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What arrives through a letterbox and fills a box of old correspondence. Almost every mark here is read as noise, and each is doing a specific job: a postmark cancels a stamp and dates a journey in one impression, a franking mark identifies the account the postage came from, a return marking carries a reason code that decides whether the sender corrects an address or deletes a record, and a customs label is a legal declaration rather than a sticker.
An inked impression cancelling a stamp and recording where and when mail was handled.
A printed impression showing postage paid by machine rather than by stamp.
A blue label reading PAR AVION, marking an item for carriage by air.
A machine-printed bar or dot pattern encoding a delivery point.
A stamped or written reason code on undelivered mail being sent back.
A mark showing that postage was underpaid and a charge is owed on delivery.
Initials perforated through a postage stamp to deter theft.
A printed design on an envelope issued with a new stamp on its first day.
A barcoded label headed R, identifying an item accepted as registered post.
A green label declaring the contents and value of an international item.