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Curious stories, personal passions and behind-the-scenes exclusives await in our museum blog:

Pigs and Diplomacy: Lunar New Year Controversy in Hong Kong Stamp Design
As Lunar New Year approaches, Assistant Curator Yupeng explores the story behind Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year stamps, from the first designs by local artists to controversial pigs.
Archive & Collections
Design
Post Office
Stamps
A history of Christmas Cards
With the festive season upon us we take a look at how Christmas cards came to feature images of smartly dressed posties, pillar boxes, and even delivery robins.
Archive & Collections
Design
Post Office
Letters as a lifeline: WW2 Prisoners of War in Japan
How a London postman became a Japanese Prisoner of War. This is Frederick Smith's story.
Human Stories
Dressed to Deliver: How postal workwear has changed over time
From smartly dressed Victorians in formal frockcoats to modern posties and their all-weather activewear, uniforms have helped make postal workers an iconic feature of life in the UK.
Archive & Collections
Exhibitions
Human Stories
Post Office
Chilean Coup 50 years on: Letters as a lifeline for exiles in the UK
Gloria Miqueles was forced to leave Chile during the 17-year coup of 1973. This is her story, in her own words.
Human Stories
Meet the Maker: Bokiba
Meet one of the artists behind new stamp designs celebrating Windrush 75.
Design
Human Stories
The story of the Postbus
In 2017, the postbus took its final journey. Find out how the postbus came to be, and why it stopped running.
Post Office
The Thames River Postman – A Family Affair
Curator Stuart explores the fascinating history of the River Postman, a role that stayed in the same family for nearly 150 years.
Human Stories
Post Office
Meet the Maker: Kareen Cox
Meet one of the artists behind new stamp designs celebrating Windrush 75.
Design
Human Stories
World’s rarest stamps
There are some stamps in the world that are so rare they are priceless, but what makes a stamp rare in the first place?
Exhibitions
Stamps
Enid Marx
Explore the life and achievements of one of the very first female stamp designers.
Human Stories
Stamps
The Battle of the Cypher
How did a royal cypher cause a significant, but often forgotten, dispute at the start of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign?
Archive & Collections
Human Stories
Post Office
A brief history of national postal strikes
Postal Strikes have been recorded since as early as 1890, find out about the UKs most impactful postal strikes to date.
Archive & Collections
Human Stories
Post Office
The Queen’s Final Christmas Stamps
Christmas is just around the corner and Royal Mail have issued their last Christmas stamp featuring Queen Elizabeth II’s profile.
Design
Stamps
Royal Cyphers on Letter Boxes
What is “cypher-spotting”? A renewed interest in Royal Cyphers is making more people stop and take a second look at post boxes.
Archive & Collections
Design
Post Office
Meet the Maker: Sofie Birkin
Meet the illustrator behind the new Royal Mail stamps celebrating 50 years of Pride in the UK.
Design
Post Office
Stamps
Early industrial action in the 1890s
Today is day two of national postal strikes in the UK. We look back at early industrial action in 1890.
Archive & Collections
Human Stories
Post Office
1971 Strike: No post, No benefits, No calls
Postal workers have been striking for better working conditions and pay since the 1800s, here we look at the strike of 1971.
Archive & Collections
Human Stories
Post Office
Meet the Maker: Dean Morris
Exploring LGBTQ+ greetings card design with Dean Morris and the Gay Pride Shop in Manchester.
Design
Human Stories
A Day in the Life of a Coding Desk Operator
Step into the shoes of Coding Desk Operator Matthew and find out what it was like to work with sorting machines in the 1980s.
Archive & Collections
Exhibitions
Human Stories
Post Office