July 1st is U.S. Postage Stamp Day

Today we can celebrate National U.S. Postage Stamp Day by appreciating the ease and simplicity with which we can send and receive mail.  Because of the invention of the postage stamp, we can simply pay a standard rate to purchase a “symbol” that we can attach to our letter and send it with no responsibility to our recipient.

Before the  postage stamp, the cost of sending a letter/package was actually given to the recipient.  The postal worker would take the letter and deliver it to the desired destination, and would only then, collect the money for the postage.  Because of this, there were often times that the recipient would refuse the letter, leaving the cost to the postal service.  The postal service had to set aside an alloted amount of  money for this, and took it as a loss.

The postage stamp completely reinvented this whole process, leading to a simpler, smoother and more cost effective system of sending and delivering mail.