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A Brief History of Postage – From Pigeons to Machines

A Brief History of Postage – From Pigeons to Machines

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Do you know the history of communication? From smoke signals, pigeons, until we got into machines? If not, we will discuss it in this article. Our forefathers used smoke signals to pass messages over a long distance. Smoke Signals were used to warn individuals of dangers or other important occurrences that everyone needed to know.

The disadvantage of this is that it was public. No private message could get sent on such medium, thus a need for written messages. Here is a brief description of how the postage evolved from being sent through pigeons to machines.

●    Through Pigeons

Pigeons do travel long distances compared to other types of birds. That’s why they got bred to perform this crucial duty of communication. How was it done? A small note got written then put on a small metal casing, which got tied to a pigeon’s leg. It would then be labeled to go to a particular location, deliver the message, and return home. How was it carried secretly? To avoid suspicion, birds got released at regular intervals, and no one could identify the one taking the message. These pigeons could deliver messages to armies in the war or different designated people, and it was a form of passing secret notes. From pigeons, the communication evolved to sending letters via bottles.

●    Message in a bottle

This mode of communication was done in the 16th century, and it involved the military. The message was put into a bottle, and then the bottle got dropped into the sea. It was used by the navy army to send messages to the land to signify an enemy or vice versa. Let’s check on this website to see how far we have reached with postage communication. Before we continue to the next mode, an exciting story gets told of the Queen, who even appointed someone to be opening such messaging bottles. If anyone else found the container, they were required to send it to the appointed bottle opener. The opening of these bottles by anyone else was a crime, punishable by death.

●    Telegrams

After the bottle saga, then came the telegram. The telegram got considered a modern way of communication since it involved machines. It began in 1837, where there were two inventions. One was done by Wheatstone and Cooke based in England while the other by Samuel Morse, in the United States. Samuel Morse developed a dot and dash electrical telegraph communication method that began offering the standard features in telegrams.

Telegram became the most used communication feature on the West Coast and evolved into other modern means. With improved technology, telegram grew to an audio transponder, where messages got translated into audio, from the initial register and tape. From the telegram, pony express was launched.

●    Pony Express

In 1860, a new mode of communication was launched and involved expressly sending messages through the Great Plains and Rockies. How did this work? It was a relay of horse riders, whereby they were used to send letters, newspapers, magazines, and other printed messages. This mode of communication operated from April 1860 to October 1861 and used to work between Missouri and California in the United States. This communication reduced sending messages from coast to coast to just ten days, becoming the most effective mode of communication. There were a series of horse stations where they exchanged these letters and messages, enabling them to cover more extensive areas.

●    Fax Machines

Fax machines were launched just after telephones. They began being commercialized in the 1960s when Xerox introduced the photocopier machine. It involved sending digital messages through phone lines where it got printed to the other end. This communication mode helped the world in conversing and replaced other forms of communication, including telegrams and courier mails.

●    Balloon Mail

From the Pony Express, the communication evolved to the Balloon mail. This mode of communication involved letters being sent through balloons filled with helium or hydrogen gas. Mostly, it was used by anonymous senders to send letters from unknown locations to a designated place. It was used by propagandists and activists who were fueling war or passing a message against the governments. The areas where it got mostly used include North Korea and West Germany in the mid-1950s.
Later on, other modes of communication rose significantly, including pagers, cellphones, instant messaging, and finally, texting and social media chats. With these improvements, it’s now easier to communicate than in ancient times, and things are becoming easier and affordable. While embracing these modern gadgets, we shouldn’t forget where we came from.
 
 
 
 
 

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