Postal History

To a philatelist, the “postal history” of a nation – the development of its postal services – is as important as its political history, if not more. Postal History consists of collections of stamps that delineate, not the political history of a nation, but the history of its Post Office.

The history and development of the postal services, postal rates, postal markings, mail carriers and their lines and stages, postmen’s uniforms and such other items as seen in used or mint stamps. For the ardent student of philately, India provides perhaps the richest and most varied wealth of materials for Postal History.

Postal History exhibits are arranged in a way as, to show the history and development of the chosen aspect of the postal services. Consequently, FDCs are not normally included in a Postal History presentation unless they have been used in course of transmission by post. But Postal History may also contain such items as prints or maps or brochures or news items and cuttings or extracts from books and other material, provided they are relevant to the main subject or relevant to the concerned postal administration. Many philatelists believe that Postal History is really a sub-set of Traditional Philately. However, a Postal History presentation is a very difficult one, usually made by senior philatelists specializing in this area. I have once seen the history of Railway Mail Service of India being exhibited side by side with the history of the Indian Railways by an enthusiastic philatelist, in which among other items, the date-stamps and postage-due stamps impressed by RMS Sorting Sections on letters posted to these Sections by the public at various railway stations, had been presented starting right from the beginnings of the RMS in India.