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| {{about|the postal facility|the album by R.E.M.|Dead Letter Office (album)|the film|Dead Letter Office (film)}} | |||
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| ]; September 1922]] | |||
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| A '''dead letter office''' ('''DLO''') is a facility within a ] where ] is processed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Patrick|first1=Douglas & Mary|title=The Musson Stamp Dictionary|date=1973|publisher=Musson Book Company|location=]|isbn=0773700064|page=|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mussonstampdicti00doug/page/64}}</ref> Mail is considered to be undeliverable when the address is invalid so it cannot be delivered to the addressee, and there is no ] so it cannot be returned to the sender. | |||
| At a DLO, mail is usually opened to try to find an address to forward to. If an address is found, the envelope is usually sealed using tape or postal seals, or enclosed in plastic bags and delivered.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hirn|first1=Todd A.|title=Officially Sealed Mails of the World|url=http://www.poseal.com/|website=poseal.com|accessdate=21 March 2015}}</ref> If the letter or parcel is still undeliverable, valuable items are then auctioned off while the correspondence is usually destroyed. Despite this practice, in the past some undeliverable envelopes were acquired by ].<ref name=linns>{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Rick|title=Dead letter office gave rise to official seals|url=http://www.linns.com/insights/stamp-collecting-basics/2005/july/dead-letter-office-gave-rise-to-official-seals.html|website=Linns.com|accessdate=21 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| Dead letter offices go by different names in different countries. Other names include '''returned letter office''' or '''undeliverable mail office'''. | |||
| == By country == | |||
| ===Canada=== | |||
| ] sends mail which is not deliverable to the Undeliverable Mail Office (NUMO) at ], ],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lu|first1=Vanessa|title=Ever lose anything in the mail? Here's where it all ends up|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2011/09/29/ever_lose_anything_in_the_mail_heres_where_it_all_ends_up.html|website=Toronto Star|accessdate=28 August 2012|date=29 September 2011}}</ref> or ]. Domestic mail which is still undeliverable after passing through NUMO is then destroyed, while incoming international undeliverable mail is returned to the country of origin.<ref name=linns/> | |||
| ===Malta=== | |||
| In Malta, undeliverable mail was sorted in the General Post Office in ]. The facility was initially known as ''Returned Letter Branch'', but later on it was also referred to as ''Returned Letter Office'' or ''Dead Letter Office''. Various postal markings were used at the facility from 1889 onwards.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Proud|first1=Edward B.|title=The Postal History of Malta|date=1999|publisher=Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd.|location=]|isbn=1872465315|page=250}}</ref> | |||
| ===United Kingdom=== | |||
| A Dead Letter Office was first established in 1784 for dead and missent letters that had reached London. The bye-letter offices dealt with bye-letters and those that did not go to London. No postage was charged for returns, which were made after six months, where an addressee was found. From 1790 a charge was made for returned letter but the time was reduced to two months by ]. Upon hearing of the return charge ] rescinded the charge.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joyce |first=Herbert |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The History of the Post Office from its establishment down to 1836 |publisher=Richard Bentley & Sons |date=1893 |location=London |pages=307–308 |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofpostoff00joycrich#page/308/mode/1up }}</ref> | |||
| In the UK, undeliverable mail is processed in the National Returns Centre in ]<ref>{{cite web |title=What happens next when we can't deliver your mail |publisher=] |year=2015 |url=https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5293 |accessdate=22 March 2015 }}</ref> which holds 20 million undeliverable items,<ref>{{cite web |last=Mayll |first=Steve |title=The lost post: Secrets of the warehouse where 20 MILLION undelivered items have ended up |work=UK News |publisher=] |date=13 February 2013 |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/royal-mail-national-returns-centre-1713249 |accessdate=22 March 2015 }}</ref> or in a smaller office in ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mann|first1=Natasha|title=People send the funniest things|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/27/post.features11|website=The Guardian|accessdate=21 March 2015|date=27 January 2003}}</ref> | |||
| ===United States=== | |||
| The ], as it was known then, started a dead letter office in 1825 to deal with undeliverable mail. By 1893, it handled about 20,000 items every day.<ref name=linns/> In 2006 approximately 90 million undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) items ended up in the dead-letter office of the U.S. Postal Service; when the rightful owners cannot be identified, the correspondence is destroyed to protect customer privacy, and enclosed items of value are removed.<ref name="usps-mrc">{{cite web|title=2006 Comprehensive Statement |publisher=] |year=2006 |url=http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs06/chp2_005.html |accessdate=25 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509190637/https://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs06/chp2_005.html |archivedate=9 May 2009 }}</ref> Items of value that cannot be returned are sold at auction, except for pornography and firearms. The auctions also occasionally include items seized by postal inspectors and property being retired from postal service.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} | |||
| These facilities are now known as mail recovery centers (MRC). Other former names include ''dead letter branch'' and ''dead parcel branch''. The USPS mail recovery center is located in ]. Since April 2013, the postal auctions have been held online and include not only material lost in the U.S. but also material from other national postal authorities who consign them to the USPS for auction.<ref>{{cite news |last=Malloy |first=Daniel |title=Post Office moving Atlanta unclaimed mail auction online |publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=7 March 2013 |url=http://www.ajc.com/news/news/post-office-moving-atlanta-unclaimed-mail-auction-/nWkQs/ |accessdate=30 December 2013 }}</ref> | |||
| ==In popular culture== | |||
| <!-- PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY CULTURAL REFERENCES WITHOUT PROVIDING VERIFIABLE CITATIONS --> | |||
| *The rock band ] released a compilation of B-sides and rarities entitled '']''. | |||
| *In the 1947 film '']'', two mail sorters handle a letter addressed to "]" at the ] courthouse, and decide to deliver all the ] mail now in the dead letter office to the courthouse, where a man calling himself Kris Kringle is facing a mental competency hearing. The man's ] uses the huge volume of mail as evidence that the federal government recognizes his client as "the one-and-only Santa Claus."<ref>{{cite web |last=Carr |first=Kevin |title=Could the U.S. Post Office Really Help Prove Santa Exists, Like in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’? |work= |publisher=Film School Rejects |date=16 December 2013 |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/could-the-u-s-post-office-really-help-prove-santa-exists-like-in-miracle-on-34th-street-773159488846 |accessdate=21 May 2014 }}</ref> | |||
| *Horror writer Clive Barker's book '']'' features segments centered on the dead letter office at ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Complete Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show |publisher=Literal Remains |date=8 September 2010 |url=http://www.literalremains.com/the-complete-clive-barkers-the-great-and-secret-show/ |accessdate=21 May 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521152618/http://www.literalremains.com/the-complete-clive-barkers-the-great-and-secret-show/ |archivedate=21 May 2014 }}</ref> | |||
| *In '']'' episode "]", ] visits their local Post Office and are treated to a piece of undeliverable mail from the dead letter office as a ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Script - Sunday, Cruddy Sunday |url=http://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/AABF08 |accessdate=17 July 2014 }}</ref> | |||
| *In the 1996 comedy film '']'', a character played by ], who works in the dead letter office at Los Angeles, California, responds to letters written to ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |title=Movie Review: Dear God (1996) Where Do Dead Letters Go? Heaven |publisher=New York Times |date=1 November 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B07E7DA1139F932A35752C1A960958260 |accessdate=21 May 2014 }}</ref> | |||
| *The 2014 television series '']'' takes place in a fictional dead letter office in Denver, Colorado<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2013/07/02/martha-williamson-begins-a-highly-anticipated-return-to-television-with-dead-letters-working-title-a-hallmark-channel-original-movie-of-the-week-and-potential-new-primetime-series-936215/20130702hallmark01/|title=Martha Williamson Begins a Highly Anticipated Return to Television with "Dead Letters," (Working Title) a Hallmark Channel Original Movie of the Week and Potential New Primetime Series|work=The Futon Critic|date=July 2, 2013|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| *]'s ] novel '']'' takes place in a post office. At one point, Moist von Lipwig, the novel's protagonist, takes it upon himself to track down the intended recipients of as many dead letters as possible.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} | |||
| *The '']'' episode "The Male in the Mail" (season 7, episode 4) featured a decomposed body turning up at the dead letter office in Washington D.C.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Male in the Mail |publisher=TV.com |date=1 December 2011 |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/bones/the-male-in-the-mail-1561025/ |accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
| *In ] short story "]", it is suggested that Bartleby had been employed as a clerk in the "Dead Letter Office at Washington."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bartleby and Benito Cereno|last=Melville|first=Herman|publisher=Dover Thrift Editions|year=1990|isbn=9780486264738|location=New York|pages=34}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{NSRW Poster|Dead-Letter Office}} | |||
| * Smithsonian Arago — People, Postage and the Post | |||
| * ] | |||
| * "" ('']'' magazine, July 2000) | |||
| * ] | |||
| * | |||
| ] | ] | ||
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