When Did You Stop Licking Stamps?

By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007. Lambda rep...

DNA

DNA. Stamps. When Did You Stop Licking Stamps?

I saw a television show recently where police detectives claimed they were going to test the DNA on a stamp licked by one of their suspects

When was the last time you licked a stamp?

History of U.S. Stamp Adhesives

In 1974, the U.S. Post Office issued self-stick stamps as an experiment to speed postal service by using stamps that did not have to be cancelled.

Most stamp collectors kept the stamps on the liners they came with. They were designed to tear apart so if you put them on an envelope and tried to re-use them you could not.

The stamps discolored, however, making them unsuitable for stamp collectors.

The effort was abandoned until 1989, when a 15-city, 30-day test was initiated.

But, you had to pay extra for self-adhesive stamps, compared to the stamps you licked. Consumers did not adopt them.

The next version, in 1991, was sold at face value, but was printed on plastic, which did not work well for recyclers.

A subsequent version, the Liberty Torch, in 1991 was printed on stamp paper, as they are today.

Rate of Adoption

By 1994, self-adhesive stamps represented eight percent of the total in the U.S.

By 1998, self-adhesive stamps represented 85 percent of the total.

To solve the problem of reusing stamps that have not been cancelled, stamps are designed to be removable after soaking in water for 30 minutes. But, it can take 45, depending on the kind of paper they are stuck to.

When was the last time you licked a stamp?

Have you ever noticed a detail on a tv show or in a book that was out-of-date?

Did you ever collect stamps? Rocks? Baseball cards? Coins?

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To you and the many stories you have to tell about how things used to be.

Carol Covin, “Granny-Guru”

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

http://newgrandmas.com