Postal mechanisation

Sorting is perhaps the most mechanised part of the postal system, a great many letters today are sorted mechanically at some point in their journey. The collection has photos and examples of some of the most important mechanised sorting equipment.

previous slide

next slide

Cancelling is perhaps the easiest part of the postal system to mechanise as the process is repetitive. Cancelling machines were developed in the 1850s to make the laborious but important task of cancelling stamps quicker and easier.

Our collection holds examples of the three major types of mechanised cancelling machine:

• the manually-fed and operated machine
• the automatically-fed but manually operated
• the fully automated machines

previous slide

next slide

Our collection contains relatively few examples (around five) of the mechanised processes used for collecting and delivery. This is partly because these processes remain the areas of the postal system that are least easy to mechanise. Many attempts have been made over the years to find ways to automatically collect and deliver letters but the most effective means remain the manual ones.

Photograph of Electric Parcel Delivery Truck, 1954 (POST 118/15786)