Post Office Telegraphs stamps and stationery; postage stamps of 1880-84
In 1876, Parliament instructed the Post Office to begin using a separate series of stamps to account for telegraph operations, to make accounting more transparent. These remained in use until 1881, after which the use of ordinary postage stamps to pay for telegraphs resumed.
From 1881, it became possible to use the same stamps for both postage and revenue purposes and a new, unified postage-and-revenue series was gradually introduced. Experiments in doubly-fugitive inks (which would run in both water and solvent, defying any attempts to clean and reuse stamps) resulted in a new series printed entirely in lilac and dull green, the only doubly-fugitive colours available.
The lilac-and-green set of 1883-84 was unpopular with the public and postal staff alike, and would be replaced in 1887 with the much more colourful “Jubilee” series (see Frame 5).
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