candywrapper:

“Only the Dead Letter Office had the authority to open letters which couldn’t seem to get delivered. Once opened, the contents of letters were considered sacred, so much so that the dead letter clerks were—and still are—forbidden to read any more of the communications than absolutely necessary to determine where the letters should go.”

I really really really want to go to the Smothsonian’s National Postal Museum to see the dead letter albums.

 Wow. What an interesting job.