Note 131 — Chapter XXIV
Reading edition
The following extract from the “Industrial History of Birmingham” supplies some evidence on this point:—
“The introduction of penny postage by Rowland Hill operated on this branch of trade materially [Birmingham manufactures in brass]. How it did so is strange but true. Immediately on its coming into effect came the demand for letter-weighing machines, which were made in immense quantities; and letter-box plates were introduced, made, and continue to be made, in very considerable numbers.”