On this date in 1849 a patent was granted for an envelope-making machine. 10 things you might not know about envelopes:
- The first envelopes were made in the Middle East, out of clay, in around 3500 BC. They were usually used to carry Money.
- Paper envelopes first appeared in China in the 2nd century BC, again mostly used to contain money.
- Which brings us to the custom which exists in China to this day, of giving gifts of money in a Red envelope on special occasions like weddings or Chinese New Year. The envelope is red because red is a lucky colour in China, and the gift inside will be an amount of money ending in an even digit, because odd numbered gifts are associated with funerals.
- In Malaysia, they have a similar custom for giving gifts to people who visit their home during the festival of Eid ul-Fitr. Their envelopes are Green, to represent the Islamic paradise.
- Up until 1840, envelopes were hand made. The machine for making them was patented in Britain by Edwin Hill and Warren De La Rue.
- Envelopes with a see through panel to display the address were a US invention. Americus F. Callahan of Chicago, Illinois patented this idea in 1902. They were were originally called “outlook envelopes".
- Traditional envelopes are usually cut from paper into three shapes; a rhombus, a kite or a short-arm cross.
- The patterns on the inside of envelopes are not just for decoration. They are there for security reasons, to make it impossible for anyone to read what it inside without opening the envelope.
- During the US Civil War, confederate soldiers couldn’t always get their hands on paper, so they would make envelopes out of Wallpaper.
- The expression “pushing the envelope”, meaning to go beyond current limits of performance, has only been around since 1978. It started as a term used in aviation, from the phrase “flight envelope” for a plane’s operational or performance boundaries.
New Year New Reading Challenge?
I can help. Here are links to books which meet potential criteria:
A title with three words
- Death and Faxes
- Killing Me Softly
- Settling the Score
- Secrets and Skies
- Over the Rainbow
- Closing the Circle
A title with six words
A book with a number in the title
A book with a colour in the title
Short story collections/A book with a green cover
A book published in the last year/during lockdown
A book you can finish in a day/A book under 200 pages
A book featuring characters from a deck of cards
A Book set during Christmas
A book with a place in the title
A Debut novel
A book with a plant or flower on the cover/A book about siblings
A book with a female villain or criminal
Includes space travel
Features Royalty
Books featuring skiing or snowboarding
A book with the Olympic games in it
A book with a bird in the title
A book featuring a secret society
A book featuring time travel/alternative dimensions
Raiders Trilogy:
Books featuring superheroes
Books featuring ghosts
From an Indie Publisher/Self published/An author you've not read before/A female author/A genre you wouldn't normally read/A book outside your comfort zone/A book by an author with your initials and your initials are JH
All of them!
More details can be found here
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