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Southland Times, Issue 14757, 28 September 1900, Page 4

The Evolution of the Envelope. — There are many persons now living who can remember when letters went through the post in the form .of a folded sheet of paper sealed at one edge, for envelopes were not in common use until after 1855. About that time a machine was patented for folding these now indispensible covers — a machine which, as compared with hand-labour, did the work of five girls. . A better machine was produced, in 1862, which performed the work of seven girls. Three years later came Berlin and Jones's machine, which had a device for gumming the flap of the envelope, and did the work of ten girls. Next came the Leader machine, another American device, which did the work of twenty girls, and is still largely used. This has a rival in the invention of Richards, whose mach ne gums, prints, folds, and counts the envelopes, and i binds them with a paper band in packets of 25. The machine supplants the labour of .SSO.giris, In the United States last year the number of envelopes used amounted to 6UOO r sW s