Pic-A-Day (170) Albert Mach Fine Art.
USPS Snowmobile conversions.
This is a General interest post for auto aficionados sharing a pictorial history over the decades.
I hope you enjoy the educational - historical information!......

Rural Free Delivery (RFD) carrier Harold Crabtree of Central Square, New York, used this 1921 Ford Model-T. The front wheels were interchangeable with skis and the rear tires accommodated tank-like treads, allowing the vehicle to move more easily over snow and ice. The attachment, named Snowbird, was manufactured by F.S. Manufacturing Company of New Holstein, Wisconsin. The company advertised it as the “mailman’s special.” Manufacturers advertised the snowmobile attachment as easy to install.

Northern carriers who had purchased automobiles for their routes learned quickly that their new cars were often no match for deep snow. For many, the only option was to use their horses and old wagons during bad winters. The Snowmobile Company of West Ossipee, New Hampshire, was talking to those carriers when it asked them to consider if they could “afford to own and feed horses 12 months in the year simply for use during the winter season?” Just as they had done with their wagons in years past (switching the body of their RFD wagon from wagon wheels to runners for the winter months), carriers began using snowmobile attachments on their automobiles.

In the early 20th century, rural mail carriers who purchased automobiles for their routes learned quickly that their new cars were often no match for deep snow.

In 1906, Virgil White began converting automobiles into snowmobiles by replacing the front tires with skis and the rear tires with caterpillar treads, allowing the vehicle to move easily over snow and ice. The attachment, name Snowbird, saved carriers the expense of purchasing and maintaining a horse and sled for winter deliveries.

White’s first prototype used a Buick Model G. After the Model T’s popularity made it the go-to car of the early 20th century, White began manufacturing Ford Model T kits.

By 1922, White began selling his kit for $250 to $400 from his snowmobile company in West Ossippe, N.H. A few years later, he sold his snowmobile patents to the Farm Specialty Manufacturing Co. of New Holstein, Wis., which quickly recognized the kit’s appeal to rural carriers and advertised it as the “Mailman’s Special.” It was promoted as easy to install.

This 1921 Ford Model T was owned by rural mail carrier Harold Crabtree of Central Square, N.Y. The vehicle is fitted with the “Mailman’s Special.”

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display.

http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/ford-model-t-snow-attachment