It used to be that undeliverable mail was held by the Post Office, and every week the local postmaster was required to advertise all such unclaimed letters. According to the United States Official Postal Guide for 1896, “The names should be arranged alphabetically and the names of ladies and gentlemen in separate lists . . . The third and fourth- class matter should be advertised in lists with appropriate headings separate from the letters.” And so here we have an advertisement for unclaimed letters published in the Albany Morning Express, Jan. 23, 1892, dutifully separate into men’s and women’s categories. (Privacy was a very different thing in those days.) For those without a fixed address, who had moved around, or who simply had their mail sent to “general delivery” to await pickup at the post office, this was the 19th century equivalent of “You’ve got mail!” (The kids may need to Google that one. Trust us, it was a thing 20 years ago.)
“Postmasters are required to collect one cent postage-due upon all letters advertised, whether by posting or otherwise, which are subsequently delivered.” Mail that remained unclaimed was eventually sent to the Dead Letter Office.
It would appear from this that the Albany Morning Express was the largest circulation daily in a city that then had about seven English-language dailies, two German dailies, and several other weekly publications. According to Howell, writing in 1886,
Albany Morning Express was started September 13, 1847. In 1854 it was published by Munsell & Co. In 1856 its name was changed to the Daily Statesman. The Express was revived by Stone & Henley, its original proprietors, May 4, 1857 with J.C. Cuyler, editor. In 1860, the publishers were Hunt & Co. Albany Weekly Express, issued August 4, 1881; Sunday edition, March 4, 1883. Albany Express Company: Edward Henley, J. C. Cuyler, Addison A. Keyes and Nathan D. Wendell. Printing-house, southwest corner Green and Beaver streets. A recent change has made Prof. Lewis, editor, and W.F. Hurcombe, publisher.
In its last years, the Express was owned by the Albany Journal, under the control of William Barnes. The Library of Congress says it ceased publication in Dec. 1898, but appears to have merged with the neighboring Daily Press and Knickerbocker to become the Press-Knickerbocker-Express. It appears to have run under that unwieldy title until about 1910, when it was remonikered the Knickerbocker Press. Eventually, that became the Knickerbocker News, which ran with a couple of name changes until 1988.