THE CUTLER 
 MAIL CHUTE 
 
 THE MODERN METHOD 
 OF POSTING LETTERS IN 
 THE UPPER STORIES OF 
 $ $ BUILDINGS <5> $ $ 
 
 Manufactured and Installed under 
 the Cutler Patents solely by the 
 
 CUTLER MAIL CHUTE CO. 
 
 ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
 
 U. S. A. 
 
 Copyright I c >!7 by the Cutter Mail Chute Co. 
 
FACTORY OF THE CUTLER MAIL CHUTE CO. AT ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
 
 Designed, built and equipped exclusively for 
 the manufacture of the Cutler Mail Chute 
 
 GENERAL EXTERIOR VIEW 
 
 INTERIOR MAIN SHOP 
 
 Plating, Japanning, Sandblasting, Stock Rooms, Etc., not shown 
 
 Page Two 
 
The Cutler Mail Chute 
 
 Historical 
 
 HE modern method of mailing letters from the 
 upper stories of buildings was introduced in the 
 United States in 1883 by the original inventors 
 and patentees, the Cutler Manufacturing Co., and 
 from modest beginnings the business of manufac¬ 
 turing and installing the Cutler Mail Chute under the Cutler 
 Series of Patents has become a well-known and important Amer¬ 
 ican industry. In 1884 four of these Mail Chutes were 
 installed; at the present time there is no office building 
 or hotel of any consequence in the United States which is not 
 equipped with this modern convenience, and it is also in use 
 in public buildings, apartment houses, hospitals, colleges, indeed 
 buildings of every class in which mail originates in the upper stories. 
 
 For a number of years the United States Post Office authori¬ 
 ties did not recognize the Mail Chute, and letters deposited in 
 it received no attention until they had reached the 
 Mail Box in the ground story. Blockades, if they 
 occurred, were cleared by an attendant of the build¬ 
 ing, and the words “U. S. Mail" were not allowed to appear 
 upon the Chute in the upper stories. 
 
 At the present time, however, the Cutler Mail Chute is made 
 under authority of the Post Office Department, and installed 
 with the approval of the local Postmaster. The work finished, 
 the Government lock applied, and the collection service begun 
 the equipment becomes a part of the Postal System under the 
 care and custody of the Post Office Department and Letters 
 deposited in the Chute are considered legally “mailed". 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that the Mail Chute, provided 
 for the use of the public, should be of the best possible design and 
 
 Post Office 
 Recognition 
 
 Page Three 
 
Importance of 
 Protection and 
 Proper Design 
 and Construc¬ 
 tion 
 
 construction. Moreover it can be installed only with 
 official authority and under the protection of such 
 laws as protect other appliances used 
 in handling the mails. A person hav¬ 
 ing a letter to post, deposits it in a 
 street letter box without a thought as 
 to whether that particular Box is au¬ 
 thorized by the postal authorities or not. He knows 
 that no street boxes exist that are not so authorized. 
 It is obvious that a person, in an upper story of a 
 building, having a letter to mail must also be assured 
 that the Mail Chute provided is of proper design 
 and construction to insure successful operation, and 
 is installed by authority of the Post Office Depart¬ 
 ment, and under proper protection. For this reason, 
 Regulations governing the construction and location 
 
 of Mail Chutes are issued 
 by the U. S. Post Office 
 Department and strictly 
 enforced. 
 
 U. S. Mail Box. design No. 1165. 
 Furnished with standard equip¬ 
 ment. 
 
 Although the Cutler 
 Mail Chute is designed and 
 made so as 
 to offer no 
 obstruction 
 to mail de¬ 
 posited in it, blockades are 
 bound to occur occasional¬ 
 ly through misuse or abuse; 
 the introduction of folded 
 pamphlets or other bulky 
 objects, etc. To safeguard 
 
 mail that may Afuii story Model F 
 
 . . type showing finish 
 
 be Caught in at floor and ceiling. 
 
 Accessibility 
 to Authorized 
 Persons Re- 
 q uired 
 
 Page Four 
 
such blockades and yet allow it to be quickly and 
 easily removed by an authorized person, it is re¬ 
 quired by the U. S. Post Office Department that 
 all Mail Chutes shall be made so that the interior 
 is quickly and easily accessible to such persons 
 but not to others. To meet this requirement, the 
 Cutler Mail Chute is made with its entire front in 
 the form of plate glass panels, any two of which 
 are released by the turn of a key, and 
 can then be removed and replaced 
 without the use of tools or the exercise 
 
 of mechanical skill. 
 
 To persons unfamil¬ 
 iar with the modern 
 
 Value of method of 
 Man Chute mailing 
 
 letters, it is difficult to 
 explain the value and 
 importance of the 
 Cutler Mail Chute, but 
 
 when it is remembered Detail showine Model F ‘yp e 
 
 unlocked with panels released 
 
 that the Postal Seivice, and lower one removed. 
 
 which will move a letter 
 
 in any other direction, has no other method 
 for bringing it down stairs and that a large pro¬ 
 portion of mail originates in the upper stories 
 of buildings, it will be seen that the Cutler Mail 
 Chute forms a very important link in the Postal 
 Service. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that a postage stamp 
 that will carry a letter half way around the 
 Detailshowing Model f world on the ground level will not move that 
 
 with panels closed and _ ...... 
 
 locked, inscription and letter an inch in an upper story of a building 
 
 insignia as used in # # 
 
 Argentina. not equipped with the Cutler Mail Chute. 1 he 
 
MAIL 
 
 ; & sjhix m 
 
 mmm 
 
 Stock U. S. Mail Box design 
 No. 2400 showing special in¬ 
 scription for buildings in 
 Sydney, Australia. 
 
 stamp under such conditions is worthless for this pur¬ 
 pose. Install this modern convenience and the stamp 
 begins its. activities immediately outside the letter- 
 writer’s door. The Cutler Mail Chute, then, plays 
 just as much part in the transportation of a letter, in 
 proportion to distance and direction, as a railway or 
 steamship line; it gives the tenant the benefit of the 
 postal service by bringing him practically within 
 reaching distance of the Post Office. 
 
 With this system, the risk of loss or delay of letters 
 through the carelessness of messengers is eliminated 
 and in addition to the advantages of greater security 
 and better service to the tenant, the saving ef¬ 
 fected in the cost of elevator operation is alone 
 
 sufficient to justify 
 the cost of installa¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Chute is an 
 Economy 
 
 The use,or rather 
 misuse, of the eleva- 
 
 The Mail tor f° r 
 the pur¬ 
 pose of 
 mailing letters costs 
 much more than was 
 realized before the in¬ 
 troduction of the Mail 
 Chute, which not only 
 stops this loss but leaves 
 the elevator to its legiti¬ 
 mate use of carrying 
 passengers up and down 
 stairs. The saving ef¬ 
 fected by the Full Story 
 . Model F 
 
 USe Ot the Partly Opened. 
 
 Page Six 
 
mail chute is itself more than 
 sufficient to justify the installa¬ 
 tion. 
 
 The Cutler Mail Chute is 
 furnished in a number of forms, 
 two of which, M odel F and 
 Model C, are illustrated here; 
 also a few of the many different 
 designs of the U. S. Mail Boxes 
 that are installed with it. 
 
 In addition to this stock 
 work, we furnish special designs 
 when desired and by using stock 
 models and patterns in part, 
 satisfactory results can often be 
 secured at comparatively low 
 cost. Such a piece of work is 
 illustrated on page 8. 
 
 In buildings of great height 
 or where the mail is unusually 
 heavy, it is customary to dupli¬ 
 cate the mail chute, and many 
 of the larger and more impor¬ 
 tant buildings are equipped with 
 one or more pairs of chutes as 
 illustrated here. In the Wool- 
 worth Building six Mail Chutes 
 are installed, one pair of which 
 extends up into the fifty-fifth 
 story. The Equitable Building 
 is equipped with four pairs of 
 
 Cutler M ai 1 Twin Mail Chutes Model C 
 ,, Installed in the Telegraph 
 
 Chutes eX" and Telephone (Western 
 . . . Union) Building, New York 
 
 tending into city. 
 
 /’age Seven 
 
the thirty-seventh story, aggre¬ 
 gating two hundred and ninety- 
 six (296) stories. 
 
 These Mail Chutes are of the 
 Model C type with fronts hinged 
 at one side and secured at the 
 other by special locking mechan¬ 
 ism (see page 7). This type of 
 Mail Chute is recommended 
 where the mail is unusually 
 heavy and blockades, if they oc¬ 
 cur, must be cleared in the least 
 possible time. 
 
 The examples referred to are 
 selected from a long list of wide¬ 
 ly distributed buildings. 
 
 The Cutler Mail Chute is pro¬ 
 vided with means of closing the 
 letter openings in the different 
 stories, controlled by the Postal 
 authorities. When the chutes 
 are installed in pairs, each chute 
 is closed in alternate stories so - 
 
 that the number Of inletS is re- Bronze front of special U. S. Mail Box 
 
 No. 2126 designed for the Adams Ex- 
 
 duced by half. By this means press Building, New York City, 
 
 the mail is divided and over¬ 
 crowding and blockades avoided. In a building equipped with 
 twin mail chutes, the service can be maintained uninterruptedly 
 by means of one chute temporarily while the other is closed for 
 cleaning or repairs. 
 
 Descriptive circulars, details and specifications will be sent on 
 application, also an estimating form outlining the information 
 that we require in making up our estimates. 
 
 Page Eight