Stamps

When you send a letter or a postcard, you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card. When did people first begin to use stamps? Who was the first to think of this idea? In the early nineteenth century, people did not use stamps. They had to pay postage when they received letters. They were unhappy about this, especially when they paid for a letter which they did not wish to receive at all. The postage was high at that time, because the post offices had to send many people to get the postage. Rowland Hill was the first to think of the idea of using stamps. He thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps to pay for postage. They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelops before they sent the letters. The post office could simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again. In this way, the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage. It only needed to send fewer postmen to send letters. That was a good idea and the government decided to use stamps.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why were people in the early 19th century unhappy when they received letters?
2. Why was postage high in the early 19th century?
3. What made Rowland Hill think of the idea of using stamps?
4. What had been done to prevent people from using the stamps again?
5. Did the postage become lower or higher ever since stamps were put into use?

(Keys.)