REDCAR – Post Office times for Christmas 1933 & Post Office Christmas Rush 1935

Accreditation Cleveland Standard 15/12/1933

Post Early for Christmas

REDCAR CHRISTMAS POSTAL
ARRANGEMENTS 1933

   It will be of interest to the public to note that the following are the local postal arrangements for the forthcoming Christmas season. On December 21 to 23 inclusive there will be three letter deliveries daily at 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3.30 p.m.
ON SUNDAY, DEC. 24, there will be one delivery of letters and parcels in the town and rural districts, and one collection from the letter boxes to connect with dispatch from head office at 6.15 p.m.
ON CHRISTMAS DAY there will be one delivery of letters and parcels in the town and rural districts. There will be no collection or dispatch from the head office. Early collections will be made from the rural districts, but correspondence will be retained at the Head Office for despatch on Tuesday 26.
ON BOXING DAY, December 26, there will be no delivery. There will however, be one dispatch. The town letter boxes will be cleared at 10 a.m. and the Head Office box at 6.15 p.m.
PUBLIC OFFICE. – The counter will be open from 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. on Christmas Day for the sale of postage stamps and acceptance of telegrams.
On December 26 the counter will be open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon for all classes of business.

Latest Time of Posting

   While every effort will be made to deliver by Christmas Day all parcels, packets and newspapers posted not later than the 22nd December, and letters and cards posted not later than mid-day on the 23rd of December, anything posted after these times unless for local delivery, is liable to be delayed until after Christmas.
The public are urged to post as large a portion as possible of their Christmas letters and parcels early in the day and well in advance of the prescribed times. An early purchase of stamps is also desirable.

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Accreditation Cleveland Standard 28/12/1935

Christmas Rush at
Post Office

SCENES IN REDCAR
CENTRE

25 Extra Men Employed

This week, the Post Office building in Cleveland Street has been the scene of the busiest postal rush in the history of Redcar. Though a large temporary staff have been engaged, because of the anticipated high pressure, the Post Office employees have been rushed off their feet, working hammer and tongs from the very early hours of the morning until late night, while other people made merry and enjoyed their Christmas

   Redcar Post Office staff have treated letters at a steady average flow of over 10,000 per hour. Scarcely a single house in Redcar has not been visited by a King’s servant, and bleary-eyed postmen are now thanking the fates that Christmas has ended. The customary exacting systems have had to be ignored for attempts have been made to clear out the letters and parcels as they came, yet nevertheless a steady efficiency has been observed and there have been few, if any, complaints. The new stamping machine, installed a few weeks ago, has proved its value and has scarcely been silent through the whole season.
Outgoing letters to practically every part of the world have passed through the machine and packages from foreign parts, bearing the stamps of the far reaching parts of the Empire, have been received. The Christmas rush has produced a terrific pressure on Redcar telegrams service.

CHRISTMAS HIGH PRESSURE

   When a reporter peeped into Redcar Post Office in the early hours of Christmas morning he observed a chaos which severely contrasted with the usual order and calmness. Employees from every department were brought into the sorting and stamping room, and though the letters, packages, and parcels were cleared at a commendable speed, the high piles of correspondence, parcels and seasonal good will in paper wrappings never seemed to decrease. It appeared as if the chaos could never be stilled. Cheaper telegrams and parcel post rates have made the Redcar Christmas postal presents the heaviest period on record, and from Saturday, the 21st to Tuesday, the 24th of December, Redcar people spent over £363 in stamps and over 17,000 postal orders were transacted over the Redcar counter.
The local arrangements for dealing with this abnormal traffic were adequate in every way. Clear dispatches were made daily and by late afternoon of Christmas Day every parcel, letter, and package had been dealt with. A motor van, supplied by the Cleveland Motor Company, had to be used to clear all parcels and packages from the town sub-offices, and Mr. Hargreaves provided several horses with lorries to take out parcels in the borough. From Saturday to the end of Christmas Day no less than 7,326 parcels were delivered in Redcar, and approximately 20,000 packages. The dispatch of parcel had numbered 372, while 321 were received. The dispatch of letter bags numbered 333, while 334 were received. The electric stamping machine left its mark on 100,299 small letters and about 20,000 large letters and packets – correspondence which would not pass through the machine – were posted in Redcar.

EXTRA POSTMEN

   Mr. H. A. Capon, the Redcar Postmaster wishes to commend the 25 extra men recruited from the ranks of the unemployed as temporary postmen “who,” he says “did excellent service.”
“I am confident that more willing workers could not have been found anywhere, and whilst trusting that a few days helped them to have a happy Christmas I hope that they will secure permanent work, which they deserve. As for my own staff at the Redcar Post Office after this trying period, I feel proud of them for their loyal co-operation and the efficient way in which they have carried out  my arrangements without which even the best plans can only be partially effective.”
The Redcar Postal Department had undoubtedly been the busiest concern in the borough this Christmas and those who have received their letters, parcels, and Christmas presents with such promptness and efficiency at such a trying time should be proud of the local postal service.
The Postmaster states that though the Christmas rush has broken all records he was really expecting it owing to the rapid improvement in local trade and abnormal growth of the Borough of Redcar. Because of its ribbon shape special continual collections were arranged throughout the borough and in many cases districts were treated with a greater and more efficient collecting service than in ordinary circumstances.
A church schoolroom adjacent to the Post office building, was transformed this Christmas into a hive of industry in order to cope with the heavy parcel transport. All this high pressure confirms the statement of Mr. Capon, published in the “Standard” a few weeks ago when he said that owing to the rapid strides Redcar was taking, a much larger building and further amenities would have to be granted to Redcar in future. Though the Christmas rush has surpassed any seasonal postal traffic in Redcar, next season will see the borough with a larger permanent Post Office staff, when it is hoped that increases will be made to all departments.

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