By Sam Sedoryk, Museum Education Specialist
Imagine it’s Friday, December 22, 1939. It’s a cold morning, and the sun hasn’t even risen yet. You’re driving along County Rd 74, making your way east towards Windsor, when suddenly you see a glow on the horizon. You wait for the morning sun’s incandescent glow to hit your eyes, but then you realize it’s not the sun… but a fire! You stop to pull over, rushing out of your car to see that the local mail truck is ablaze!
Yes, this is the story of how Windsor’s mailboxes remained empty on Christmas morning in 1939. Three days before Christmas, star route mail carrier, Mrs. Peal Mauser, was making her way towards Windsor to deliver the mail when suddenly she was struck by another vehicle. Mauser’s car overturned several times and she was pinned under the mailbags. Earl Woodhead, owner of the other vehicle in the collision, assisted Mauser and safely rescued her.
Suddenly, the mail car caught fire. Luckily, local farmer, Joe Hoff, came to the rescue... not so much for Mr. Woodward and Mrs. Mauser, but for the mail! Heroically, he pried open the trunk of the mail car with a crowbar in hand, saving a couple of stacks of the Greeley mail before the fire reached the gas tank of the vehicle, causing it to explode.
Reports from the Windsor Beacon mention that a turkey was roasted in the fire, it is unclear if a turkey was hit by the car or if one was being delivered for a Christmas dinner.
There were twelve sacks of Christmas mail and four pouches of first-class mail known to have been lost in the fire. The only packages that survived the blaze were a Christmas play dish for a child and a shaving mug.
Unfortunately, all of Windsor’s first-class Christmas mail was destroyed. We will never know what holiday greetings and gifts were lost in those mail pouches set ablaze.