Customers who attend mail equipment sales today sometimes search for automated envelope sealing systems. As a type of business tool, envelope sealers first gained popularity in the USA during the 1890s! The development of this unusual office equipment fascinates history buffs.
A Puzzling Question
Probably one of the most surprising aspects of envelope sealing equipment relates to the comparatively recent invention of these office tools. Why did this equipment become available only after the Industrial Revolution? Today, many people take the billions of envelopes sold around the world for granted. For centuries, people transmitting letters usually either sealed them in their own hand-made envelopes, or rolled the paper into a scroll form.
The rise of envelopes apparently accompanied the growth in catalog sales marketing in many places. Reportedly, in 1840, two business partners received a patent in England for a steam-powered device capable of cutting out, creasing, and folding envelopes of various sizes. The invention marketed by postal official Edwin Hill and chemist Warren De la Rue did not actually seal envelopes, however. People who used the machine still had to secure the contents themselves using wax or paste.
The Heyday of Envelope Sealers
By the late 1890s in the USA, a number of talented inventors had begun marketing commercial envelope sealers. Between 1899 and 1930, well over 20 companies vied to market different designs of this equipment in the United States alone. Two of the largest, Sealograph and Standard Envelope Sealer, manufactured several lines.
Many of the early envelope sealer manufacturing companies relied upon talented inventors. For example, Henry Thexton developed a popular line of Thexton Envelope Sealing Machines during the early 1900s. Educated in North Dakota, he moved to Chicago for four years and launched a successful business. He eventually sold the rights to his envelope sealing machine to another company and relocated to Minneapolis, where he helped open the Thexton Stamp Vending Machine Company. Today, the Minnesota company he originated over a century ago still sells a wide array of tools and auto parts. During his career, Henry Thexton received numerous patents for office equipment and automotive products.
As automation and the use of computerized systems increases, likely more innovations will impact mail rooms in the future. These locations may appear very different during the next century!
