part (postal travel diary)

A statistical document used to check on or verify service, the "part" was utilized by employees at different levels in various branches of service (mail deliverers, traveling sorters or clerks). A tool used for accuracy, checking off, and counting.

petite Poste (de Paris) (the little mail of Paris)

In 1653, people living in Paris could correspond with others in the provinces or abroad but faced the paradox of not being able to write to each other within the capital city; a letter (unless it were official business) could not be carried from once neighborhood to another. On 17 July of the same year, a decree issued by Louis XIV authorized Reynouard de Villayer, a rapporteur, to solve this problem and establish the "petite poste" in Paris. Postage for these letters was required in advance in the form of a postage paid receipt valued at one sol. The career of the Petite Poste did not conform to its anticipated success and it was almost immediately discontinued. The concept was renewed by Piarron de Chamousset, an adviser to the Chambre des Comptes in 1759; in that year Louis XV authorized him to create a separate post office for Paris. Other large cities soon imitated Paris. Having met with mixed results, in 1780 the group of urban post offices would be absorbed by the Postal Lease Farm who reimbursed their owners.

poste aérienne (air mail)

Responsible for transporting mail by plane, this service was created by the postal administration in 1918 to meet the needs of the American army.
A single line, inaugurated by minister Etienne Clmentel on 17 August 1918, was opened: Paris-Le Mans-Saint-Nazaire. After completing 158 transport operations, the line ceased operations after the American army had left.
Men and materials were assigned to the Paris-Lille and Paris-Brussels lines.

poste aux armées / service de la Poste aux armées (armed forces mail / army postal service)

In connection with the French and foreign civil postal administrations and, if necessary, with military and international postal organizations, this service was responsible for performing the following tasks:
- depositing, carrying, and distributing all mail to and from armies,
- telegraph and financial postal services (including savings) authorized for army use,
- treasury operations in areas or garrisons lacking army disbursements officers,
- postal service to military personnel stationed abroad, in keeping with international agreements.

poste maritime (maritime or sea mail)

In the 18th century, sea captains were entrusted with the transportation of correspondence. The first attempt at regular service was begun (with no follow up) between France and the Antilles in 1763. In 1777, Loliot tried to organize a distribution service for letters from overseas arriving in Bordeaux and Nantes. After the Revolutionary War, regular mail service by ship between France and the United States was organized between 1784 and 1788. With the advent of travel by steam ship, mail steamers operated by the state took the place of the slower, less reliable masted ships. In 1830, the new mode of carrying the mail, which was also set up to take passengers on board, began operations connecting Toulon and Bastia and Toulon and Ajaccio, as well as Calais and Dover. One of the two ships, the Napolon, was the first propellor ship to be used by the postal service. In 1857 another line connected France and the American continent. However, the new method of transportation soon showed a deficit that forced the privatization of the major lines. Service was then turned over to the largest maritime companies: the Compagnie des Messageries maritimes, founded in 1851, and the Compagnie générale transatlantique. The French maritime mail was created during the Third Republic, at which time its relations with its colonies and the major industrialized nations of the world continued to grow. After the Second World War, air mail competed more and more with sea mail. Passengers traveled more and more often by plane, and letters followed suit.

poste restante

Created in 1886, this service allowed a person to pick up his or her mail at the window of a post office, besides home delivery.

postillon (coachman / postilion)

Employed by the postal station master, the postilion was responsible for accompanying and guiding passengers and/or letter mail couriers from one relay station to another, on horseback or by coach.