Stamp Safari
Page 5
“I’m sorry, Max,” he replies. “I’ll see you and Oscar again one day, I’m sure. Take care of yourselves, okay?”
“You too, Brandon. Good luck with Commander Pye!”
CHAPTER 8
A Stamp of Approval
As we zoom away through the sky, I tell Jessie all about the last two crazy hours. It’s a huge relief to be safely back with her, but I can’t help worrying about Brandon. He’s missed at least two classes, and he’ll have a lot of questions to answer. I have a feeling he’ll be getting in a lot of trouble.
A few minutes later, Jessie parks the air-cab back inside the shed. Just as we climb out of it, I tell her about the stamp, and how much it meant to Brandon.
I’m sure she’s going to be angry at me, but she laughs and smiles. “Don’t worry,” she says, “Brandon’s done us a big favor. Next time one of those things gets stuck to Oscar’s nose, at least we’ll know what it is!”
Sleuth Truth - The Postage Stamp
Until 1840, the person who received a letter or package had to pay for the postage! This began to change when the first postage stamp was used, in the United Kingdom. This stamp was known as the “Penny Black.” The name came from the price of the stamp, and its color - it cost one penny, and the picture on the stamp was a portrait of Queen Victoria, printed in black ink.
Unlike the stamp in the story, the Penny Black didn’t have perforations on its sides. Early stamps like the Penny Black were printed on large sheets of paper, and each stamp was cut out individually with scissors. By 1850, stamps were printed with perforations, which allowed them to be separated by hand.
From Licky to Sticky!
The next big change to stamps came about in the 1960s, when the first self-adhesive stamps were produced. Before then, the back of each stamp had to be wet (or licked!) to make it sticky. Australia became the first country to print large numbers of self-adhesive stamps, in 1990.