High Points in Postal History
There’s a first time for everything, including sending things by mail. Before the invention of writing, there was no mail. Postal history was born when the Mesopotamians invented writing about 9500 years ago as a way to keep track of bushels of grain and jars of olive oil they shipped by pack animal or boat. Their writing was on clay tablets delivered with the goods. You might call these things early bills of lading.
Fast forward several thousand years in postal history to 2400 BC. The ancient Egyptians had state-appointed mail couriers who delivered messages throughout the kingdom. The earliest surviving piece of mail is an Egyptian papyrus from 255 BC.
Other ancient cultures followed suit. There were mail couriers in Persia, Arabia, India, and Peru. An ancient postal invention still in use today is the envelope. The first envelopes were made of cloth, animal skins, or vegetable peels. In the second century BC, the Chinese invented paper and the paper envelope was born. You can carry on the age-old tradition of mailing things in envelopes when you shop at your nearest Postal Connections Service Center. We stock all kinds of envelopes. Sorry, no animal skins!
Postal History and Mice in Mailboxes
The modern postal system as we know it was developed in Paris by Frenchman Jean-Jacques Renouard de Villayer in 1653. He set up mailboxes and delivered any letters placed in them if folks used the postage-paid envelopes that he sold. His business took a turn for the worse when a jealous competitor put live mice in people’s mailboxes to scare his customers.
There are no mice in mailboxes at Postal Connections. Every Postal Connections Service Center offers dedicated mailbox rental service with an individual physical address for each business or private user. You’ll never have to worry about ‘porch pirates’ or your mail getting rained on.
We receive your packages, notify you when you have mail, and offer electronic scanning of your mail at some locations, if desired. Virtual mail service saves you from the clutter of junk mail festooning your desk. We transform your paper mail into electronic mail that is delivered to your email inbox the following day. No mice either. Check your local service center for availability and details.
Make your own postal history when you get your mail the modern way, with Mailbox Rental Services at Postal Connections.