Interesting Information About Early Mail Service

Postal service has sure come a long way via a long bumpy road. Mail can be traced back centuries. The first envelopes were made of animal skins, vegetable parts and cloth. The Babylonians were known to bake thin sheets of clay with messages inside for their mail.

Great Britain can be credited with the idea of the first ever Postmark. It was called a “Bishop mark”, which was named after its inventor, Henry Bishop who was the Postmaster General in 1660. After fielding constant complaints from patrons about how long mail takes to be delivered, he came up with the postmark idea to show the receiver the date that it was received by the post office. Postmarks began in England in 1661. Each postmark consisted of a circle with a horizontal line running through it. The month was put in the upper half of the circle and the day was put in the bottom half. Most postmarks were placed on the backside of the envelopes and were always written in ink.

In the mid 1600’s, most letters were paid for by the receiver of the letter, not the sender. The front side of envelopes often contained very explicit instructions on where to drop the letter off so that correct delivery could be ensured.