Do you know your mail carrier? Frank L. Michl lived quite the life before and after becoming a mail carrier. Born in Illinois, he served in the Seabees during WWII then worked in Utah as a roughneck and driller in the oil patch. The oil fields brought him to Ventura County. In 1954 he packed his wife Helen, their children, and two canaries Ike and Mamie, into a shiny new Chevy Station Wagon and headed for their new adventure.
After a few years in Santa Paula, Frank bought a home and took a job with the US Post Office as a letter carrier so the family could put down roots in the community. For 23 years, he delivered mail around Santa Paula. While working for the Postal Service, Frank started a gauge calibration business in his home closet. By the time he retired, he’d built enough clients to start another full-time job repairing what other people deemed unfixable. When he died in 1997, he left Michl Gauge Sales and Service Inc. operated by his family as his legacy.
Between his two jobs, he found time to foster his love for square dancing, to drive his Ford Model T in parades, and to eat at his favorite lunch spot, then known as Familia Diaz. From the moment he set eyes on Santa Paula, he told Helen “This is the place” and never looked back.
Postal Service Jacket, 1959
Worn by Frank L. Michl in Santa Paula
Accession# 2004-32.1