On Estonian and Livonian roads mail was carried on horseback until the middle of the 18th century.

Constant growth in the carriage of mail and passengers caused the need that open-top carriages and covered wagons, called kibitkas, were taken into use. As roads were poor and the postal vehicles primitive, travelling by them was inconvenient. A new period in the carriage of passengers began in the 1820 to 1840s in connection with the introduction of stage coaches. According to the requirements a stage coach had to have iron axles, good appearance and built in accordance with drawings endorsed by the chief of the mail routes. One of the illustrations features a government stage coach dating from 1840 and the other a modern mail carriage vehicle. Today there are more than 350 mail carriage vehicles in Estonia, covering about 40,000 kilometres daily.

Source: Estonian Post

published May 3rd, 2013