We’re fortunate to have such state-of-the-art technology at present, but it hasn’t always been the case. Here's a selection of some of the slightly less advanced machines that have helped us get the job done through the ages.
Click on the images below to scroll through the gallery.
Showing 9 items
Back-sheet driver
Stamp production machinery at the Thomas De La Rue & Company factory, 1958.
Hold the line please...
A row of telephonists sitting at a manual switchboard, London, 1904.
Need for speed
Automatic letter sorting machine 'High speed,' 1967.
Cutting edge
Single position letter sorting machine (SPLSM for short), London’s South Eastern District Office (SEDO), 1959.
Pony and trap
Postman with pony and trap, Northern Ireland, 1938.
Ocean view
Postman pushes a hand cart with a large General Post Office (GPO) basket on it along a promenade, 1938.
Chute's you sir
Parcel sorting machinery, Birmingham Head Post Office, 1931.
This sorting life
Parcel sorting machinery at Paddington District Office, London, 1937.
To Norwich with love
SPLSM dropping a sorted letter complete with a ‘NOR’ postcode used during the first postcode trials in Norwich, into a numbered stacking box, 1961.