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Genesis - part 6

Mulready envelope, symbolizing the far-flung British Empire.

One of the many Mulready caricatures.

The "Queen's heads," of course, were the adhesive stamps.

This furor and ridicule might well have ruined Rowland Hill's whole idea and, in fact, did result in the withdrawing of the Mulready Envelope. But the need for a better postal system was so pressing, and Hill's plan of universal postage proved so completely to satisfy the demand, that the stamp idea stuck and became the basis of every postal system of the world today. For a few cents, or whatever the rate may be, anyone in any civilized country in the world may send a letter a few city blocks or many thousands of miles.

Related terms include collecting stamps and collecting stamp start.