Editing Pneumatic tube (section)

===In postal service{{Anchor|Pneumatic post|Pneumatic mail}}===
[[File:Ganzsache Rohrpostbrief Deutsches Reich RU5.jpg|thumb|right|Pneumatic tube letter from Berlin, Germany, 1904]]
'''Pneumatic post''' or '''pneumatic mail''' is a system to deliver letters through pressurized air tubes. It was invented by the Scottish engineer [[William Murdoch]] in the 19th century and was later developed by the [[London Pneumatic Despatch Company]]. Pneumatic post systems were used in several large cities starting in the second half of the 19th century (including an 1866 London system powerful and large enough to transport humans during trial runs – though not intended for that purpose),<ref>{{cite news |author=Ian Steadman |title=London's Victorian Hyperloop: the forgotten pneumatic railway beneath the capital's streets |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/future-proof/2013/12/londons-victorian-hyperloop-forgotten-pneumatic-railway-beneath-capitals-street |newspaper=[[New Statesman]] |location=England |date=18 December 2013 |access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref>  but later were largely abandoned.

A major network of tubes in [[Paris]] (the [[Paris pneumatic post]]) was in use until 1984, when it was abandoned in favor of computers and fax machines. The [[Prague pneumatic post]] commenced for the public in 1889 in [[Prague]], now in the [[Czech Republic]], and the network extended approximately {{convert|60|km}}.

Pneumatic post stations usually connect post offices, stock exchanges, banks and ministries. Italy was the only country to issue [[postage stamp]]s (between 1913 and 1966) specifically for pneumatic post. Austria, France, and Germany issued [[postal stationery]] for pneumatic use.

Typical applications are in [[bank]]s, [[hospital]]s, and [[supermarket]]s. Many large retailers used pneumatic tubes to transport cheques or other documents from cashiers to the accounting office.

; Historical use
* 1853: linking the London Stock Exchange to the city's main telegraph station (a distance of {{convert|220|yd|m}} )
* 1861: in London with the [[London Pneumatic Despatch Company]] providing services from [[Euston railway station]] to the [[General Post Office]] and [[Holborn]]
* 1864: in [[Liverpool]] connecting the ''Electric and International Telegraph Company'' telegraph stations in Castle Street, Water Street, and the Exchange Buildings<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Pneumatic Despatch Principle in Liverpool |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/18640430/029/0010
 |newspaper=[[Sheffield Daily Telegraph]] |location=England |date=30 April 1864 |access-date=14 February 2016 |via = [[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 1864: in [[Manchester]] to connect the ''Electric and International Telegraph Company'' central offices at York Street, with branch offices at Dulcie Buildings and Mosley Street<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Pneumatics applied to Telegraphy |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001102/18641213/073/0003
 |newspaper=Cumberland and Westmorland Advertiser, and Penrith Literary Chronicle |location=England |date=13 December 1864 |access-date=14 February 2016 |via = [[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 1865: in [[Birmingham]], installed by the ''Electric and International Telegraph Company'' between the New Exchange Buildings in Stephenson Place and their branch office in Temple Buildings, New Street.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Pneumatic Desptach System |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000667/18650301/086/0003
|newspaper=[[Birmingham Daily Gazette]] |location=England |date=1 March 1865 |access-date=14 February 2016 |via = [[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 1865: in Berlin (until 1976), the [[Rohrpost in Berlin|''Rohrpost'']], a system 400 kilometers in total length at its peak in 1940
* 1866: in Paris (until 1984, 467 kilometers in total length from 1934). [[John Steinbeck]] mentioned this system in ''[[The Short Reign of Pippin IV]]: A Fabrication'': "You pay no attention to the pneumatique."
* 1871: in [[Dublin]]<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Postal Telegraph in Ireland |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001317/18710223/045/0004
|newspaper=[[Clare Journal]], and Ennis Advertiser |location=Ireland |date=23 February 1871 |access-date=14 February 2016 |via = [[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 1875: in Vienna (until 1956) - including the unrealised corpse network of Zentralfriedhof<ref>{{cite web |last1=Austrian Philatelic Society |title=The Vienna Pneumatic Post |url=https://austrianphilately.com/rohrpost/index.htm |website=austrianphilately.com |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>
* 1887: in Prague (until 2002 due to flooding), the [[Prague pneumatic post]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cz.o2.com/osobni/en/3020-o_cem_se_mluvi/105997-potrubni_posta.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109235952/http://www.cz.o2.com/osobni/en/3020-o_cem_se_mluvi/105997-potrubni_posta.html|archive-date=2010-01-09|title=Prague's pneumatic post|date=2002|work=Telefónica O2 Czech Republic|access-date=12 February 2010}}</ref>
* 1893: the first North American system was established in [[Philadelphia]] by [[Postmaster General]] [[John Wanamaker]], who had previously employed the technology at his [[John Wanamaker's|department store]]. The system, which initially connected the downtown post offices, was later extended to the principal railroad stations, the stock exchanges, and many private businesses. It was operated by the [[United States Post Office Department]] which later opened similar systems in cities such as [[New York pneumatic tube mail|New York]] (connecting [[Brooklyn]] and [[Manhattan]]), [[Chicago]], [[Boston]], and [[St. Louis]]. The last of these closed in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pneumatic Philadelphia|last1=Kyriakodis|first1=Harry|url=http://hiddencityphila.org/2014/04/pneumatic-philadelphia/|website=Hidden City Philadelphia|date=11 April 2014 }}</ref>
* Other cities: Munich, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Hamburg, Rome, Naples, Milan, Marseille, Melbourne, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bush|first1=Charles|title=Letters in a Tube: the Rise and Demise of Pneumatic Mail|journal=History Magazine|date=April 2017|volume=18|issue=4|page=33}}</ref> Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Bern, Basel 
<ref name="Delucchi2020">{{cite book | author = Rachele Delucchi | date = 2020 | title = Nischenangelegenheit - Zur Geschichte der Stadtrohrpost in der Schweiz (ca. 1920-1927)| publisher = ETH Zürich |location=Zürich | url = https://www.tg.ethz.ch/fileadmin/redaktion/dokumente/Produkte/Preprints_Delucchi_34.pdf}}</ref>
* 1950s-1989: [[CIA headquarters]] (now known as the Old Headquarters Building)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/pneumatic-tube.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091026171344/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/pneumatic-tube.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = October 26, 2009| title = Artifacts: Pneumatic-Tube Carrier |publisher=[[CIA Museum|The CIA Museum]]}}</ref>