Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Royal Mail 500

Today Royal Mail is issuing a set of stamps celebrating 500 years of mail service in Britain. The service was started by Henry VIII (much more famous for his eight wives). Of course, as the name implies, this was just for the Sovereign for over a century until Charles the First opened it up to the public in 1635.


There is a great site here with an interactive timeline showing the development of the postal service in the UK. Lots to investigate!

 Royal Mail's self service kiosks are also issuing Post and Go labels with this theme today, looking at mail delivery from the 1600s to the 1900s. 

There's also a miniature sheet showing classic GPO (General Post Office) posters.


These are fun, but the top right isn't the most mail art-friendly message :)

Royal Mail is also celebrating the 175th anniversary of the issue of the penny red, which replace the penny black. These stamps will be issued tomorrow.


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2 comments:

  1. Mail AdventuresFebruary 17, 2016 at 5:04 AM

    I love these. I hope I will receive at least one of them on a letter or postcard! As you say, the posters are perfect for mail art matters. But anything related to mail will do.

    The Spanish Postal Service is celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2016, but they didn't set up (so far) any website, or did very special things. I'm waiting...

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    1. FinnBadgerFebruary 17, 2016 at 1:45 PM

      Hopefully Correos will do something special as well - amazing to think that mail has been around for centuries.

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