The Dead letter office reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Dead letter office

The United States Postal Service started a Dead Letter Office in 1825 to deal with undeliverable mail. Approximately 57 million items end up in this office every year, where enclosed items of value are removed and the correspondence is destroyed. When enclosed items are deemed to be of obviously exceptional value, efforts may be made to return them to the sender. Items of value that cannot be returned are sold at auction.

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