David Redline had only been out of high school for a year when he learned that the Walnutport Post Office was seeking a letter carrier.

Redline took the Civil Service exam, a requirement at the time, and soon received a job offer.

He accepted. That was more than 45 years ago.

“My dad (the late William Redline) was probably never so proud of me as the day I was hired by the post office,” he said. “It was kind of a big deal.”

Redline started as a part-time employee but was soon hired full-time. Since Day 1, his mail deliveries took him to the same streets, houses and mailboxes in Walnutport.

“I started at this post office on the same route. So I’ve been on the same route for 45 years,” Redline said.

It’s a job he enjoys to this day. The best parts, he said, are seeing residents and being outdoors.

“Over the years, I’ve made friendships through my job and I think that’s what I always liked about the job. I’m in here for a couple hours and then I’m outside seeing people,” said Redline, of Walnutport.

Even kids will wait for deliveries, he said.

“Kids come up to get the mail. That’s always kind of a nice treat. They like the mailman. They think the mailman is cool. I can remember when I was a kid, I thought the same thing,” he said.

Carriers typically arrive to the 249 Lehigh St. post office each morning to find presorted mail, and bins of letters and packages that they need to sort.

“We’re in here about two hours each morning, and then we’re out delivering for about four hours,” Redline explained.

Six days each week, he travels his 14-mile route, and delivers to approximately 750 customers.

While it’s the same turns and stops, times have changed since Redline began working in 1979.

“When I started, there was a lot more mail. I’m just talking mail — envelopes and stuff like that,” he said. “Because 45 years ago, there was no internet, there was no Amazon, so everybody transacted through the mail.”

He estimated that the amount of mail was five times more than it is now. Packages would be sent, but not very often.

“We delivered very few parcels, other than individuals mailing parcels to their sons or daughters, or mothers and fathers. You’d get maybe 10 a day,” Redline said.

When online shopping became popular, the post office saw a shift.

“Now we have 10 times as many parcels,” Redline said. “We get about 150 a day, and at Christmastime it’s upward of almost 300 a day.”

Over the years, too, he’s watched names and addresses change.

“Back in day when I started it was like any small community. Pretty much everybody knew everybody,” he said. “It’s grown for one thing, and for another thing, a lot of people nowadays keep to themselves maybe a little bit more.”

He also used to use his own vehicle to deliver mail when he started. That meant sitting in the passenger side, and reaching over with his hands and legs to navigate.

“Long legs help,” he laughed.

For the past two decades, he’s used a USPS mail truck. Controls are on the curbside, so there’s no need to stretch.

Asked if he had been using air conditioning during the recent heat waves, Redline said the vehicles don’t have it.

“And the heaters aren’t that good either,” he laughed. “I’m more of a heat person than a cold person so I really don’t mind.”

Redline said he plans to retire in April, when he will turn 65.

“I would tell people that it has been a good job over the years. I supported my family, I sent my kids to college,” he said. “I think it’s a younger person’s game now with all the parcels but I always enjoyed it. You kind of feel community-oriented when you are a mailman because you know a lot of things that are going on and you get involved in more things. It makes you feel good about what you’re doing.”

Redline and his wife, Lori, have two sons; four grandsons and a granddaughter.

Paul F. Smith, a United States Postal Service spokesman, said the postal service is proud of its employees, especially those who have careers spanning years.

“Rural carriers help connect families with many important deliveries — medicine, checks, and cards are just a few examples. It’s a slice of Americana that has continued since the 1890s. When you add the relationships the carriers establish with their customers, it’s a timeless tradition akin to a great Norman Rockwell portrait,” Smith said.

Kate Hutter, postmaster at the Walnutport Post Office, said Redline is a valuable employee.

“From being here so long and having a route that is all around the town, everyone knows him — and he knows all of them,” she said.