6th May: Postage stamps

The world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, came into service on May 6, 1840. 10 things you might not know about postage stamps.

1. So how were letters paid for before that? In the UK, the recipient of a letter had to pay for it. This was a problem because people often couldn't or wouldn't pay the postman. People could send as much as they liked regardless of whether the postal service were likely to get their Money. In 1680 William Dockwra, an English merchant in London established the London Penny Post, a system whereby letters and small parcels could be delivered in London for a penny, paid for by the sender. A hand stamp was used to show the item had been paid for which is presumably where the term "postage stamp" comes from. In 1835 Sir Rowland Hill, who was interested in reforming the postal system, came up with the idea that proof of payment for postage could be "...by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash...".
2. It's generally known that the first adhesive postage stamp was the Penny Black, but less well known is the two pence Blue which came into existence two days after it. The Penny black was sufficient for a letter less than half an ounce to be sent anywhere within the UK - heavier letters required a two pence blue. The highest face value stamp issued in Britain was the £5 Orange in 1882 - this was for registered letters rather than parcels as parcel post wasn't introduced until later.
3. At first, it was necessary to separate stamps using scissors. It was 14 years before anyone hit on the idea of perforations. Like stamps themselves, perforations for stamps were a UK invention.
4. It was Sierra Leone which hit on the idea of self adhesive stamps, rather than the type you have to lick. This was because the humid climate there made stamps stick to each other rather than to envelopes. Self-adhesive stamps were introduced there in 1964.
5. Some people say that sticking a stamp on a letter upside down can get you arrested for treason, because the Queen's head is upside down. This is an urban myth. The Treason Felony Act 1848 makes it an offence to do anything with the intention of deposing the monarch, which sticking a stamp the wrong way up is highly unlikely to achieve. The act makes no mention of postage stamps at all.
6. The term for the hobby of stamp collecting is philately. Or is it? Strictly speaking the term philately refers to someone who studies stamps rather than merely collects them. The word philately comes from Greek - philos meaning love, and ateleia meaning that which is tax-free, referring to the fact that deliveries no longer had to be paid for. Stamp collecting is so popular that it has become a major source of income for some small nations who produce way more stamps than they need for their postal service, some very elaborate, so they can sell them to stamp collectors around the world.
7. The UK is the only country which does not display its name on its postage stamps.
8. Some records pertaining to stamps: The world's biggest stamp is hexagonal and measures 1.17 x 1.34m. It was unveiled "in honour of the 'Mother of the Nation'" - Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak - by the Emirates Post Group in March 2012. The most expensive stamp is a British Guiana one-cent magenta stamp was sold at auction in New York in 2014 for a record £5.6 million after its previous owner died in prison having been convicted of murdering an Olympic wrestling champion. George Vawas, of Ionnina, Greece has the world's biggest stamp collection. In 2013 he had 7,215 first day covers from 119 different countries.
9. In 1841, a woman decided she wanted to make decorative paper for her dressing table out of Penny Blacks. People were more than happy to send her their used stamps for free so she could do it. You can imagine how much her decorative paper is worth now!
10. Stamps don't have to be square and made out of Paper. Some unusual stamps have been: a 2013 Belgian stamp which smelled and tasted of Chocolate; a circular stamp with a picture of the globe (USA); stamps made from lace and wood (Switzerland); plastic stamps (USA); a stamp shaped like a Banana (Tonga - Tonga also produced one in the shape of a ship to commemorate Captain Cook's first arrival on the islands); glow in the dark stamps (Malaysia); and finally, in 1973, Bhutan issued a stamp that could play their National Anthem if put on a record player.

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