Pre-adhesive mail
Pre-adhesive mail, or pre-stamp mail, refers to letters sent before postage stamps existed. It’s often called a stampless cover and includes mail from governments and ordinary people before public postal services began. Envelopes were not common, so most items were on plain letter sheets and often carried distinctive town marks.
In the United Kingdom, pre-adhesive mail was standard before the first stamps—the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue—were issued on 6 May 1840. After stamps were adopted, countries used labels to show postage had been prepaid.
In the United States, most stampless mail was sent collect—the recipient paid the postage, and such letters were not marked Paid. Pre-payment of postage was not mandatory there until 1856, which affected postmasters who earned money based on collected postage.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:29 (CET).