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Starting in the latter part of the nineteenth century, Britain
had two types of mail, regular letters and printed matter.
Printed matter, which was expanded to include any mass mailing,
cost less than regular mail. In 1968, the Post Office abolished
those two classes for inland mail and substituted a system where
the two classes offered different speeds of service rather than
applying to different types of mail. First class mail would be
delivered in one to two days, and second class mail would be two
to four days.
At the same time, postal rates were increased. Four pence, which
previously paid for what would be called first class service,
now paid for second class mail. A first class letter now cost
five pence.
Angry mail users created illustrated envelopes to protest the
new system, harking back to the Mulready caricatures and other
illustrated covers of the nineteenth century. The black border
seen here was commonly found on mourning covers. It this case
the sender is mourning the speedy delivery of mail.
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