Rural Federal Delivery

Rural Federal Delivery (RFD) service originated in the United States in 1896 to deliver mail directly to farm families living in remote locations. For 33 years prior, free mail delivery was only available in large cities, forcing rural dwellers to travel to distant post offices to pick up their mail or pay private express companies to bring it to them. RFD service began with five routes in West Virginia and quickly expanded across the country after Post Office officials announced that any farmer could have free delivery merely by sending a petition to his or her congressman. By 1905, the Post Office was serving 32,000 RFD routes. Supplemented by Parcel Post in 1913, the RFD system delivered magazines and mail-order catalogs, and with them, contemporary thought and fashion trends to rural America.