A brief history of the Post Office : issued by the General Post Office, London, c1960 : cover design by Edgar Longman
It seems oddly right to post this at present - the booklet in the introduction notes the history of the letters service spanning the reigns of two Queen Elizabeths; Elizabeth I who reigned from 1558 until 1603 and "our own Queen Elizabeth who came to the throne in February 1952" and whose long reign has just ended. This cover indeed shows a portrait of Elizabeth Tudor and a definitive stamp of a design in common use during the late Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
At the time of issue the Post Office was responsible not just for postal services and the Post Office network but also a wide range of telecommunications that had started with telegraph services and had grown to encompass telephony. As the booklet says the latter was on the cusp of great growth thanks to new technology such as an established radio network and the new "micro-wave" system that would culminate in the construction of the GPO Tower in London and similar structures elsewhere. Technology was also being used in postal services, such as in mechanised and automated sorting, an area the GPO was often a leader in thanks to the existance of the Post Office's own research laboratories. Over time this was all broken up with the Post Office counters now separated from Royal Mail and the telecommunications long since privatised.
The cover, showing 'old and new' is by Edgar Longman.
A brief history of the Post Office : issued by the General Post Office, London, c1960 : cover design by Edgar Longman
It seems oddly right to post this at present - the booklet in the introduction notes the history of the letters service spanning the reigns of two Queen Elizabeths; Elizabeth I who reigned from 1558 until 1603 and "our own Queen Elizabeth who came to the throne in February 1952" and whose long reign has just ended. This cover indeed shows a portrait of Elizabeth Tudor and a definitive stamp of a design in common use during the late Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
At the time of issue the Post Office was responsible not just for postal services and the Post Office network but also a wide range of telecommunications that had started with telegraph services and had grown to encompass telephony. As the booklet says the latter was on the cusp of great growth thanks to new technology such as an established radio network and the new "micro-wave" system that would culminate in the construction of the GPO Tower in London and similar structures elsewhere. Technology was also being used in postal services, such as in mechanised and automated sorting, an area the GPO was often a leader in thanks to the existance of the Post Office's own research laboratories. Over time this was all broken up with the Post Office counters now separated from Royal Mail and the telecommunications long since privatised.
The cover, showing 'old and new' is by Edgar Longman.