Communication has made huge leaps over the past 150 years but the postal service remains practically as essential as it was when it would cost just half a penny to send a letter from Valletta to Mellieħa. In today's euro equivalent, half a penny at the time would have amounted to about 41c. Malta's postal service traces its origins to the 16th century but, as a British colony, the island was also one of the first countries to start using stamps, following the UK's issue of the Penny Black in 1840. The Penny Black was the first postage stamp used as part of a public system, a turning point for the service worldwide because people could now send a letter of a particular weight anywhere within the UK for a fixed price. Twenty years later, Malta started using the Halfpenny Yellow. The Penny Black and the Halfpenny Yellow are both on display at the new Malta Postal Museum housed in a restored townhouse in Archbishop Street, Valletta. The selection of artefacts and interactive panels related to the postal service tell the story of Malta's experiences of war, governance, trade, love and politics, dating back to a time when the post was limited to those in power. Curator Lara Bugeja...
from timesofmalta.com http://ift.tt/29hxfsL
via
IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment