Royal Mail

In 1516, Henry VII established the "Master of the Posts," and Charles I made the 'royal mail' available to the public in 1635. Mail was paid for by the receiver based on distance travelled and, until the 19th century it was considered expensive, exclusive, and corrupt.

 

The 'modern' post office was created in 1840 by Sir Rowland Hill, who advocated for cheap and uniform costs that were prepaid by the sender using adhesive stamps.  The 'Penny Black' became the world's first postage stamp, which was less than 25% of the going rate, and featured the monarch's profile on a black background.  To this day, all British stamps bear a the silhouette of the monarch rather than the country of origin.  The Penny Black was only used for a year because it was found the red cancellation stamp was easy to remove from the black ink, and the colors were reversed: 'Penny Red' was introduced, and the cancellation stamp was changed to black.  However, over 68 million Penny Blacks had been produced and a substantial number have survived because, at the time, envelopes were not generally used; letters were folded and sealed, and the stamp and address were placed on the back. By the mid-1850s, stamp collecting (philately) had already become an international hobby. Today, a used Penny Black can cost as little as £10-110 ($15-165), and an unused one about £1,600 ($2,400).

By contrast, the US did not introduce stamps until 1847, and these were still based on distance (although, to be fair, the US is a wee bit bigger than the UK).  In 1852, the UK introduced collection ('pillar') boxes; the US followed in 1858. In 1870, the UK prohibited 'obscene' materials in the mail; the US followed in 1873.  In 1881, the UK introduced postal (money) orders; the US in 1883.  The UK started delivering parcels in 1883; the US in 1913. In 1969, Royal Mail was changed from a government department to an independent agency; the US did the same in 1971.

 

However, there were a few areas where the US led: ZIP codes were introduced in 1963, 11 years before the UK. Residential deliveries were reduced to once per day in 1950; the UK still provided mutliple deliveries until 2004. The US introduced post cards in 1873, while the UK waited until 1895.  Today, the US has a reduced rate for post cards, but all letters are sent first class.  In the UK, post cards are sent at the same rate as a letter, but letters can be sent first or second-class.  (In researching this, I found no one really knows the difference between first and second class, other than the cost, as letters seem to arrive on the same day!)

 

Today, Royal Mail consists of three separate divisions: Mail delivery, parcel delivery, and 'post office' retail branches. The latter two have long had retail competition, but in 2006, the government ended the 350-year-old monopoly on mail delivery. Today, the government is considering selling ('privatising') a portion of Royal Mail.  However, a major stumbling block will be its huge pension deficit, which is around £10 billion (US $15 billion).

 

And finally, some random trivia:

- Buckingham Palace has its own post office, which is not open to the public.

- In 1840, a special 'Penny Black' was designed for royal use only, and contained the monarch's insignia (VR), but was never really used.

- The Royal Mail owns the trademark on its particular shade of red.

- Pillar boxes in Scotland do not carry the queen's cypher, because Queen Elizabeth I was only queen of England, and therefore Queen Elizabeth II is not the second queen of Scotland.  (If this makes any sense to anyone, please enlighten me.)