A mail chute is a largely defunct letter collection device used in early multi-storey office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings and other high rise structures. Letters were dropped from the upper storeys and collected (usually at the ground level) at a central depository by the postal service.

Who invented the mail chute?

The mail chute was invented in 1883 by James G. Cutler, a Rochester, N.Y., architect who later became the city's mayor. The skyscraper was just being born, and the device quickly caught on. By 1905, his Cutler Manufacturing Co. had installed 1,600 chutes throughout the world.

Where was the mail chute invented?

The answer was the creation of mail chutes that would extend from the top floor to a receiving box located at ground level. The first mail chute was installed in the Elwood Building in Rochester, New York in 1884.