How do you book tickets to our new exhibition celebrating 40 years of The Jolly Postman?
Opening on Saturday 14 February, the exhibition is included within your ticket to the museum, so all you need to do is book a general admission via our website.
The time that you book for is for your Mail Rail ride, so don't forget to head to our depot at the beginning of your visit before heading to our postal history gallery where you'll find out temporary exhibition space.
We can't wait to welcome visitors to our new exhibition when we open in just 10 days time. Let us know in the comments if you're planning to visit.
#PostalMuseum #JollyPostman #LondonMuseum #Museum #LondonKids #LondonFamilies #VisitLondon #LondonExhibition #Exhibition
Do you like post boxes? We've got over several of them.
For many, the red pillar box is an icon, an instantly recognisable signifier that immediately ties a location or landscape to the United Kingdom.
Howeve, the history of the post box lies outside of the British Isles. In the 1850s Anthony Trollope (yes the same one as the author) was travelling through France and Belgium as a surveyor for the General Post Office where he noticed roadside letter boxes. This was much different to the current British system of either waiting for a 'Bellman' to walk down your street or taking it directly to a Receiving House.
Trollope recommended they be implemented and a it was agreed after a successful trial period in the Channel Islands in 1852. The following year they were adopted on the mainland and a cultural icon was born!
#PostalMuseum #Postbox #Heritage #Museum #History
Current mood looking into the weekend - and the rest of the month. 😖
If your mood's been dampened by the upcoming forecast and you're in search of a rainy day activity for half-term then do we have just the thing for you. Our brand new exhibition celebrating 40 years of The Jolly Postman is in full swing.
Step into the story and rediscover Janet and Allan Ahlberg's classic children's book like you've never seen it before. With an immersive reimagining of the Jolly Postman's fairytale postal route, full of interactive exhibits and displays of original artwork.
Included in your museum ticket. Find out more via the link in our bio.
#PostalMuseum #Exhibiton #Museum #London #LondonFamilies #LondonKids
Do these innocuous looking stamps seem familiar to you? Well you probably haven't seen the plane the right way up before.
On this day in 1918, philatelic history was made when a sheet of 'Inverted Jenny' stamps were sold to a Mr William Robey at a Washington D.C. Post Office. This mistake would become arguably one of the most famous - and valuable - printing errors of all time.
We spotted these 6 and 16 cents stamps that were part of the same collection as the infamous 'Inverted Jenny' in our own world stamp collection. The series was originally issued to commemorate the first American Air Mail flight on 15 May 1918, which used a Curtiss JN or 'Jenny' biplane.
However, several sheets of the 24 cents stamps were spotted to have this unique deformity. All of the sheets were discovered and destroyed. All except one. The error was caused because unlike the 6 and 16 cents stamps, the 24 cent stamp featured two colours. This meant the sheet had to be fed into the printing press a second time and in this case it was most likely turned the wrong way.
The sole surviving sheet of 100 stamps made its way to a Washington DC Post Office and sold to a Mr William Robey on 14 May 1918 and the rest is history. It remains one of the most valuable and rarest stamps in the world.
Second photo courtesy of our friends at the @nationalpostalmuseum in Washington D.C.
#PostalMuseum #Stamp #History #Philatelic #StampCollecting #Museum
Have you ever wanted to experience the giddy thrill of using a pneumatic tube? Well we know a place.
Pneumatic Tube systems were primarily used by the General Post Office to send short form messages, such as telegrams - as well as the odd parcel - between buildings in the late 19th and early 20th century. They are even still in use today in other industries!
#PostalMuseum #Pneumatic #Museum #History #PneumaticTube
For the purposes of this trend the admin is simultaneously Gen Z, a Millennial and more than one person. Schrodinger's social media manager if you will.
#PostalMuseum #GenZ #Millenial #MailRail #Museum #London #Train
Did you know May is National Walking Month?
We're sharing the story of Elizabeth Dickson, a rural postwoman whose postal round saw her deliver on foot near the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders.
Elizabeth was well-known in her district, walking thirteen and a half miles each day in the course of her duties and had never been late for duty and taken off just 14 days for illness in her 30 year career.
On her retirement in 1908 it was reported in the General Post Office staff magazine that she had walked an estimated 129,392 miles in her time. A distance equal to walking around the world over five times. Now that's some feat!
#PostalMuseum #History #NationalWalkingMonth #Museum #Walking #Scotland #Melrose
A postbox and a sunny evening, it doesn't matter where you are, it's always picturesque.
This Edward VII pillar was snapped in North London in early May.
#PostboxSaturday #Postbox #Cypher #London #PostalMuseum
Everyone wants to see Mail Rail.
And you - yes YOU - can ride th former postal railway when you pay us a visit at our London museum. How about that?
#MailRail #Train #Museum #London #History
Swipe to see some cool stamps, which decade is your favourite?
Today marks the end of what we're calling Penny Black Week. Despite being first issued on 1 May 1840, it wasn't until 6 May that they were able to be posted.
Since that very first stamp each British monarch's portrait has been immortalised on what's known as a 'Definitive' stamp.
Of course one of our favourite things about stamps are the thousands of different designs that have been printed by countries across the world. In the UK these stamps are known as a 'Commemorative', with the first British design released in 1924 under King George V. However, it wasn't until the 1960s that commemorative stamps were produced more regularly in Britain, as King George V had thought commemorative stamps as being ‘un-English’ and copied from America’.
The expansion in philatelic design during the 1960’s saw leading artists and designers commissioned, most notably David Gentleman who worked on 103 issues just himself, which gives a sense of the incredible number and variety produced in the last 60 years in Britain alone.
Currently Royal Mail produce 13 commemorative sets every month, including one every Christmas. Swipe to see some examples from each decade and how stamp designs have evolved over the last 60 years.
#PostalMuseum #Stamp #History #Philatelic #StampCollection #Museum #Britain
We may not be physically spending our May Day Bank Holiday at the Sunshine Holiday Centre, but mentally and spiritually we are spending it at the Sunshine Holiday Centre.
The classic holiday postcard has been an enduring symbol of British culture for over 125 years, with the very first British picture postcards designed in 1894. That's why we've collected plenty of them over the years, including one woman's postcard album donated to the museum in 2022, of which this postcard is part of.
The postcards were sent between 1970 and 2012 by the woman's family, friends and loved ones. The album is significant for this reason, as it represents postal communication over a forty-year period and also the classic designs of British postcards themselves including the visual culture of British holiday destinations.
#PostalMuseum #Postcard #MayDay #BankHoliday #Britain #History
This week we've been celebrating the birthday of the humble postage stamp.
For 186 years we've been sticking them to our letters, envelopes and postcards but have you ever thought about why they exist in the first place?
Before 1840 the British postal system was extremely complex and full of anomalies and local systems with different charges only further complicated matters! It was also too expensive for most people to afford to send letters regularly and in many cases the bill was paid for by the recipient.
Letters were also priced per page and distance covered, so if you lived in Bath but had an acquaintance in Newcastle, you probably wouldn't thank them if they sent you a message!
In simple terms, the stamp is literal proof that the delivery of the letter or card has been paid for. Arguably the world's most decorative receipt.
#PostalMuseum #Stamp #History #Philatelic #StampCollection #Museum #Britain
