2020 AtoZ...Letter E...Off the Top of My Head

Letter E...Envelopes

This may seem like a trivial topic, but there was a time when envelopes were of great importance. 

Why else would the country have come up with the Pony Express or for that matter the Postal System? 

So, here's a bit of Wikipedia...first envelope dates back to 3500 to 3200 BC in ancient Middle East. 

They were hollow, clay spheres molded around financial tokens...which unlike today, the financial tokens are stuck on the outside.

Paper envelopes were developed in China where paper was invented by the 2nd Century BC.  They were used to distribute monetary gifts to government officials.

Before 1845, envelopes were made by hand.  In 1845 two British men patented the first envelope-making machine.  Naturally that led to the development of stamps and ultimately Hallmark Cards.  I'll talk more about cards later.

As you can see I'm a collector of envelopes...some of which have aged a lovely antique yellow.  I didn't intend for that to happen, but the need for them ended with my letter writing and other correspondence being sent with the click of all things...a mouse.  Forget licking that envelope and stamp.

You will also notice my collection of boxed note cards.  I won't go so far as to say I hoard them...instead I will admit I keep more of them than I send because they are just too pretty to mess up.  I get to hang on to the collection of Christmas cards since they are sent only once a year...if at all some years.

I miss getting stamped envelopes in my mail box with hand written letters full of news.  I still look forward to checking the mail box even if all that is there are robo stamped envelopes.

I must admit to checking my electronic mail several times a day.  More often with the beep and ping alerts.  I always buy 'Forever' stamps just in case I need to stick one on an envelope or card.  Like now....

Thank you for visiting my AtoZ Letter E post.