Mulready envelope with pre-first day of issue cancellation date of May 4, 1840

May 4, 1840

On May 6, 1840, Great Britain issued the Mulready envelopes, the Mulready letter sheets, and the first postage stamps, all as part of its postal reform movement. Prior to that time, the addressee rather than the sender had paid the postage. Over time, though, people had realized that they could avoid paying the postage by refusing to accept their mail. Since the post office had done all the work of getting a letter from point A to point B without getting paid, a significant loss of revenue ensued. Complex postal rates resulted, and rates were set artificially high to compensate for the loss.