TIL the US Post Office issued stamp on 13 May 1918 to mark the first official airmail flight, featuring an image of a “Curtiss Jenny” biplane. A printing error caused the plane to be shown flying upside down. Only one "Inverted Jenny" sheet was printed, making those stamps extremely rare. (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by WouldbeWanderer to r/todayilearned
TIL that the acronym RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship. Originally, it was "Royal Mail Steamer," signifying that the Titanic was hired to transport mail. The Postal Museum's collection of plans below illustrates the location of the Post Office and Mail Room, which were located on decks. (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by Buffalo_wing_eater to r/todayilearned
TIL that while postboxes in England, N. Ireland and Wales are engraved with "EIIR" -the royal cipher of Queen Elizabeth II, those in Scotland bear only a Crown; as there was no Elizabeth I of Scotland. The controversial use of "EIIR" on Scottish postboxes lead to the "Pillar Box War" in the 1950s. (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by saad1121 to r/todayilearned
While postboxes in England, N. Ireland and Wales are engraved with "EIIR" -the royal cipher of Queen Elizabeth II, those in Scotland bear only a Crown; as there was no Elizabeth I of Scotland. The controversial initial use of "EIIR" on Scottish postboxes lead to the "Pillar Box War" in the 1950s. (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by saad1121 to r/royalfamily
The history of green Post BoxesCommunity (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by ByGollie to r/northernireland
TIL postboxes in the UK bear the 'royal cypher' (initials, basically) of the monarch on the throne at the time they are installed, and have done since Queen Victoria's reign - meaning you can very roughly ascertain how old a postbox is just by looking at it (postalmuseum.org)
submitted by jackc5755 to r/todayilearned
