The origin of postage stamps
May 2, 2009 21:48:37 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 2, 2009 21:48:37 GMT
Before the use of adhesive paper stamps, letters were hand stamped or postmarked with ink. Postmarks were the invention of Henry Bishop and were at first called 'Bishop marks' after the inventor. Bishop marks were first used in 1661 at the London General Post Office. They marked the date the letter was mailed.
Rowland Hill, and English schoolmaster, invented the adhesive postage stamp in 1837. He also created the first uniform postage rates based on weight rather than size. Hill's stamps made the prepayment of mail postage possible and practical. Before the advent of paper stamps, all mail arrived "postage due".
On January 10, 1840, the postage for all half-ounce letters was set at one penny. The introduction of prepaid stamps and stationery took nearly four more months, becoming valid for postage on May 6, 1840, with the introduction of the one penny black, the world’s first postage stamp:
This was followed six days later by the twopenny blue, for letters of just over a half ounce. It was identical to the one penny black except for color.
The introduction of stamps and standardized postal rates was such a popular success in Britain that other countries followed suit. Brazil introduced the Olho-de-Boi (bull’s eye) stamps on August 1, 1843:
The first stamps used in Switzerland were issued by the cantons of Zürich (March 1, 1843)
; Geneva (October 1, 1843) 
and
Basel in 1845 with the world’s first tri-colored stamp:
.
The first federal Swiss stamp was not issued until 1850, in 2½, 5, and 10 rappen denominations.
The United States officially followed suit on July 1, 1847, although a private service had been using adhesive stamps since early 1842.
Canada’s first stamp was the three penny Beaver (April 23, 1851) –-
the world’s first pictorial postage stamp:
Here is an excellent article about the spread of postage stamps across the globe.
Rowland Hill, and English schoolmaster, invented the adhesive postage stamp in 1837. He also created the first uniform postage rates based on weight rather than size. Hill's stamps made the prepayment of mail postage possible and practical. Before the advent of paper stamps, all mail arrived "postage due".
On January 10, 1840, the postage for all half-ounce letters was set at one penny. The introduction of prepaid stamps and stationery took nearly four more months, becoming valid for postage on May 6, 1840, with the introduction of the one penny black, the world’s first postage stamp:
This was followed six days later by the twopenny blue, for letters of just over a half ounce. It was identical to the one penny black except for color.The introduction of stamps and standardized postal rates was such a popular success in Britain that other countries followed suit. Brazil introduced the Olho-de-Boi (bull’s eye) stamps on August 1, 1843:
The first stamps used in Switzerland were issued by the cantons of Zürich (March 1, 1843)
; Geneva (October 1, 1843) and Basel in 1845 with the world’s first tri-colored stamp:
.The first federal Swiss stamp was not issued until 1850, in 2½, 5, and 10 rappen denominations.
The United States officially followed suit on July 1, 1847, although a private service had been using adhesive stamps since early 1842.
Canada’s first stamp was the three penny Beaver (April 23, 1851) –-
the world’s first pictorial postage stamp:
Here is an excellent article about the spread of postage stamps across the globe.
