The Demise Of Stamps

Whilst doing research for my website this morning, I came across this News Article, dated 1900. One has to be grateful that the invention was not adopted!

"Will Do Away With Stamps.

English postal authorities are making experiments with an automatic letter mailing device which will do away with the old style of "stick with a lick" postage stamp. The new apparatus resembles a slot machine and is an adaptation of this idea. It can be placed on the street corners or in the post offices. By putting a penny in the slot, the letter is thrust into a slot and, presto, change! a dry or ribbon stamp puts a stamp on the corner of the letter, when it can be dropped into the box. The machine cancels the stamp with the date, time of day, etc., all in one operation. There are different denominations of stamps. If this machine proves the success which its inventor hopes, it will do away with the present adhesive stamp and prove an economical device for the postal service.

I'm guessing the idea evolved into the postage meter; there's also those FRAMA labels that were used in Europe that pretty much have the same idea behind them.

So, has anyone seen what those imprints looked like? Are examples floating around out there?

Makes me think that I should search the archives for a poached-egg thread, and start one if I don't find one.

Collin

this could be a collectible item as well

Glad that didn't happen as well!

I guess it's kind of like the demise of stamp collecting that people have been talking about for decades.

i wonder why some of the people with expensive stamps dont believe that and then have their give aways organized on SCF :)

Yes well people this has been tried before and did not work to well, stamps are still here and while collectors still want them and pay good money for them they will continue.
Any postal agent should not forget this.

The invention surely does away with the little efforts, but then replaces that with a major task- that of supervising the machine.... not good

and we all know how the post office maintains there machines. Ever try to get one to accept a dollar bill?

.....and so what does the future hold......

That cartoon strikes home londonbus! I asked my son once, as he was hitting the keys of his scientific digital calculator, "that would have been slow on a slide-rule"

and he asked quite seriously "what's a slide-rule?"

wow! showed him my old old hemmi slide-rule, now considered obsolete and gone

can't imagine a world without stamps

The cartoonist should also have added to the boy saying "and what's that thing you're reading?"

Newspapers are certainly on the way out also.

Now there is a good point !
I am not sure I agree entirely. When I was in the UK last autumn the newspapers were usually selling out by the afternoon. Of course it menas little as the outlets may order less to begin with.
Here in Israel, there are many special offers to encourage you to buy a newspaper....and so profit margins have to be revised.

And there is something we have talked about here at SCF before.
Many or most newspapers are online, free or by subscription. I can read the Jerusalem Post website every day and the news is the same in the printed version, which costs about $2.00 [more on Friday]. I do not buy the Jerusalem post paper because I can read it for free. If I had to subscribe, it may be a different story. Having said that, I know others here who buy the paper because they prefer to read it than browse the website.....much like many of us Stamp Collectors like to buy the catalogues instead of using the online or DVD alternatives.

So, like stamps, newspapers will never die. But we will see many changes.

Let's make another cartoon !!

Londonbus1

In the US most papers are losing subscribers by the thousands every month and money by the Billions every year. It's because they are mostly sales ads, false and exploitative news and getting ever more expensive. And because straight Internet news and Blogs are much more interesting if no more factual.

Well it would cut down on my recyling..but my daughters husband works for R.R. Donelly..who print the advertising slicks and shes high maintenance !!