Pigeon mail, an ancient method of carrying mail by pigeons or other birds, was used by the Greeks and Romans for military and civilian purposes. Although largely obsolete today, it was once a fashionable method of carrying mail, with some post offices and financial institutions maintaining a pigeon mail service. Pigeon mail had drawbacks, including the vulnerability of birds to predators, but it could be considered the earliest form of air mail. Pigeons are still used to carry messages in some remote regions of the world, keeping this ancient tradition alive.
Pigeon mail is mail carried by pigeons or other birds. The term is used both to refer to physical items of mail, and to the system used to transport them. While this type of postal system is largely obsolete today, it was at one point a very fashionable method of carrying mail. While the use of pigeons to carry mail was never widespread, friends sometimes sent mail by pigeon, as did people in the financial industry who wanted to get news across reasonably quickly.
The practice of using pigeons and birds to carry mail is ancient. Both the Greeks and Romans used pigeon mail to transmit information, and many pigeons worked in military service, carrying messages with orders for troops and other military material from place to place. In addition to pigeons, birds of prey were sometimes used for messages.
At various times in history, the popularity of the pigeon pole has waxed and waned. Successful communication during sieges and prolonged military campaigns sometimes led to a resurgence of interest, for example, with many governments maintaining fleets of messenger birds to carry state-critical information through the 1800s. Some post offices also maintained a pigeon mail service at one time, and was used to communicate between financial institutions with stock price information and other news of interest.
One pigeon even received military decorations during World War I after being shot down with a message. The unnamed bird survived long enough to carry the message to its final destination, receiving the Legion of Honor for his service. Most of the pigeon loft “employees” weren’t so heroic.
Pigeon mail had some serious drawbacks, of course. Generally, people used birds that were trained to return to a specific spot, so in order to send a message, someone had to have the right bird at hand. The birds were vulnerable to being scavenged or attacked by predators, with some authorities attaching bells to their birds to scare away would-be snackers. The use of birds of prey to carry mail sometimes solved this problem, although some birds of prey took advantage of their freedom to disappear without delivering their messages.
In a sense, pigeon mail could be considered the earliest form of air mail. Pigeons are still used to carry messages in some remote regions of the world where other postal options are not available and pigeon enthusiasts also keep birds for the purpose of sending messages to other enthusiasts, keeping this ancient tradition alive.
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