Pre-adhesive mail

Pre-adhesive mail, also called pre-stamp mail, are

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

carried in mail systems before the issuance of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s. A stampless cover is another description and generally also refers to any item of mail sent before the issuance of

s but it can also refer to mail sent, after the introduction of postage stamps, unpaid (as was permitted in many countries) or without the pre-payment being indicated by the affixing of a postage stamp; it could have been pre-paid in cash and marked paid. This mail is usually a

letter sheet In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...

because the use of

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...

s was not popularised until after the introduction of postage stamps. Pre-adhesive mail includes court and government letters and items from the general populace before official public mail services were introduced. The mail often bears distinctive town and other marks applied worldwide. In the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

pre-adhesive mail was the norm before the Penny Black and

Two pence Blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6, ...

stamps were issued for use by the General Post Office on 6 May 1840, and in other countries, to mail used prior to each country's

postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal policies, postal rat ...

adopted adhesive labels to indicate postage had been pre-paid. In the United States, the majority of stampless mail was sent collect. This meant that the person receiving the letter paid the postage. This type of letter was not marked Paid. Pre-payment of postage was not mandatory in the U.S.A. until 1856. This greatly impacted small town postmasters as they were compensated based on the amount of postage they collected. Pre-adhesive mail Philatelic terminology {{Philately-stub