A Brief History of the Envelope

Mersad Berberović Follow

Aug 11, 2016 · 5 min read

Like to send letters in the mail? Always use an envelope? Envelopes are used each and
every day to send mail around the world. The use of envelopes is so ingrained in society
that many people don’t even think about how the envelope came about. Although it
seems such a simple stationery item, the envelope plays a major part in everyone’s
everyday life to help with the proper transport of important documents, letters, and
information.

Whether you send or receive mail, it will be packed securely within an envelope. This is
to help make the sending and transport of the documents within a much easier one. So,
how did the envelope come about, you ask? The following is a brief guide to the history
of the envelope and where it first originated, to what it has become today.

Prior to 1845 — The Beginning of the Envelope

Before 1845, envelopes were handmade, and were available for use by commercial and
domestic applications. Warren De La Rue and Edwin Hill, in 1845, were granted the first
British patent for the first envelope making machine. Although machine made, the
envelopes which were produced weren’t the same as the ones you see today.

These were rhombus, or flat diamond-shaped sheets which were pre-cut before being
fed through a machine for creasing. Once they were creased, they were made ready for
easy folding into a rectangular shaped enclosure. The edges of these envelopes which
overlapped were treated using an adhesive or paste to help secure the flap down after
the letter was placed inside. The way the symmetrical flap was arranged allowed people
to place their own wax seal at the apex of the flap.

The Use of Diamond-Shaped Envelopes

Diamond shaped envelopes were used at the beginning of the 19th century. These were
used mainly for invitations or for letters by those who had the time to create them. In the
UK they first became more widespread when monopoly control was taken by the British
Government over the UK postal service.

The government tasked Rowland Hill to introduce it to the public. Launched in May
1840, the new service introduced an illustrated version of the envelope, with the much
appreciated and celebrated first adhesive-backed postage stamp: the Penny Black. In the
production of this stamp, the Jacob Perkins printing process was used to help deter any
forgeries or counterfeiting. These stationery pieces were sold and printed in sheets of
12.

The illustrations used for the envelopes were created by William Mulready; however,
these envelopes were withdrawn after a backlash of ridicule followed about the
illustrations. From here, the design of the envelope was made plain, but still with the
postage stamp required.

Envelope Making Machines That Cost Millions

The Fourdrinier Machine is the most famous of all paper making machines. This
machine which creates the paper includes the process of taking the pre-processed pulp
stock and transforming it into a continuous web, which is then gathered into a circular
reel. The reel is then guillotined along the edges to create large rectangular sheets of
paper.

This has been done since the time Gutenberg invented the Gutenberg press paper. To
this day, all mechanical printing machines, including the typewriter, have been designed
to process sheets of paper which are rectangular in shape. Today there are different sizes
of paper used for different applications. The most commonly used size of paper is the A4
paper.

Printing on envelopes, however, calls for skill and attention by the machine operator to
make sure the right level of printing is printed on the different envelope paper type and
thickness. Commercial printing of envelopes is referred to as overprinting. This is
generally seen on the front of the envelope. If printing is required on the front and on all
flaps, the process is called printing on the flat. Today’s illustrated envelopes and
pictorial envelopes are said to have originated from Mulready stationery.

High quality envelope-making machines were introduced at the end of the 20th century.
These machines cost anywhere up to $1 million dollars, and they can produce 1200 pre-
gummed envelopes each minute, in boxes of 1000. By the end of the process these are
ready for distribution. Due to the manufacturing costs of these machines, there were
very few manufacturers who appeared throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Winkler+Dunnebier is one of the leading enterprises which developed up to two-thirds
of the machines today that mass produce envelopes.

Envelopes in Today’s Society

In 1998, at the end of the 20th century, the revolution of digital printing took a step
forward with the U.S postal service becoming the first postal authority which approved
the application of a postage stamp to envelopes in a PC sheet printer bin via the internet.
This newly innovative postage stamp design allowed for commercial businesses to mass
produce pre-customized envelopes that were ready to be mailed.

Today, envelopes are mass produced still; however, with the current technology and new
means of sending messages, there has been a slight decline in the use of postage mail.
This decline hasn’t stopped envelope and stationery manufacturers, as there are tens of
thousands of businesses which send out paper envelopes every day. With people and
businesses still continuing to send out mail with envelopes, the envelope will continue to
thrive for many more centuries to come, and it will be a strong competitor in a
technology-based world.
Conclusion

Envelopes are used each and every day to send letters and important information
around the world. Without envelopes, people could read each other’s mail as it’s being
transported from one location to another. Envelopes not only help to send letters, but
they also promote privacy for all of your information. As you can see, envelopes have
come a long way since they began all those years ago. If you love sending letters or need
to send documents by mail, why not take a moment to appreciate the envelope and
understand just how much it is taken for granted without a second thought. So, are you
going to send your next letter in an envelope?

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