And you thought this postal inundation was a modern invention .......

Well, before and for several years after, the introduction of the first adhesive
postage stamp in the United States ( 1847 ) the system of posts was a mess
and plagued with problems. To make it worse the methods lay open wide the
mouth of abusive practices. After all, it was the recipient
who was required to pay for any mail sent to him by anyone!

This practice led the early Americans to devise all sorts of tricks in order to
avoid paying the postage. The fee having been calculated usually by the
delivering mailman, based on the 'origination postmark',
including this popular scene........

The postman arrives with a letter / The recipient runs inside, letter in hand
to dig out the money to pay the postman / while inside there
is a reading, possibly a quick scribble of a message
and return to the postman of the resealed letter and comment,
"sorry no funds available" or "please return it to sender".

Here is a great selection of these genuine, early, completely hand-written 'small folded letters', from several of America's most popular cities, including: New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington D.C. etc. You choose !