I was asked an interesting question about a drawing in a spelling book this week. After looking at the funny picture, it took me a few seconds to figure out why it was being asked. Here is the question:
Why is the guy licking the stamp?
So, I had to explain that stamps didn't used to be peel and stick, but that "back in the old days," we used to have to tear our stamps on the dotty-dotted lines and actually lick them to attach them to an envelope. I did some research, and the first peel and stick stamp came out in 1974. Has it really be that long?
There are still some lick and stick stamps, but the goal of the U.S. Postal Service was that 80% of stamps would be peel and stick by the year 1997.
