Ceres, the goddess of harvest and agriculture, was the first French postal stamp starlet. One could affix this stunning black stamp to a letter as of January 1, 1849.
Prepaid franking was quite the innovation. The letter's receiver had forked out the postage price in the past. The geeky art of philately (stamp collecting) was born as well.
Ceres' chief festival was in April and was celebrated by tying burning pieces of wood to the tails of foxes and then letting them loose. I guess it's a little to late to call the animal protection agency!
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