It might just be the biggest little post office in Pennsylvania.

In Greene Township, Greene County, where the Garards Fort post office is 10 feet by 18 feet of white clapboard quaintness, it doesn't take much to form a crowd.

"If you get three or four people, it gets a little tight," said Postmaster Vivian Bauer, dressed for the season in a vest embroidered with robins and sparrows over a red satin, button-down shirt.

The area where customers can congregate is only about 5 feet by 10 feet -- smaller when crowded by packages that don't fit in the back room.

The weeks before Christmas are by far the busiest time of year at Garards Fort, with postal volume more than double any other time of year.

Yesterday, Ms. Bauer, whose official title is "officer in charge," was all sold out of Christmas stamps, though she was happy to offer Purple Hearts or Gary Cooper instead.

But what the post office lacks in square footage -- or holiday stamps -- it more than makes up for in small-town charm.

A plate of homemade Christmas cookies sits out on an already crowded shelf of postal information. Year-round, Ms. Bauer offers candy like Tootsie Rolls and Werther's Originals -- a far cry from urban post offices that won't even share a piece of tape.

And in a community where a Pepsi machine along the side of the road passes for a general store, the post office serves as a meeting place -- albeit a small one.

"This is not a place for recreation or nothing, but you might see your neighbors and get started talking," said Elden Blaker, 80, who jokingly asked Ms. Bauer how much it cost to rent her snow shovel before he bought stamps for his bills.

Though the building looks like it might be older, it was built in 1940, said Ms. Bauer. The post office was previously housed in an even smaller building that still stands across the street.

Before that, Mr. Blaker said, he thinks the post office was housed in the country store. "We could get the mail and buy ice cream," he said.

Ms. Bauer believes that there are even smaller post offices in West Virginia and in the Western United States, but she doesn't know of any smaller ones in Pennsylvania.

Though for her, size doesn't matter -- at least now that the Garards Fort post office got a window air-conditioning unit about a year ago.

Though small, the post office offers all the services that any other postal station does, said Ms. Bauer.

For customers like Nancy Jean Johnston, those services are essential. For 37 years, Ms. Johnston has been walking to the post office to pick up her mail in a rented post office box.

She could get a mailbox at her house, of course, for free, but "I don't want one," she said. "This gives me my daily walk."

On some days, particularly rainy days, the post office sees just a handful of regulars like Ms. Johnston. But yesterday saw about two dozen customers -- some mailing Christmas cards, some buying stamps and some picking up their mail.

And then there are the customers who want something money can't buy.

"Sometimes," said Ms. Bauer, "they just come in to say 'hi.' "

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