The Postal Age

Summary:

• When postal communication was first developed it was not an idea that was easily welcomed and used by everyday Americans. It was seen as a symbol of governmental authority. The average American was not familiar with frequently sending messages by mail. The process of receiving mail itself was slow and the event of receiving a letter was often a rare occurrence, almost celebratory, for receiving mail did not happen on a regular basis and was isolated towards those who could afford the costly price of postage.

• Postage used for letter was extremely costly based on the traveling distance of the parcel, and was measured by miles of travel. The cost of postage was between one-quarter and one-third of  someone's average daily earnings. It was not until 1845 that letters and packages were charged postage based on the weight of the item. The Postal Act of 1851 diminished the idea of charging postage based on miles traveled by instituting a base rate. Postage stamps and stamped envelopes were introduced in 1847.

• The postage movement was also an indicator of literacy during this time period. Letters were used to gauge someones literate abilities. Children practiced form of their writing by sending letters to loved ones. With the increase of literacy in America, the rise of letter writing equally increased causing letters to be seen as more common place. 

Comment: I found it interesting that Americans at this time used letter writing as another way to test someone's literacy. I never thought such a large number of people living in the United States as illiterate but now I can understand how sending letters was a slow development in the beginning.  It is fascinating to look at how this movement responded to people's regard for learning to read and write and how changes were made in order to make sending mail more accessible to everyone as more people became literate.

Question: I liked the portion on learning about incorporating postage stamps within sending pieces of mail and how the price of postage evolved from something only the wealthy could afford, thus influencing the regularity of sending mail and the types of people that were able to send letters. I wonder how the development of postage stamps started in regards to the types of postage available and way it looks. In present day you can choose to buy stamps with different images on them, pre-paid postage and some are literally stamped right on the envelopes. Where the the decision to incorporate images into stamps originate from? Who was the first person or what was the first object to be featured on a postage stamp?