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Is mail delivered on Halloween?

By Dave Stevenson

PORTLAND, ME - JUNE 7: Zoraida Cook returns to her mail truck after amking her rounds. (Staff photo by Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, ME - JUNE 7: Zoraida Cook returns to her mail truck after amking her rounds. (Staff photo by Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images) /
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Will you get your mail on Halloween? 

Even in today’s technologically focused age, mail remains an extremely effective means of communications. It’s how a lot of people get bills and stay in touch, even with things like e-mail and Facebook around. For many people, written correspondence is still the best way to do business. So will there be mail delivered on Halloween?

There is a bit of confusion regarding this. Holiday mail delivery is up on the air for many folks. Since there was no mail delivery on Columbus Day, October 31st has to be the same, right?

Wrong. There will be mail on Halloween. In fact, it will be delivered on virtually every day of the year, including most holidays. The only holidays during which mail will not be delivered? Christmas, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, President’s Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Sundays are also exempt from delivery.

So why is mail delivered on Oct. 31, but not Columbus Day or MLK Jr. Day? It also has to do with federal holidays. Though Halloween is a holiday, it is not a federal holiday. Both Columbus Day and MLK Jr. Day are official federal holidays.

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While people do celebrate Oct. 31, the government doesn’t make it a holiday, so therefore, government functions still happen. And that includes mail delivery.

Halloween celebrates spirits. It originated as a day to remember the dead and the spirts. Literally, it means “hallowed evening”, or “holy evening”. It is followed by the far less popular “All Saints Day” on Nov. 1. In today’s society, Halloween is best known as an excuse for adults and kids alike to eat candy. Who can hate on a holiday like that? And best of all, you still get your mail delivered. There’s something for everyone to love about Oct. 31.