Not this year, big guy.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In years past, big city post offices were like carnivals on Tax Day.

There were bands and disc jockeys. Guys in gorilla costumes and women dressed as bananas. There were even beds on the sidewalk.

This year, however, the scene outside Manhattan's main post office was decidedly muted.

No beds. No bananas. A couple of hairy characters were murking about, but they weren't wearing costumes. (In New York, there are people who just look like that.)

There were only a few signs of corporate life.

A small cadre of Staples employees gamely manned one of the "last-minute copy centers" the company has erected in a handful of cities.

And an energetic -- and overstaffed -- group from Mitchum deodorant handed out free samples.

In other words, there wasn't much of a party. And if the city that never sleeps is drowsy, can the rest of America be far behind?

Since the late 1990s, the IRS and the tax preparation industry have aggressively promoted the idea of e-filing, electronically transmitted returns that bypass the Postal Service entirely.

The practice has grown steadily, and this year, e-filers will outnumber paper filers for the first time. According to the IRS, about 63 percent of all returns submitted in 2005 will be filed electronically.

That has one obvious implication. If you do your taxes online, you don't need to stand on a line at the post office.

On Tuesday of this week, more than 1.2 million people visited the IRS Web site, according to research firm Comscan. Twice as many will be on the site today.

TurboTax.com and HRBlock.com also reported predictably heavy traffic.

Many post offices, meanwhile, were full, but less crowded than they are during the Christmas mailing rush.

Corporate America seems to be noticing, though it's not quite ready to sound a death knell.

The firms that opted out of using Tax Day as a promotional event say their decisions were mostly logistical.

"We skipped it this year because we were focusing on other things," said K.C. Cavanagh, spokeswoman for the Westin Hotel chain, which last year was responsible for putting beds and pajama-clad employees on the streets.

"We've done this for five years in a row," said Snapple spokeswoman Lauren Radcliffe. "This year, we wanted to see if anyone would miss us."

Both women said their firms are planning to do promotions next year, but both understand that a quaint tradition is disappearing.

"If everyone files electronically," Cavanagh acknowledged, "I guess Tax Day will become extinct."

If the commercial resonance of April 15 is fading, the day remains an important political symbol.

The Libertarian Party uses it to spread its philosophy of limited government. From coast to coast, local branches of the party hold colorful events.

In Florida, according to state chairman Doug Klippel, Libertarians will be out in Jacksonville, Orlando, and West Palm Beach.

"There will be people dressed as patriots, and a couple of people will show up with balls-and-chains," says Klippel.

They'll also be carrying signs intended to reinforce the party's anti-tax message. One asks filers: "Wouldn't you rather be taking your money to the bank?"

Other protesters will fan out across America, too. A number of gay rights groups will stage events, to argue for legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

The tax angle of the gay marriage issue came to a head recently in Massachusetts. Same-sex couples there were recognized as married by the state, but not by the federal government. (Click here for the story.)

Marriage Equality California is planning a rally on the steps of the Oakland post office to argue that Golden State gays "pay first class taxes for second class citizenship."

Anti-war groups will also use "Tax Day" as a battle cry. A coalition calling itself the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee is planning events at scores of locations from Maine to California.

There will be live music in Tulsa, potluck meals in Berkeley, and a parade in Andover, Mass. There, anti-war protesters will march a half-mile or so from an IRS sorting facility to the headquarters of Raytheon, a defense contractor.

As political theater, anti-tax rituals are a time honored tradition dating back to the Boston Tea Party. But is the public square emptying out?

"We have noticed that over the past few years, the crowds have thinned a bit," says Libertarian Klippel.

But even in the Electronic Age, the soapbox has a place.

"Technology makes it easier to file your return," says Klippel. "But it doesn't make it any less painful."