Invention Of Franking Machine

The franking machine, or postage meter, is a common aspect of office life and was invented in 1884, surprisingly soon after the postage stamp. The idea of adhesive postage stamps was first suggested by James Chalmers (Scotland) in 1834 and introduced by the General Post Office (Britain) at the instigation of Rowland Hill (England) in 1840.

The first official adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was printed by Jacob Perkins, inventor of the refrigerator. Inventors soon realized that the process of buying, moistening and affixing gummed stamps to envelops could be simplified, particularly for high-volume users such as big businesses. In August 1884 Carle Bushe (France) filed a British patent for the invention of a machine that would print a stamp and register the amount of payment due for each stamp printed: a franking machine.

Bushe's patent stated: "It is indisputable that the adoption of postage stamps did away with a great deal of trouble and annoyance, but it is impossible for progress to stop there, for that system still presents numerous inconveniences not only for the Government but for the Public.

In fact, the application of adhesive stamps, which is so easy and convenient when a few only are to be used at one time, becomes a difficult matter, and entails a serious loss of time when hundreds of letters, circulars, newspapers, and so forth, have to be dispatched daily." Bushe's idea was ahead of its time, because mechanization had not reached the stage where his machine could be mass-produced cheaply enough to be a commercial success, and franking machines did not come into general use until the 1900s.

Source - The Book Of Inventions by Ian Harrison