2-358-702 - Keystone Archives/Heritage Images

The pneumatic mail tube, 1865. In the 19th century, pneumatic tubes were used to deliver mail within, or in some cases between, buildings by means of compressed air or a partial vacuum. In London, the Post Office set up a pneumatic tube system for telegraph messages in 1853. A pneumatic mail system was set up in New York in 1897 to transport mail in bulk between sorting offices. The system involved about 27 miles of tubes, and remained in use until 1953, by which time it was the last such system in operation.