Do-It-Yourself Mail Sorter

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Rural letter carrier's handmade sorting bag

To deliver the mail as quickly as possible, mail carriers always make sure that their daily mail is organized by the order in which they deliver the mail. Carriers "cased," or sorted the day's mail into pigeon hole racks each morning before heading out.

One Rural Free Delivery carrier took that sorting process a step further. He created this unique hand-sown cloth bag. It is divided into pockets labeled with the names of patrons on his route. Each morning he folded the bag up with the first house's mail on the top. As he moved from house to house, he unwrapped the bag to reveal the next pocket.