July 10, 2016

Happy Russian Mail Day


Happy Russian Mail Day

Happy Russian Mail Day!

For 20 years now Russians have been celebrating their mail service on the second Sunday in July (July 10 this year*), instead of on World Post Day (October 9), like the rest of the world.

Sure, Russia always likes to chart its own path, but in reality Day of Russian Mail, a tribute to at least eight centuries of mail delivery, is considerably more impressive than World Post Day, which this year marks merely the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Universal Postal Union.

Of course, eight centuries ago Russian mail delivery looked very different from today’s system. It was the Golden Horde’s idea to establish yam stations (a word of Turkish origin with no relation to the sweet potato) that functioned much like stations in England's stagecoach system. Before, a messenger carrying the personal message of any given ruler had to stop and wait for their horse to rest; now, locals had to provide horses and directions to the next station, which allowed for much clearer routes and faster service.

Postcard in honor of the St. Petersburg post office's 300-year anniversary

Under Peter the Great the mail started to look more familiar: the first organized mail service route was established to Archangelsk, mail could be sent to soldiers at war, and a separate government agency, the Yamskoy Prikaz, was established to oversee the yamschik drivers. St. Petersburg got its first central post office 300 years ago (1714), a few years after the country’s first central post office opened in Moscow. By the 1780’s, mail service had been merged with the yam system, and dedicated mail carriers appeared on city streets.

Russia's first postage stamp: 10 kopeks for a lot (unit of measure)
Commemorative stamps featuring Romanov rulers and related places

In 1844, 170 years ago, Russian mail switched to payment by weight instead of distance, which led to the introduction of stamps. One of Russians’ favorite stories to tell about the early postal service concerns the first stamp: the way it was told to me, the first design included an image of the reigning emperor, which caused a scandal. Canceling the stamp involved either stamping it or crossing it out – how could postal clerks be allowed to treat the emperor’s likeness with such disrespect! And this was why stamps didn’t catch on in Russia… The story is apocryphal, given that the first stamp (above, top), issued in 1857, did not feature an imperial portrait; however, the commemorative stamps issued for the 300th anniversary of Romanov rule (above, bottom) may have caused a bit of such outrage and given rise to this amusing anecdote.

Emblem of Russian mail delivery's modern incarnation, the Russian Post

Today, the Russian Post processes over 2 billion mail pieces per year, plus over 50 million parcels and 100 million money orders. These days, mail arrives by plane and by truck – gone is the era of yam stations and relay horses, but the modern service still continues a centuries-old tradition of delivering messages as best it can.

 

Image credit: inmoment.ru, peterstamps.ru, Wikimedia Commons

 

* The Russian Life calendar mistakenly labeled July 9th as this year’s Day of Russian Mail.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Frogs Who Begged...
November 01, 2010

Frogs Who Begged...

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955