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

The Moscow Eccentric

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.
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.
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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

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. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
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. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

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