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ballon-poste (postal air balloon)
The first French airmail was born at the time of the Commune and the siege of Paris. Since postal connections between Paris and the provinces were cut off, the photographer and balloon pilot Nadar suggested that mail be transported by air. On 23 September 1870, the Neptune was the first air ballon carrying mail bags to leave Paris and land three hours later a few kilometers from Evreux. From 23 September 1870 to 27 January 1871, there were 67 departures of which 56 officially carried mail.
brigadier-facteur (brigadier-postman)
A rank created in 1843 and supervised by the departmental inspector. The brigadier-postman was responsible for supervising rural and postmen on their rounds.
bureaux ambulants (itinerant offices)/ "courrier-convoyeur" (mail conveyor)
The first "itinerant postal office" service was established in 1845 on the Paris-Rouen line. Mail was sorted on the train cars as it was being transported. In a few years time, the speed of postal transportation was doubled, which gradually lead to the demise of the equestrian mail (the "Poste à chevaux") and coach mail ("Malles-Poste") (1873). In 1913 this service reached full operation with 4,235 agents, 175 separate services, and 681 postal rail cars and barges. This marked the beginning of an itinerant service that was managed by a single agent assigned to escort mailbags. A few years later, the same agent was responsible for sorting letters received at train stations.