On 6 May 2010, 170 years after the Penny Black was issued, Stanley Gibbons entered the Guinness World Records book for creating the world's largest envelope.
The envelope measured in at 32ft 9 inches by 23 ft and a ½ inch, beating the old record by over 100 square feet.
The record was checked and verified by Guinness World Records adjudicator, Tarika Vara at midday on Thursday 6 May at Great Malvern Primary School, where the envelope was constructed in the school's assembly hall.
The envelope left the school shortly after adjudication to be transported to London on a 40 foot truck for display at the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition.
Louise Reynolds of Stanley Gibbons and manager of the World Record project said, ‘As the leading brand in stamps and collectibles we wanted to do something big to mark the London 2010 Festival of Stamps – at ten metres by seven metres, they don’t come any bigger!’. Envelope at show
Stanley Gibbons commissioned Pendragon Presentation Packaging to create the envelope,
The fantastic achievement was picked up by Steve Wright on his afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. He announced the record to the nation just before 4pm BST on 6 May and passed his congratulations to everyone at Stanley Gibbons.
Stanley Gibbons - philatelic experts and the home of philately since 1856 and now official world record holders!
The envelope will be on display throughout the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition being held at the Business Design Centre 8-15th May 2010.