In message , at 20:36:47 on
Wed, 12 Mar 2014, Peter Masson
remarked:
How it used to be:
When my grandparents were courting, before WW1, my grandfather was in
the Army, and didn't know until during the morning whether he'd be free
to meet my grandmother that evening - so he'd send her a postcard which
would be delivered during the afternoon. This was in Cork.

In London in the 40's you could post a letter in the morning informing
someone you'd be round for afternoon tea. By the 70's you could still
post a letter at 9pm in a town in the Southeast and expect it to be
delivered to someone in another town by 8am.
--
Roland Perry