Penpalling & Letters

Friday, 11 February 2011

Mail Trivia X

Did you know that...

candles were once used to determine the cost of postage?
In 1693 letters were being held in front of a candle to determine the postage rate. The less the light would shine through, the more costly your postage rate would be. This was known as candling.

2 comments:

  1. That wouldn't be the best idea with our mail now :-) Especially postcards :-)

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  2. Very neat!! I did not know this little bit of postal history. =)

    ReplyDelete