To the letter

The Penny Black became the world’s first adhesive postage stamp.

The stamp, featuring a portrait of Queen Victoria, was first issued on 1 May 1840, but wasn’t valid to use in the postage system until five days later on the 6th.

Although its invention revolutionised the postage system, standardising the price of sending letters and allowing the sender to bear the cost, this particular postage stamp was only in use for just over a year. 

Among the first correspondence making use of the ‘Paid Penny Postage’ was a letter sent from Brompton Place to Camberwell which snuck into the postage system a day early on 5 May 1840.

Read the handwritten letter here, The first letter to use a Penny Black? on the London Letters Journal.

Writing

If you haven’t handwritten a letter in a long time, this is your invitation to do so. From selecting the perfect paper, to filling your finest fountain pen, handwritten letters can be a joy for the writer as well as the recipient.

Think who you’ll send it to and what news you’ll share. Of course, you don’t even have to send it, it can be just for you! 

We’d love to see what you come up with, if you’d like to share.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash