Envelopes
(Source of data : FEPE, EMA and UPU)
What the figures show
According to the figures of the Universal Postal Union, every day in 2003 some 1,200 million letters were circulated around the world's postal network. This is only a part of what circulates in envelopes, which are not only managed by public services, but to a great extent, by private postal operators, messenger companies and private individuals.
Of the envelope types put into circulation in 1 year around the world, 110,000 million correspond to the European Union, an average of 278 per inhabitant, a figure which is still far from the North American average (573 per inhabitant) and unequally shared by countries within the European Union. The Scandinavian countries, France, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom exceed 300 per inhabitant, in comparison to the Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, which in total does not even come to 150 per inhabitant per year.
The envelope world
[More] Evolution and history
- The origin of envelope
- The French term "enveloppe" (and its English version "envelope") suggests the idea of "enveloping" or wrapping, while the Spanish word "sobre" (envelope) comes from the word "sobrescrito" (written over) or text which identified the addressee on the closed letter itself.
- Portuguese have kept the term "sobrescrito" up to now to refer to the envelope, although lately in professional circles they prefer the imported word "envelope."
- The first envelope, like Adam was made of clay
- The covering of a letter, a French courtesy
- Envelope and stamp, a necessity of the Enlightenment
- The first pre-franked envelope
- Stamps were made compulsory but envelope were free
- Envelopes, everything imaginable.
Cultural references to the envelope
The envelope is, if not the most universal of tools, certainly one of the most generalised signs of our culture.The envelope is an important feature of the cultural world. With this window open, a whole world appears.
More information about: Cultural references to the envelope
The language of envelopes
Envelopes communicate
The main aim of a designer or marketing professional is to make sure that the reply envelope relates two key messages "open me!" and "respond."
Every part of the envelope has something to say.
