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  • Pony Express Google Doodle Is Actually a Game. Wanna Play? [Watch]

    The Pony Express is the latest Google Doodle to be featured on the search engines homepage to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the mid-1800s cross-country mail delivery system.

    But, what you may not know is the Google Doodle is actually a game you can play.

    Before e-mail, people actually wrote letters and counted on the country’s mail delivery system to get their messages to others. Even before the modern U.S. Postal Service used automobiles to deliver the mail, the Pony Express was used in the 1800s to get the mail safely delivered.

    “In honor of the 155th anniversary of the Pony Express on Tuesday, Google created an animated Doodle game that commemorates the mail delivery service,” reported Time magazine. “If Googlers click on the Wild West-themed Doodle, they can help a pony deliver mail across America.”

    The game is simple and pretty easy to finish, but collecting every single letter on your way may be challenging.

    Animator Nate Swinehart explained the history of the Pony Express and offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Doodle process in a video:

    According to history.net, the Pony Express began mid-1800s when three men came up with the idea to open up a mail delivery system that reached from the Midwest all the way to California. The three men — William H.Russell, Alexander Majors & William B Waddell — designed a system of over one hundred stations, with each station approximately 240 miles long, across the country.

    “The Pony Express employed about eighty deliverymen and had around four hundred to five hundred horses to carry these riders from one post to the next,” says the site. “Monthly pay for these riders was fifty dollars, which were good wages at the time. Although this method of carrying mail was dangerous and difficult, all save one delivery made it to their destination.”

    So how did you do on the Google Doodle Pony Express game?

  • When Was the First Mail Delivered via the Pony Express? Playable Google Doodle Honors 155th Anniversary

    Google is trying to make sure you don’t get anything done at work today – something at which the company excels. Today’s homepage features a playable Google Doodle honoring the most famous mail service of all time.

    When was the first mail delivered via the Pony Express? 155 years ago today, in fact. To celebrate this important day in history, Google has put out a fun little game featuring a horse and letters.

    There are 100 letters to collect in all, but I’ve only managed to snag 87. Watch out for the bandits with lassos.

    The Pony Express helped connect the East and the West in the mid-1800s. Using a series of relay stations, mail, newspapers, and other goods were delivered via horseback. Starting in St. Joseph, Missouri, and winding up in Sacramento, California, the Pony Express was in operation for around 18 months.

    The Pony Express could get your letter across the country in about 10 days. Pretty impressive for 1860.

    “The notion of triumph through adversity is so inspirational. So when William H.Russell, Alexander Majors & William B Waddell founded the Pony Express on April 3rd, 1860, they set in motion a wonderful yet daunting method of communication. What a concept–riders with letters on horseback racing from California to Missouri and vice versa to deliver mail on time! True to their word, the first mail arrived on April 14th. The Pony Express felt like a great game concept to us at Google. We’ve made time-based games in the past so our new idea was simple. Collect letters, avoid obstacles and aim for the ultimate 100 letter delivery! We know everyone is busy these days but the Pony Express needs YOU. And ultimately, whatever happens in life, what’s more important than earning trust and respect from a horse?” says the Google Doodle team.

    The Doodle can be seen in the US, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines.

    Image via Richard Frajola, Wikimedia Commons