14 Of The Most Famous Postal Workers! (full List)

This post office has more than 644,000 employees. It’s not surprising, that some famous faces have graced the post office and delivery trucks over the years.

The USPS polo shirt is the uniform of choice for celebrities, especially those who have a lot of time to play with. Whether they made a big name for themselves or are just starting out, we’re here to tell you which celebs have been rocking the USPS shirt.

Famous Postal Workers In 2022

The U.S. Postal Service is famous for many reasons. First of all, it is the only federal government agency still operated by letter carriers. Secondly, it is a well-known and respected agency that helps Americans communicate, shop, earn money, and get jobs. However, it is one of the smallest government agencies and faces tough competition from other industries.

If you want to learn all about the good (and bad) things of these celebrities and how they got there, be sure to check out this article!

1. Benjamin Franklin (Postmaster General, 1775 –1776)

It’s kind of hard to think that the guy that invented electricity wouldn’t come up with a way to get it to run faster or further.

He invented the Post Office and as a statesman, helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

In 1753, Franklin was appointed joint Postmaster General of the colonies in America, and in 1774, he appointed the first American Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin Jr.

He used the British postal system for one of his most influential accomplishments in the Revolutionary War. He was able to use it to communicate with Gen. George Washington and other leaders of the movement without the British knowing about it.

Franklin’s tenure as Postmaster General was considered one of the more successful in American history.

2. Abraham Lincoln (Postmaster, New Salem, IL; 1833 – 1836)

Abe Lincoln was appointed postmaster on March 4, 1832 and held the position until April 15, 1865, when he became president.

When Lincoln first became President, he personally brought in letters to Post Office employees so they could be delivered on time and avoid getting lost within the mail system.

Lincoln owned a store in the West End that included many other businesses. When he closed the doors for the last time, he took with him a remaining balance of $16.

When he found out that the bank had closed, Lincoln refused to take any of the money. Instead, he went to a post office and mailed the entire $5,000 back to the bank on his own nickel.

But the people who had lent Lincoln his money were more than happy to see their money back and decided to give him another loan, this time for $1,000.

3. John Brown (Postmaster, Randolph, PA; 1828 – 1835)

John Brown helped establish a Post Office in Randolph, Pennsylvania. He was the first Postmaster of the Randolph, Pennsylvania location.

He was chosen to replace John Sevier when Sevier decided not to seek re-election in 1830.

When Sevier died in 1833, he was replaced by William Smith as the state’s governor.

In addition to his postal duties, Brown also transported mail from Meadville, Pennsylvania to Riceville, Pennsylvania.

4. Conrad Hilton (Postmaster, San Antonio, NM; 1910–1911)

Hilton got his start in the U.S. Postal Service, and then came to New York where he worked as a stockbroker and managed a number of hotels in Manhattan.

5. Bing Crosby (Substitute and regular clerk, Spokane, WA; 1921)

Bing Crosby had his voice for over 50 years and entertained thousands of fans with his songs, crooning and more.

When he got there, Crosby started as a substitute clerk and worked his way up to work for the government.

The United States Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in 2004 to honor the life of Crosby.

6. Walt Disney (Substitute carrier, Chicago, IL, and Christmas temporary, Kansas City, MO; 1918, 1919)

He is an American artist whose works are widely regarded as a milestone in the history of American art.

At that time, Disney was a film student at the Chouinard Art Institute.

Walt was rejected because he was too young, but his parents helped him look older and he got the job.
So, it’s an example of an explanation that was accepted because of the word play.

After quitting the Postal Service, he worked for a small mail-processing company and had to take a lot of late-night trips to various cities with heavy loads of mail.

He stayed in the Postal Service because he was afraid of getting fired at the art job. He got fired by the art job he went to. When he got back to the post office, he couldn’t take a job because he was afraid his art might get discovered.

Disney created the “Mickey Mouse Club” and won a million dollars for that effort.

7. William Faulkner (Acting Postmaster and Postmaster, University, MS; 1921–1924)

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letters to Zelda included a lot of whining, and a ‘Dear Scott’ he once wrote to Zelda was so long it was written on a separate piece of paper.

John D. Rockefeller began working at the University of Mississippi as a Postmaster in 1922 and he quickly found the job boring, tedious, and uninspiring.

He didn’t feel that it was a serious job and it was difficult to do a serious job while drinking and playing cards.

He kept the Post Office open when nobody had any mail for him so that he could throw away a letter for himself, and closed it when he did have mail.

While the Postal Service has officially given Faulkner a $0.22 stamp, that’s just a fraction of the $21.42 he made working at the facility from 1973 to 1987.

8. Sherman Hemsley (Clerk, Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY; 1960s)

Before playing George Jefferson, Hemsley began his acting career doing post office work.

He took the stage in NYC and built a reputation with his unique style of delivery.

9. Rock Hudson (Substitute letter carrier, Winnetka, IL; circa 1947)

Rock Hudson made a fortune in Hollywood, but had to work for the post office before he started earning millions.

10. Charles Lindbergh (Airmail pilot; 1926–1927)

One of the greatest pilots in history, Charles Lindbergh, flew airmail for one year.

It was an impressive statistic for sure, but even more impressive when you consider that flying in the mid-twenties was hardly a reliable means of transportation.

11. Richard Wright (Substitute clerk, Chicago, IL; 1929 –1932

In the 1940s, Wright joined the New York Post Office after being trained as a postal clerk, and he worked there for the rest of his life.

Postal service honored Wright with a dollar bill issued in 2009.

12. Charles Bukowski (Clerk Los Angeles, CA; 1950s – 60s)

Charles Bukowski became a Postal Service worker for a long time and wrote many short stories, poems and essays.

In the early fifties, he was a substitute mail carrier, but he worked as a mail clerk most of the sixties.

He finally left in 1969 to dedicate his time to writing after receiving an offer from a publisher.

When you put it into context, you can easily see the two sentences should be the same.

The story of Post Office is about a character who finds himself working as a postal worker. He soon quits the job and ends up in the mail room. The novel was first published in 1973.

13. Steve Carrell (Rural letter carrier, Littleton, MA; 1985)

Steve Carrell is a comedian and actor. He spent some time as a mail carrier in the state of Massachusetts.

Carrell was terrible at getting up and running at a race. It made him lose his mail underneath the seats of the car. He’s also called the position the hardest job he’s ever had.

14. Harry Truman (Postmaster, Grandview, MO; 1914–1915)

During the Truman administration, the postmaster position was officially held by Harry S. Truman, but he didn’t do any of the work in the office so that someone else could take over.

Rather, he used the position to help a widow, Ella Hall, and he used the position to help his sister, Catherine.

To learn more, you can also read our posts on USPS 1583 form, What is USPS informed delivery, and is it easy to get a job at the US Mail.

Conclusion

The USPS has had its share of famous postal workers over the years. Famous people from the past and present that worked there include President George Bush, President Bill Clinton, President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson, President Jimmy Carter, author James Fenimore Cooper, playwright George Bernard Shaw, director/writer William Shakespeare, actor/author Sir David Harum, actress/author Bette Davis, singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and actress/author Gloria Swanson, just to name a few.