Editing Mail (section)

== History ==
{{anchor|history of postal systems}}<!-- linked -->
[[File:Houttakin postitalo.jpg|thumb|Many early post systems consisted of fixed courier routes. Here, a post house on a postal route in the 19th century [[Finland]]]]
The practice of communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of [[writing]]. However, the development of formal postal systems occurred much later. The first documented use of an organized [[courier]] service for the dissemination of written documents is in [[Egypt]], where [[Pharaoh]]s used couriers to send out decrees throughout the territory of the state (2400 BCE).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Altaweel, Mark |author2=Andrea Squitieri |title=Long-Distance Trade and Economy before and during the Age of Empires." Revolutionizing a World: From Small States to Universalism in the Pre-Islamic Near East |publisher=University College London Press |date=2018 |location= |pages=177 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt21c4td4.10 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt21c4td4.10 |id= |isbn=978-1-911576-65-5 |jstor=j.ctt21c4td4.10 |access-date=2022-01-21 |archive-date=2022-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121104655/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt21c4td4.10 |url-status=live }}</ref> The earliest surviving piece of mail is also Egyptian, dating to 255 BCE.<ref>{{cite web |title=About UPU: History |publisher=[[Universal Postal Union]] |date=2 October 2013 |url=https://www.upu.int/en/Universal-Postal-Union/About-UPU/History |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=10 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110104905/https://www.upu.int/en/Universal-Postal-Union/About-UPU/History |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Persia (Iran) ===
{{main|Royal Road|Chapar-Khaneh|Angarium}}
The first credible claim for the development of a real postal system comes from [[Ancient Persia]]. The best-documented claim ([[Xenophon]]) attributes the invention to the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great]] (550 BCE), who mandated that every province in his kingdom would organize reception and delivery of post to each of its citizens. Other writers credit his successor [[Darius I of Persia]] (521 BCE). Other sources claim much earlier dates for an Assyrian postal system, with credit given to [[Hammurabi]] (1700 BCE) and [[Sargon II of Assyria|Sargon II]] (722 BCE). Mail may not have been the primary mission of this postal service, however. The role of the system as an intelligence gathering apparatus is well documented, and the service was (later) called ''angariae'', a term that in time came to indicate a tax system. The [[Old Testament]] ([[Esther]], VIII) makes mention of this system: [[Xerxes I|Ahasuerus]], king of [[Persians|Persian]], used couriers for communicating his decisions.

The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] system worked using stations (called [[Chapar Khaneh|Chapar-Khaneh]]), whence the message carrier (called [[Chapar Khaneh|Chapar]]) would ride to the next post, whereupon he would swap his horse with a fresh one for maximum performance and delivery speed. [[Herodotus]] described the system in this way: "It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day's journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed".<ref>Herodotus, Herodotus, trans. A.D. Godley, vol. 4, book 8, verse 98, pp. 96–97 (1924).</ref> The verse prominently features on New York's [[James Farley Post Office]], although it uses the translation "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".

=== India ===

[[File:Red Scinde Dawk stamp.jpg|thumb|The use of the [[Scinde Dawk]] adhesive stamps to signify the prepayment of postage began on 1 July 1852 in the [[Scinde]]/[[Sindh]] district,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstissues.org/ficc/details/scinde_1.shtml |title=First Issues Collectors Club of stamps and philatelic material |access-date=2007-07-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904135544/http://www.firstissues.org/ficc/details/scinde_1.shtml |archive-date=2012-09-04 }} First Issues Collectors Club (retrieved 25 September)</ref> as part of a comprehensive reform of the district's postal system.]]
{{main|Postal history of India}}
The economic growth and political stability under the [[Mauryan Empire]] (322–185 BCE) stimulated sustained development of civil infrastructure in ancient [[India]]. The Mauryans developed early Indian mail service as well as public wells, rest houses, and other facilities for the public.<ref>Dorn 2006: 145</ref> Common chariots called ''Dagana'' were sometimes used as mail chariots in ancient India.<ref>Prasad 2003: 104</ref> Couriers were used militarily by kings and local rulers to deliver information through runners and other carriers. The postmaster, the head of the intelligence service, was responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the courier system. Couriers were also used to deliver personal letters.<ref>Mazumdar 1990: 1</ref>

In [[South India]], the [[Wodeyar dynasty]] (1399–1947) of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] used mail service for espionage purposes thereby acquiring knowledge related to matters that took place at great distances.<ref>Aiyangar 2004: 302</ref>

By the end of the 18th century, a postal system in India was in operation. Later this system underwent complete modernization when the [[British Raj]] established its control over most of India. The ''Post Office Act XVII'' of 1837 provided that the Governor-General of India in Council had the exclusive right of conveying letters by post for hire within the territories of the East India Company. The mails were available to certain officials without charge, which became a controversial privilege as the years passed. On this basis the Indian Post Office was established on October 1, 1837.<ref>Lowe 1951: 134</ref>

=== Rome ===
{{main|cursus publicus}}
The first well-documented postal service was that of [[Rome]]. Organized at the time of [[Augustus Caesar]] (62 BCE – 14 CE), the service was called ''[[cursus publicus]]'' and was provided with light carriages (''rhedæ'') pulled by fast horses. By the time of [[Diocletian]], a parallel service was established with two-wheeled carts (''birotæ'') pulled by [[oxen]]. This service was reserved for government correspondence. Yet another service for citizens was later added.{{Citation needed|date=October 2013}}{{dubious|date=October 2013}}

=== Vietnam ===
In 1802, the first Vietnamese postal service was established under the [[Nguyễn dynasty|Nguyen dynasty]], under the Ministry of Rites.<ref name="Tran">{{Cite web |last=Tran |first=Lanh |title=Lịch sử Bưu điện Việt Nam: Hành trình từ thời Nguyễn đến thời Pháp thuộc |url=https://vietnamnet.vn/lich-su-buu-dien-viet-nam-hanh-trinh-tu-thoi-nguyen-den-thoi-phap-thuoc-i418194.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=VietNamNet News |language=vietnamese}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lịch sử Bưu điện Việt Nam: Hành trình từ thời Nguyễn đến thời Pháp thuộc |url=https://lamdong.gov.vn/sites/stttt/bc-vt/SitePages/Lich-su-Buu-dien-Viet-Nam-Hanh-trinh-tu-thoi-Nguyen-den-thoi-Phap-thuoc.aspx |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=lamdong.gov.vn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-25 |title=Lịch sử Bưu điện Việt Nam: Hành trình từ thời Nguyễn đến thời Pháp thuộc |url=https://mic.gov.vn/mic_2020/Pages/TinTuc/tinchitiet.aspx?tintucid=154941 |access-date=2023-12-28}}</ref> During the Nguyen dynasty, official documents were transported by horse and other primitive means to stations built about 25-30 kilometers apart.<ref name="Tran"/> In 1904, three wireless communication offices were established, and in early 1906 they were merged with the postal service to form the Post and Wireless Office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=70 năm truyền thống của Ngành Bưu điện: Những dấu ấn lịch sử |url=https://dangcongsan.vn/tu-tuong-van-hoa/70-nam-truyen-thong-cua-nganh-buu-dien-nhung-dau-an-lich-su-317038.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=dangcongsan.vn |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Kỷ niệm 75 năm Ngày truyền thống ngành Bưu điện |url=https://hcmcpv.org.vn/tin-tuc/ky-niem-75-nam-ngay-truyen-thong-nganh-buu-dien-1491868474 |access-date=2023-12-28 |newspaper=Trang Tin Điện Tử Đảng Bộ Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh}}</ref> In 1945, after the August Revolution, the Post and Wireless Office was renamed the Post Office under the Ministry of Transportation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Công tác thông tin liên lạc từ sau Cách mạng tháng 8 năm 1945 đến năm 1954 |url=https://hanoi.vnpt.vn/gioi-thieu/cong-tac-thong-tin-lien-lac-tu-sau-cach-mang-thang-8-nam-1945-den-nam-1954-2-3006235.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=hanoi.vnpt.vn |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Trần |first=Lành |date=2021-08-15 |title=Long Hưng Phát Expresss |url=https://longhungphat.com.vn/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=thanhnien.vn |language=vi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ictvietnam.vn |date=2015-11-03 |title=70 năm Ngành Bưu điện Việt Nam: Thông tin liên lạc trong 9 năm kháng chiến chống thực dân Pháp |url=https://ictvietnam.vn/70-nam-nganh-buu-dien-viet-nam-thong-tin-lien-lac-trong-9-nam-khang-chien-chong-thuc-dan-phap-52787.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=Tạp chí điện tử Thông tin và Truyền thông |language=vi}}</ref> In 1955, the Post Office was upgraded to the Ministry of Post.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dấu mốc ngành Bưu điện từ thời kháng chiến đến thời tách quản lý nhà nước và kinh doanh |url=https://mic.gov.vn/bcci/Pages/TinTuc/154942/Dau-moc-nganh-Buu-dien-tu-thoi-khang-chien-den-thoi-tach-quan-ly-nha-nuoc-va-kinh-doanh.html |access-date=2023-12-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ngành TT&TT: Tiếp bước cội nguồn - Khởi tạo tương lai |url=https://lamdong.gov.vn/sites/lamha/tintonghop/vanhoathethao/SitePages/Nganh-TT.aspx |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=lamdong.gov.vn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lịch sử 70 năm phát triển của ngành GTVT Việt Nam |url=https://mt.gov.vn/vn/tin-tuc/34827/lich-su-70-nam-phat-trien-cua-nganh-gtvt-viet-nam.aspx |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=mt.gov.vn}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Main|Postal history of China}}
[[File:Stamp China 1949 4c on 100 silver ovpt.jpg|thumb|[[China]] 4-cent on 100-dollar silver overprint of 1949]]
Some Chinese sources claim mail or postal systems dating back to the [[Xia dynasty|Xia]] or [[Shang dynasty|Shang]] [[list of Chinese dynasties|dynasties]], which would be the oldest mailing service in the world. The earliest credible system of couriers was initiated by the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE), who had relay stations every 30 [[li (unit)|li]] (about 15&nbsp;km) along major routes.

The [[Tang dynasty]] (618 to 907 AD) operated a recorded 1,639 posthouses, including maritime offices, employing around 20,000 people. The system was administered by the Ministry of War and private correspondence was forbidden from the network. The [[Ming dynasty]] (1368 to 1644) sought a postal system to deliver mail quickly, securely, and cheaply. Adequate speed was always a problem, because of the slow overland transportation system, and underfunding. Its network had 1,936 posthouses every 60 li along major routes, with fresh horses available every 10 li between them.<ref>Chelsea Zi Wang, "More Haste, Less Speed: Sources of Friction in the Ming Postal System". ''Late Imperial China'' 40.2 (2019): 89–140.</ref> The [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] operated 1,785 posthouses throughout their lands. More efficient, however, was the system linking the international settlements, centered around Shanghai and the Treaty ports. It was the main communication system for China's international trade.<ref>Lane J. Harris, "Stumbling towards empire: the Shanghai Local Post Office, the transnational British community and informal empire in China, 1863–97". ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 46.3 (2018): 418–445.</ref>

=== Mongol Empire ===
{{main|Örtöö}}
[[Genghis Khan]] installed an empire-wide messenger and postal station system named ''[[Örtöö]]'' within the [[Mongol Empire]]. During the [[Yuan dynasty]] under [[Kublai Khan]], this system also covered the territory of China. Postal stations were used not only for the transmission and delivery of [[official mail]] but were also available for travelling officials, military men, and foreign dignitaries. These stations aided and facilitated the transport of foreign and domestic tribute specifically and the conduct of trade in general.

By the end of Kublai Khan's rule, there were more than 1400 postal stations in China alone, which in turn had at their disposal about 50,000 horses, 1,400 oxen, 6,700 mules, 400 carts, 6,000 boats, more than 200 dogs, and 1,150 sheep.<ref name=Mote/>

The stations were {{convert|25|to|65|km|abbr=on}} apart and had reliable attendants working for the mail service. Foreign observers, such as [[Marco Polo]], have attested to the efficiency of this early postal system.<ref name=Mote>Mote 1978: 450</ref>

Each station was maintained by up to twenty five families. Work for postal service counted as military service. The system was still operational in 18th century when 64 stations were required for a message to cross Mongolia from the [[Altai Mountains]] to China.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weatherford|first=Jack|title=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World|year=2004}}</ref>

=== Japan===
The modern Japanese system was developed in the mid-19th century, closely copying European models. Japan was highly innovative in developing the world's largest and most successful postal savings system and later a postal life insurance system as well. Postmasters play a key role in linking the Japanese political system to local politics. The postmasters are high prestige, and are often hereditary.<ref>Patricia L. Maclachlan, ''The people's post office: The history and politics of the Japanese postal system, 1871–2010'' (Brill, 2012).</ref> To a large extent, the postal system generated the enormous funding necessary to rapidly industrialize Japan in the late 19th century.<ref>Sheldon Garon, ''Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves'' (2012) pp 143–67.</ref>

=== Korea ===
{{Main|Postage stamps and postal history of Korea}}
The postal service was one of Korea's first attempts at modernization. The Joseon Post Office was established in 1884.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Korea's first modern postal service started in 1884 |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/06/113_76706.html |work=[[The Korea Times]]}}</ref>

=== Other systems ===
[[File:Poczta Główna (Main post office) (9159136558).jpg|thumbnail|An example of a main post office building in [[Kraków]], [[Poland]]]]
[[File:Post-cycle-Cologne-508.jpg|thumb|Delivery by bicycle in [[Germany]]]]
Another important postal service was created in the [[Islam]]ic world by the ''[[caliph]]'' Mu'awiyya; the service was called ''[[Barid (caliphate)|barid]]'', for the name of the towers built to protect the roads by which couriers travelled.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | article = Post, or Barid | first = Adam | last = Silverstein | encyclopedia = Medieval Islamic Civilization, An Encyclopedia, Volume 2: L–Z, Index | editor-first = Josef W. | editor-last = Meri | publisher = Routledge | location = Leiden and New York | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-415-96692-2 | pages = 631–632 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&pg=PA631 }}</ref>

By 3000 BC, Egypt was using [[homing pigeon]]s for [[pigeon post]], taking advantage of a singular quality of this bird, which when taken far from its nest is able to find its way home due to a particularly developed sense of orientation. Messages were then tied around the legs of the pigeon, which was freed and could reach its original nest. By the 19th century, homing pigeons were used extensively for military communications.<ref>Carter W. Clarke, "Signal Corps Pigeons". ''The Military Engineer'' 25.140 (1933): 133–138 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44563742 Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229005845/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44563742 |date=2020-02-29 }}.</ref>

[[Charlemagne]] extended to the whole territory of his empire the system used by [[Franks]] in northern [[Gaul]] and connected this service with that of [[missus dominicus|''missi dominici'']].<ref>François L. Ganshof, "The impact of Charlemagne on the institutions of the Frankish realm". ''Speculum'' 40.1 (1965): 47–62 {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200727132801/http://spraguehs.com/staff/curry_michael/02%20World%20Humanities/DRAG/DBQs/CharlemagneDBQ.pdf Online .]}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2023}}

In the mid-11th century, flax traders known as the [[Cairo Geniza]] Merchants from [[Fustat]], Egypt wrote about using a postal service known as the ''kutubi.'' The ''kutubi'' system managed routes between the cities of Jerusalem, Ramla, Tyre, Ascalon, Damascus, Aleppo, and Fustat with year-round, regular mail delivery.<ref>Goldberg, Jessica, "Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean : The Geniza Merchants and Their Business World". ''Cambridge University Press'', (2012): 189–193.</ref>

Many religious orders had a private mail service. Notably, the [[Cistercians]] had one which connected more than 6,000 [[abbey]]s, [[monastery|monasteries]], and churches. The best organization, however, was created by the [[Knights Templar]].<ref>Marco Mostert, "New approaches to medieval communication?" in ''New approaches to medieval communication'' (1999) pp. 15–37.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2023}}

In 1716, Correos y Telégrafos was established in Spain as public mail service, available to all citizens. Delivery postmen were first employed in 1756 and post boxes were installed firstly in 1762.<ref>Alvaro Escribano, Patricia González, and Julio Lasheras. "Evolution and Analysis of the Market Structure of Postal Services in Spain" in ''Competitive Transformation of the Postal and Delivery Sector'' (Springer, 2003) pp. 287–309.</ref>

=== Thurn und Taxis ===
In 1505, [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] established a postal system in the Empire, appointing Franz von Taxis to run it. This system, originally the ''[[Kaiserliche Reichspost]]'', is often considered the first modern postal service in the world, which initiated a revolution in communication in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Metzig |first1=Gregor |title=Kommunikation und Konfrontation: Diplomatie und Gesandtschaftswesen Kaiser Maximilians I. (1486–1519) |date=21 November 2016 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-045673-8 |pages=98, 99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiyXDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |access-date=7 February 2022 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Meinel |first1=Christoph |last2=Sack |first2=Harald |title=Digital Communication: Communication, Multimedia, Security |date=2014 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9783642543319 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926235052/https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pavlac |first1=Brian A. |last2=Lott |first2=Elizabeth S. |title=The Holy Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=1 June 2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-4856-8 |page=255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arSYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |access-date=7 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref> The system combined contemporary technical and organization means to create a stable transcontinental service which was also the first to offer (fee-based) public access.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stollberg-Rilinger |first1=Barbara |title=The Holy Roman Empire: A Short History |date=11 May 2021 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21731-4 |pages=46, 47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5IIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |access-date=24 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rossum |first1=Gerhard Dohrn-van |last2=Dohrn |first2=Gerhard |title=History of the Hour: Clocks and Modern Temporal Orders |date=1996 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-15511-1 |page=336 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYhlNoUu-toC&pg=PA336 |access-date=24 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fang |first1=Irving E. |title=Alphabet to Internet: Mediated Communication in Our Lives |date=2008 |publisher=Rada Press |isbn=978-1-933011-90-5 |page=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_PtAAAAMAAJ |access-date=14 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Thurn and Taxis postal system European history Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Thurn-and-Taxis-postal-system |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
 The [[Thurn und Taxis]] family, then known as Tassis, had operated postal services between Italian city-states from 1290 onward. [[File:Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis.jpg|thumb|Postmaster [[Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis]] (1681–1739), still today part of the logo of the Whitepages in many countries]] For 500 years the postal business based in Brussels and in Frankfurt was passed from one generation to another. Following the abolition of the Empire in 1806, the [[Thurn-und-Taxis Post]] system continued as a private organization into the postage stamp era before being absorbed into the postal system of the new German Empire after 1871.[[File:Prince_Maximilian_Karl_von_Thurn_und_Taxis.jpg|thumb|Postmaster [[Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis]] (1802–1871), last Postmaster]] 1 July 1867, the State of Prussia had to make a compensation payment of 3.000.000 Thalers reinvested by [[Duchess Helene in Bavaria|Helene von Thurn & Taxis]], daughter-in-law of the last postmaster, [[Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis]], into real estate, most of it continuing to exist today.

The Phone Book of the World has its roots in the long history of the avant-garde telecommunications family Thurn & Taxis.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pbof.com/thurn-taxis/#1986 |title=Thurn & Taxis pushing a comeback of Telecom activities in Paris, next to the last, still existing historic Postal mansion |access-date=2022-01-12 |archive-date=2021-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227211940/http://pbof.com/thurn-taxis/#1986 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2023|reason=Self referencing source|certain=|name=}} The directory is the result of [[Johannes von Thurn und Taxis|Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn & Taxis]] transmitting PTT culture to a student and helping with the opening of a small Telephone Boutique next to a historic Postal mansion his ancestors used to go to centuries earlier.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pbof.com/thurn-taxis/#1702 |title=The Paris Hotel de la Poste / VB mansion, connecting point of the Post in the Bourbon territories and operated by the Pajot & Rouille family and the Post in the Habsburg territories operated by the Thurn & Taxis family |access-date=2022-01-12 |archive-date=2021-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227211940/http://pbof.com/thurn-taxis/#1702 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{Unreliable source?|date=April 2023|reason=Self referencing source|certain=|name=}}[[File:Johannes,_11th_Prince_of_Thurn_and_Taxis_(1981).jpg|thumb|[[Johannes von Thurn und Taxis|Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn & Taxis]] (1926–1990), heir of the Postal fortune]] Several European post carriers like [[Deutsche Post]] or [[Austrian Post]] continue to use the Thurn & Taxis Post Horn in their company logo just like the global Phone Book of the World based in the old Postal mansion of King Louis XIV in Paris.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pbof.com/ |title=Phone Book of the World using the Thurn & Taxis Posthorn in the company logo |access-date=2022-01-12 |archive-date=2021-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017155535/https://pbof.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2023|reason=Self referencing source|certain=|name=}}

=== Postal reforms ===
[[File:Penny black.jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|The [[Penny Black]], the world's first postage stamp]]
{{see also|Uniform Fourpenny Post|Uniform Penny Post}}
In the United Kingdom, prior to 1840 letters were paid for by the recipient and the cost was determined by the distance from sender to recipient and the number of sheets of paper rather than by a countrywide flat rate with weight restrictions. [[Rowland Hill (postal reformer)|Sir Rowland Hill]] reformed the postal system based on the concepts of [[Uniform Penny Post|penny postage]] and prepayment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/rowland-hill-postal-reforms/ |title=Rowland Hill's Postal Reforms |work=The British Postal Museum & Archive |access-date=22 January 2023 |url-status=live |archive-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122034542/https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/rowland-hill-postal-reforms/ }}</ref> In his proposal, Hill also called for official pre-printed [[Mulready stationery|envelopes]] and adhesive [[postage stamp]]s as alternative ways of getting the sender to pay for the postage, at a time when prepayment was optional, which led to the invention of the postage stamp, the [[Penny Black]].

=== Modern transport and technology ===

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R36070, Luftpost.jpg|thumb|upright|The first [[airmail]] flight in Germany, 1912]]
The postal system was important in the development of modern transportation. Railways carried [[railway post office]]s. During the 20th century, [[air mail]] became the transport of choice for inter-continental mail. Postmen started to use [[mail truck]]s. The handling of mail became increasingly automated.

The [[Internet]] came to change the conditions for physical mail. Email (and in recent years [[social networking]] sites) became a fierce competitor to physical mail systems, but [[online auction]]s and [[Internet shopping]] opened new business opportunities as people often get items bought online through the mail.