This article is classified "Fictional"
The Galactic Postal Service has a long and illustrious history, according to their own private historian, Belthenk Milgrondius Pifter. It was founded back in the Late Imperial Period by Fronk Sindik Pifter. At that time it was called the Penny Post, and operated on the Milliways Principle. That is, you deposit one penny in a bank account and the cost of the mailing was collected from the interest. What the earlier Pifter failed to mention, and what many of his customers did not know, was that the letter was not actually sent until enough interest had accumulated to pay the rate. This resulted in several letters not being delivered until well after the addressee's demise. These letters usually could not be returned to the sender, since the sender too had shuffled off this mortal coil (incidentally, many of them did not "shuffle off" at all, but were rather dragged off, kicking and screaming, at the Great Penny Post Protest, an event the latter Pifter does not mention in his histories: seems some of the customers got wind of the fact that letters were not being sent right away, and organized to get their money (and letters) back; some angry words were exchanged, fighting broke out, and twenty-four people were killed; the story was pushed off the news-casts by a rumor that Hotblack Desiato was going to marry teenage super-model-singing-star-movie-star-plumber Madonellica, in spite of his recent demise for tax purposes [it never happened -- ed.]). When the delays inherent in the Penny Post became apparent, many customers switched to the faster Angranthean Express. This service required a greater initial investment (the entire rate was paid up front), but sped your letter through the galaxy, giving technicians ample time to refuel and maintain the speedsters. Unfortunately, it also gave them time to take the speedsters out on joy-rides that more often than not ended up crashing into a local uncharted asteroid (asteroid charts were notoriously inaccurate in those days: Galactic Security had decided that accurate asteroid charts would be a great boon to any invading space navy, so not having said charts would be a great deterrent; the fact that more people were killed by uncharted asteroids than by invading navies only encouraged the theorists at GS: "It must be working, then," they said). The Angranthean Express went bankrupt after only a few years of operation, and was absorbed by the Penny Post, which then changed its name to the Galactic Postal Service, which is what we have today. It is to Belthenk Pifter's eternal credit that he managed to convince us that this was an interesting story. Finally, we should note that GPS regulations require that all materials sent by post be Quite Flame Proof. This is tested by the simple expedient of setting fire to every piece of mail that comes into their possession. Since no one office trusts any other office to do this test correctly, it is carried out at every office on the letter's route. This means that most mail arrives in a charred state with numerous (partially burned) "Certified Flameproof" stickers attached.