Envelope

Masters of ancient Greek had been using the scalp of their slaves to pass messages in order to keep those messages a secret . A slave’s head was shaved and messages were written on the slave’s scalp. When the hair grew out, the letter was then sent out and the recipient would shave off the slave’s hair in order to read its content.

In 3000 BC, Assyrians and Egytians carved the contents of their letters on a piece of clay and sealed it inside ceramic pottery. These ceramic pots would then be baked before they were sent out. This was the world’s earliest envelope. In 500 BC, a small box envelope was found in China. Letters written on wood or bamboo were placed into these small boxes before it was sent ount. Letters written on wood or bamboos were also placed into small pockets made fromsilk or cotton, which were then considered the earliest envelopes.

In 1820, Brewer, a British bookseller in Bray City ( a seaside resort in Ireland), claimed that he invented the envelope. He found that ladies who were on holiday at the beach resort enjoyed writing letters, but they were afraid that the content of their letters would be read by others. So Brewer designed a cardboard like envelope for the ladies and it became very popular.

Unfortunately, Brewer received news from Geneva that made him upset. There were many old envelopes discovered in Geneva which were made in 1615, about 200 years earlier than when Bewer claimed that he invented it. Even so, the envelopes from Geneva remained a mystery to this day. In 1844, The first envelope machine was invented in London. Paper envelops have since become popular around the world.

Food for Thought :

Many innovative and creative inspirations come from the problems we face in our daily lives.

Short Stories on Discoveries, Inventions, Innovation & Creativity

AAET and UTAR, 2015

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