Our final instalment surrounding the history of the parcel focuses on postal services that date back as far as the seventeenth century. The postal system exploded into life during the 17th century with significant developments in the industry occurring across the UK and the US. The way in which parcel service’s ship items internationally has changed dramatically over the years, whilst you may be surprised to learn about the origins of the postal system in many countries and how local postage has changed since its introduction.
In 1635, Charles I made the first ever postage system available to the public, whereby the recipient would pay for any post or parcel that they received. This was the birth of the Royal Mail service in the UK. Meanwhile, four years later in the United States, the General Court of Massachusetts designated the tavern of Richard Fairbanks in Boston as the first postal establishment for the 13 colonies. It was known as the official repository of overseas mail.
In 1660, Charles II established the General Post Office which combined the state postal system and telecommunications in its services. Three years later, the Colony of Barbados welcomed the Imperial Post Office to its lands for the first time. Later in the century, William Dockwra introduced the London Penny Post, the first local postal service to come into existence. In the same century, Switzerland began using private postal services in Bern for the first time.
If you need to send a parcel abroad in the near future and need an up-to-date service that is certain to get your gift or item from A to B without incident, have a look at some of the services RAND Logistics has to offer.