By Tim Lambert
In the Ancient World, it was important for kings and emperors to be able to send and receive messages over long distances. Not surprisingly, many Ancient Civilisations had systems for delivering messages. In the Roman Empire, a service called the Cursus Publicus carried official messages using relays of horses.
In the Middle Ages, anyone who wanted to send a letter had to arrange delivery privately. In England, Henry VIII founded the Royal Mail in 1512, but at first it was only for royal use. However, in 1635, the royal post service was opened to the public. In 1661, it was reformed and became the General Post Office. A postmark was introduced, as well as standard rates for sending letters.
A royal mail coach was introduced in 1784. In 1793, postmen in London began wearing uniforms. Gradually, other cities in Britain followed suit. Trains first carried mail in 1830.
At first, the person who received the letter had to pay for the postage. However, in 1837, Rowland Hill invented the adhesive stamp. The world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, went on sale in Britain on 1 May 1840. (Before then, the person who received the letter had to pay the postage).
At first, to send a letter, you had to take it to a Receiving House or give it to the Bellman. He was a man who wore a uniform and rang a bell to attract attention. The first part of Britain to have post boxes was Jersey in 1852. Letter boxes were installed in mainland Britain from 1853 onwards.
In Britain, post offices began to provide more services. Telegram services began in the mid-19th century. In 1870, the Post Office took them all over. The Post Office Savings Bank was founded in 1861. Postal orders went on sale in 1881. You could buy one in a post office, then send it in an envelope. The recipient could redeem it for cash at their local post office. Parcel post began in 1883. (Before then, if you wanted to send a package, you had to pay a private company). On 1 January 1909, post offices paid the first old age pensions.
In 1911, the first air mail was carried in Britain. (It was between Hendon and Windsor). In 1915, Nora Willis became the first postwoman in Britain. In 1959, postcodes were introduced on a trial basis in Norwich. They were gradually extended to the rest of Britain by 1974.
The US Post Office was founded on 26 July 1775. The first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin. In the USA, the first stamps were issued in 1847. A 5-cent stamp had a picture of Benjamin Franklin. A 10-cent stamp had one of George Washington. In Canada, the first postage stamp was issued in 1851. It contained a picture of a beaver in an oval, so it’s sometimes called the threepenny beaver.
Meanwhile, in 1849, Jesse K Park and Cornelius S Wilson patented a machine for making envelopes. The first franking machine was invented by a Norwegian, Engle Frankmussler.
In 1871, Japan began its first government postal service and issued its first stamps.
In the USA, street letter boxes were introduced in 1858. The US Postal Savings Service began in 1911. Parcel post began in the USA in 1913. The United States air mail started in 1918. Zip codes were introduced in 1963.
In 1914, a 5-year-old girl named Charlotte May Pierstorff was mailed by her parents to her grandparents’ house 73 miles away. It was legal to send children by mail as long as you attached a stamp to them. In 1920, the US Post Office banned sending children as parcels.
In 1965, the Post Office Tower opened in London. Christmas stamps were first sold in Britain in 1966.
In 2012, some post boxes in Britain were painted gold in honour of local people who won Olympic Gold Medals.
A post box in Sherborne, Dorset painted gold for Olympic swimmer Peter Wilson.