History of Stamps

History of Stamps

Stamps have been a part of the postal world for a way longer than a century now. In fact, they have been key to developing a whole new system when in came postage.

The very first stamp that has been officially recorded was created in the UK as one among the several postal reforms introduced by Sir Rowland Hill. The idea was mainly meant to transform the way in which that letters are paid for being sent. Traditionally, mail was paid for by the recipient of the envelope instead of the sender. In this way, you’d have to pay for a mail that reaches you even if you hadn’t wished for it to be delivered to you. With the reforms that took place in the Postal services of the UK, stamps were introduces and now letters and packages have to be prepaid for and the recipient would not have to pay for the mails that he received. However, it was also possible for people to send mails without prepaying them simply by not sticking any stamps.

 The very first stamp that was introduced in the UK was called the Penny Black, this stamp cost just one penny and could be used for sending mail that weighed less than half an ounce to any location in the UK. This first stamp was introduced in 1840s and it marked the beginning of a whole new legacy of stamps and collections that followed. The second stamp was also introduced in the UK and it was called the Two Pence Blue. Both the first and the second stamps had images of Queen Victoria and did not have the name of the country issuing it. In fact, till date Britain is the only county that does not write its name on the stamps.

When stamps were first introduced it is sure that most people had one question in mind- Where can I buy stamps from? Well, in those days the only place where you could buy stamps from was the official post office run by the Government.

The origin of stamp usage in the USA can be traced back to 1847 a few years after their very first appearance. The stamps were introduced by the US Postal services and were put into active use right away. The first stamps issued in the United States were for 5cents and 10 cents depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington respectively. However, today stamps have come a very long way from depicting just national leaders and historical figures. Today, you can get stamps that relate to various national and international functions, celebration and so on. You can even get your photo printed on a stamp in countries like Australia where there is an option for stamp personalization.

The very first stamps created were not self-adhesive. You had to apply glue to them to stick them on to envelopes. Next came stamps that have to be wet in order to stick, these stamps later came to be known as lick-and-stick stamps. Today the stamps that buy are self-adhesive. The very first sheets that contained stamps did not have any perforations so each stamp had to be separated by tearing the sheets carefully. However, today the stamp sheets are perforated and thus making everything easier.

“Where can I buy stamps from today?” you might ask. Well, keep reading to find out. If you live in the US, don’t worry as there are plenty of places where you can buy stamps from!