With a vintage leather bag slung over his shoulder, old buttons on his jacket, and retro patches on his sleeve (along with his heart), Jimmy Lonetti makes the postal uniform cool again.
Thank you Paul and Jimmy! This is the best interview I have read in a while. I read it Wednesday morning and have been thinking about it since then. Great writing and great subject matter.
Very good interview. Really delivered! FWIW, my partner worked in vintage clothing for a long time. She thinks that the idea that vintage clothing tends to run small is not due to people being larger in general. Rather, it is because the smaller size items were less likely to be bought or worn, because few people could fit them. She is skeptical the mail carriers of yore were all ‘small, wiry’ guys. Instead the larger sizes were just worn, worn out and discarded.
This was so much fun to read, and the photos added a lot of context. I especially appreciated some of the insider info on how other postal employees treat uniforms.
Just a spectacular piece, Paul! I was looking forward to reading it based on the buildup, but it exceeded even my high expectations. Jimmy is a fascinating character, and your writing helps the endearing peculiarities of his personality shine through.
This was a great piece to read. And big thanks to Jimmy for all the awesome information, and for Getting It. Growing up, if we were out playing basketball in my driveway at the right time of day, our mailman, Don, would drop his satchel and play ball with us for a while. And Don had range almost out to the street!
Wow! What a great article. Thanks for sharing Paul. I’m sitting here reading this with a huge grin on my face and my family is laughing at me like I’m an idiot…clearly my family does not “Get It”.
Excellent article! Caught my attention at first because I have a postal worker in the family (that, unfortunately, does not Get It), but ended up taking me a couple hours to get through, because there were so many interesting bits to dig deeper into. Thanks Paul & Jimmy!
Great article! Brings back a lot of memories from the 60's. Our postman would pick up the mail at a relay box that was a couple of blocks from our house. He would then walk the route and I can remember his push cart had a leather satchel as part of it. I don't recall him wearing a leather satchel full of mail. Of course, back then he was in full uniform and even had the police style cap as part of it.
Loved this article! I am a federal government employee (not the USPS), but I would personally feel weird about wearing throwback stuff if it wasn’t ever appropriate to my tenure. Like, I would hold onto old stuff with the old logo, no problem, if I cared so much and if I had the seniority, but going way back to “literally before my time”...I don’t know, probably not for me. Anyway, thanks you two!
Such a great article. Jimmy seems like a true knockaround guy. No BS, just real...
February 4th is National Thank A Mail Carrier Day. Thank you Jimmy for your service and your style.
Thank you Paul and Jimmy! This is the best interview I have read in a while. I read it Wednesday morning and have been thinking about it since then. Great writing and great subject matter.
Very good interview. Really delivered! FWIW, my partner worked in vintage clothing for a long time. She thinks that the idea that vintage clothing tends to run small is not due to people being larger in general. Rather, it is because the smaller size items were less likely to be bought or worn, because few people could fit them. She is skeptical the mail carriers of yore were all ‘small, wiry’ guys. Instead the larger sizes were just worn, worn out and discarded.
This was so much fun to read, and the photos added a lot of context. I especially appreciated some of the insider info on how other postal employees treat uniforms.
Just a spectacular piece, Paul! I was looking forward to reading it based on the buildup, but it exceeded even my high expectations. Jimmy is a fascinating character, and your writing helps the endearing peculiarities of his personality shine through.
This was a great piece to read. And big thanks to Jimmy for all the awesome information, and for Getting It. Growing up, if we were out playing basketball in my driveway at the right time of day, our mailman, Don, would drop his satchel and play ball with us for a while. And Don had range almost out to the street!
LOVED the mailman article. Great stuff.
Wow! What a great article. Thanks for sharing Paul. I’m sitting here reading this with a huge grin on my face and my family is laughing at me like I’m an idiot…clearly my family does not “Get It”.
Excellent article! Caught my attention at first because I have a postal worker in the family (that, unfortunately, does not Get It), but ended up taking me a couple hours to get through, because there were so many interesting bits to dig deeper into. Thanks Paul & Jimmy!
This is one of my favorite articles you've ever written. Thanks!
This is one of the best Paul Lukas articles of all time. Thanks to Paul and to Jimmy Lonetti!
Another banger! Both of Jimmy's articles have been great. Thanks to you and he both, Paul!
One of your absolute best Paul!
Great article! Brings back a lot of memories from the 60's. Our postman would pick up the mail at a relay box that was a couple of blocks from our house. He would then walk the route and I can remember his push cart had a leather satchel as part of it. I don't recall him wearing a leather satchel full of mail. Of course, back then he was in full uniform and even had the police style cap as part of it.
Loved this article! I am a federal government employee (not the USPS), but I would personally feel weird about wearing throwback stuff if it wasn’t ever appropriate to my tenure. Like, I would hold onto old stuff with the old logo, no problem, if I cared so much and if I had the seniority, but going way back to “literally before my time”...I don’t know, probably not for me. Anyway, thanks you two!