8 weird facts about postage

8 Weird Postage Facts:

These weird and wonderful postage facts we have pulled together are sure to surprise you. After all, postage isn’t  as easy as it sounds…

1. The Archangel Gabriel, bringer of messages, is the patron saint of postal workers and the Post Office.
2. On 13 June 1920, sending children by Parcel Post was officially forbidden in the USA. Before that, several children had been posted to save rail fares but it was ruled that children are not “bees and bugs”, the only postable livestock.
3. According to the Universal Postal Union, 363,663 million items were sent by letter post in 2011… On average, that works out at an average of one letter a week for every single person on Earth.
4. In 2001, the German Post office began training courses to teach dog psychology to postmen too.
5. Figures showed that 3,000 postmen a year are bitten by dogs in Germany, leaving 2,255 pairs of torn trousers and £8million of medical bills.
6. The postcode for 10 Downing Street is SW1A 2AA. Buckingham Palace is SW1A 1AA and 11 Downing Street is SW1A 2AB.
7. There were 154,866 post offices in India in 2011, more than any other country.
8. Finally, Royal Mail stopped sponsoring Postman Pat in 2000, saying the character no longer fitted its corporate image.

 Let us know if you knew any of these.