This Friday will be a Cat-alogue of Pupdates, so please send in pic of your furry friends to juliaspencerfleming care of Gmail, using the subject line "Pet pics."
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Regular readers of this blog know I'm an historical buff. I love historical fiction and historical mysteries, listen to historical podcasts, and even consume my daily news with a dose of historical context. So it's no surprise when it's my turn at the wheel at JRW, I pop over to This Day In History to see what interesting events occurred on my week's dates.
A lot of times, there's nothing I want to write about. Battles, sieges and treaties are important, but not really fun to read over your morning coffee (which is how I always picture you, dear reader.) Scientific discoveries yielding unexpected results are always good - one of these days, I'm going to have August 26 and do a deep dive into the discovery of the world's first synthetic dye.
The best historical titbits are the ones that still affect our daily lives, which is why I'm happy to share the information that today, May 6th is the 185th anniversary of the very first postage stamp, the British "Penny Black."
Up to that point, the recipient of a letter was required to pay for it, a charge that might be based on the weight, or the distance it had traveled, or, who know, whether or not you tipped your local post man. One can imagine a poor but well-loved granny going broke as her family members send her a letter a day.
But besides poor granny, a confusing, non-standardized mail system was a drag on the ever-expanding economy of the British Empire, so reformer and inventor Sir Rowland Hill suggested a pre-paid stamp (among other innovations) with the idea that it would smooth business and eventually make more money for the Royal Post because more people would send letters. And he was right! In the Penny Black's first year, the volume of letters in the UK doubled. Within ten years, it doubled again.
Other countries took notice, including the young United States of America, which established its first stamps in 1847: the Ben Franklin (5¢) and the George Washington (10¢.) Just as in the British Isles, the use of stamps brought in so much more income within four years the USPS was able to reduce the cost of a first-class letter to 3¢. (I calculated the inflation, and that three cents would be $1.25 today, so we're still getting a bargain!)
Sir Rowland's simple but brilliant idea allowed commerce to flourish world wide, kept families in contact across oceans, and undoubtedly helped to spur the westward expansion in the United States. I wouldn't be surprised if the cultural norm behind "the sender pays" is part of the reason we've switched so broadly to free shipping for our internet purchasers. It turns out the idea that NOT making the recipient pay will increase income still holds true 185 years later.
Dear readers, do you still use stamps? What sort of mail do you send and receive? And can you think of any other tiny innovations that led to huge changes?
Yes, we do indeed still use stamps [generally Forever stamps] . . . mostly we mail cards or checks to pay bills . . . .
ReplyDeleteTiny innovations? Mostly things that make life so much easier: Velcro . . . zippers . . . safety pins . . . band aids . . . .
Before we moved I used stamps, but now that we are an ocean away from loved ones, I do all my correspondence online. Miss writing letters by hand, though. 😢
ReplyDeleteI also use Forever stamps, but nowhere near the number I did in the past, as email and online bill-paying have changed my habits. As a history nut in Connecticut growing up near the Boston Post Road (the original road between New York City and Boston taken by post riders) I often thought of old postal habits. I liked to picture Paul Revere riding through my town on his way to New York with Sam Adams' letters to the NY Committee of Correspondence.
ReplyDeleteAs one who lived for a couple of years without electricity I tend to think electrification was the turning point in our history, but that is not a small thing. Let's see. Toothbrushes? (Selden)
I always have stamps on hand, mostly for cards I send to friends. Bills are now paid online and most correspondence is by email, but I still love sending (and receiving) cards.
ReplyDeleteThinking ahead to Friday's parade of pets and as staff to one cat, how about the cat carry-case (or kennel) that helps us get our feline wonder to and from the vet with everyone in one piece (more or less). An improvement still needing to be invented is the 'self-loading' kennel, whereby the staff person (me) would no longer need to shove and cajole the cat into the kennel against their will. Rather, the cat would enter of their own volition. (I understand some cats do this naturally, but I do not have that model...)