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There is a poem named "Post" by Samuil Marshak, written in 1927. The poem tells a story of a letter being sent from Rostov to Leningrad. The addressee, Boris Zhitkov (another writer) was not found at home as he had left for Berlin. The letter, apparently automatically is sent to Berlin. There, it turns out, he left for London, so the letter goes to London, where it turns out he left for Brasil. The letter (being considerably rumpled already) goes to Brasil, where it turns out he returned to Leningrad. So, the letter goes back to the USSR so to find the very surprised addressee there. Finally Zhitkov expresses admiration of the postal services that made the letter to cross the whole globe in search for him.

So, I wonder whether the poem is based on real service that could be offered in 1927?

Charlie Crown
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Anixx
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    [Forwarding addess.](https://www.usa.gov/post-office#item-213659) Standard service for most postal sevices since basically as long as there have been postal services. – JRE Jan 19 '21 at 21:21
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    Forwarding does typically require active participation of the addressee in telling the post office the new address. And it is typically not free of charge (not very expensive, though). – Hulk Jan 21 '21 at 16:59
  • @Hulk domestic forwarding is free of charge in the US. – phoog Feb 03 '21 at 13:59
  • @phoog In Austria, it is currently 16.90 € (domestically) or 22.90 € (internationally) for 3 months (for private use, roughly twice that in case it is a business address). – Hulk Feb 03 '21 at 14:26
  • In Germany, it seems the minimum time is [12 months for 26.90 €](https://www.deutschepost.de/de/n/nachsendeservice.html) (seems to be independent of the destination). Either way, as mentioned it's usually just a small amount. – Hulk Feb 03 '21 at 14:34

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