking a car carrying the mail since that would make them liable to federal prosecution. The Post Office Department learned of the plan and put a stop to it.

Refer to caption
Strikers and rioters blocking trolleys in Cleveland, 1899.
Harper’s Weekly magazine
Refer to caption
Illustration of strikers and their supporters stopping a trolley car during the Brooklyn trolley strike in 1895.
Harper’s Weekly magazine
Refer to caption
An illustration of police guiding a mail trolley through strikers by Frederick Remington.
Harper’s Weekly magazine