conveyor

Postal Inspection Service viewing ports are marked in the photo. In those days, post offices included specifications for hidden back hallways with rubber padding on the floor. There was usually an exterior door. Inspectors would enter through the hidden door and surveil postal employees when needed or desired. The padding made it impossible to hear the inspectors walking around.

I think my pay was US$2.97/hour about this time.

"Lest the inexperienced think this would be a low-paid job few would want, it should be noted that the pay [for postal sorters] begins at $4.22 an hour and tops at $5.51 per hour."
— National City Star-News, 16 August 1973, page A-1.

Ralph S. Colonell was the Postmaster at the time this photo was taken. I can't find a photo of him. We don't know if he's one of these people.

"For use during the Christmas rush, the Post Office Department is offering this year a new 4-cent Christmas stamp for sale and is preparing for new postage rates starting January 7[, 1963]."
— From The Coronado Eagle circa 1962.

Reminds me of "Naming of the Parts," by Henry Reed.

Guess: this is a bidders' tour. People who are interested in bidding on whatever postal contract is being let attend this in order to construct costs and a timeline.

The wheeled conveyor parts look like something built by an aerospace company. Some public news articles suggest Pitney-Bowes and Lockheed were awarded contracts by the Postal Service over the years.

If you support this thing, you have a tough logistics problem.

How do you make all of this work with no bar codes and no optical character recognition?