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Prepaid Postal Stationary used contemporarily in the UK

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 Hi.   Prepaid postal stationery, as in envelopes or items with postage already paid and printed on, is a concept which was once very popular but has now largely died out. This is definitely the case in the UK. I don't mean things like PPI/Account graphics or frankings. I have 2 items to share.    The first is still used and has been for many years, a House of Commons envelope. These are available to members of parliament to mainly reply to their constituents' enquiries.        My example was interestingly postmarked at Edinburgh Mail Centre, where the constituency is, and not Mount Pleasant or another London area facility. Two-wave postmark often used on non-standard size/type mail. Date 07/03/2025(?)      One thing to note is how both items shown here have the Machin image used to represent Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, we have a new monarch, so while the second item is now discontinued, the House of Commons envelopes join a stil...
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Cecogrammes in the UK (Articles for the Blind)

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 Hi, and welcome to this new blog. I had a number of interesting items to share but nowhere to share them, so hopefully things I post here will find their way onto, for example, Google images.    Cecogrammes, meaning literature for the blind, are a UPU-mandated type of postage material that may be sent free of charge by, in the UK's case, 1st class mail, or by the standard Air Mail service to another country. Registration fees and such must be paid seperately. They typically include text encoded (or punched) onto a piece of paper in Braille, for the blind or partially sighted to read. However, other materials, such as audio CD's/cassettes with text recorded read aloud or Braille printers are also eligible. It is used/talked about in differing extents in different countries, but in the UK it is well described on both Royal Mail and Post Office websites (even if specific instructions or details are missing or outdated.)   I first became interested in these when, furing...
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