Postage Stamp Machine
York Street, Broadstairs, U.K.
It's so long since I saw one of these I had forgotten about them. Now I remember it was quite a pleasing experience to use one - the sound of the strip of stamps being fed out of the slot when you lifted the flap marked 'LIFT", and the crisp way your purchased stamps would tear off at the perforations. Quite often, the effectiveness of the perforations was deficient, and you would lose a corner of your last stamp to the benefit of the next purchaser. These machines were very convenient, being available when post offices were closed, and with the cost of stamps being around a half penny to tuppence they could be bought with the available coinage. Now, a stamp will cost you 64p (eqivalent to 153 old pennies btw) so you can see why stamp machines died out.
Postage Stamp Machine
York Street, Broadstairs, U.K.
It's so long since I saw one of these I had forgotten about them. Now I remember it was quite a pleasing experience to use one - the sound of the strip of stamps being fed out of the slot when you lifted the flap marked 'LIFT", and the crisp way your purchased stamps would tear off at the perforations. Quite often, the effectiveness of the perforations was deficient, and you would lose a corner of your last stamp to the benefit of the next purchaser. These machines were very convenient, being available when post offices were closed, and with the cost of stamps being around a half penny to tuppence they could be bought with the available coinage. Now, a stamp will cost you 64p (eqivalent to 153 old pennies btw) so you can see why stamp machines died out.