Pitney Bowes Timeline

1920-Pitney Bowes was founded by Arthur Pitney and Walter Bowes in Stamford, Connecticut around the innovative postage meter, which had to be approved by the US, Congress because it printed currency.

On November 16,1920, George Hein, a Pitney Bowes office boy, presents a check to Richard Plunkett, an assistant postmaster, who then sets and "locks" the postage meter that dispatches the world's first metered mail.

1920 - On December 10, 1920, the company posts the first metered mail using a Model A Mailing Machine and a Model M Postage Meter [pictured]. The Model M weighed 18 pounds.

1922 - First commercial postage meter installations took place [pictured is the Model M]. Early customers include National City Bank in New York (later known as Citicorp), The New York Times and John Wanamaker's department store. Also during this year, the first postage meters are sold outside the United States

1930 - Security is essential to the success of the metered mail system and record-keeping is meticulous. Security also determines that meters are only rented and never sold. Pictured is a copy of an early rental agreement.

1930 - The company adopts an employee stock purchase plan. Pictured is the company's original logo that represented the "Mark of Product Excellence" and "Pledge of Postal Service."

1933 - The company expands its product line offerings to include the omni-denomination meter to print postage from ½ cent to $99.00 at a time when the largest-value adhesive stamp was $5.

1938- Walter H. Wheeler, Jr. named President and Chairman of the Board. Wheeler gathered the sales force once a year at sales leadership conferences to celebrate "beating quota." In his first year, he invites top performers to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.

1942 - CEO Walter Wheeler boycotts a hotel when it refuses to register one African-American Pitney Bowes salesperson during the company's annual recognition event.

1942 - Pitney Bowes supports the war effort by manufacturing 28 different products for the Army and Navy. The company would earn four "E" awards for war production excellence.

1942 - Women were nearly 40% of the workforce at the Stamford plant.

1942 - "Scrap for Victory" drive produced 50 tons of metal for war materials.

1949 - The "R" line meters and mailing machines were introduced for large, medium and small mailers.

1949 -Pitney Bowes introduces the "DM" desk model, the first mass-market postage meter. Other innovations include folders, Tickometers and an electronic mail opener.

1950 - The brand power of the name "Pitney Bowes" is built through sales, service and advertising in national magazines. The theme is constant: Metered mail makes the mailer's life easier.

1950 - Pitney Bowes is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1957 - Introduction of the first automatic mail-sorting machine in the United States Postal Service.

1959 - Pitney Bowes unveils the "5000" series - a smaller, faster, omni-denominational meter and mailing machine.

The 1961 mail inserter.

1962 - Pitney Bowes joins FORTUNE Magazine's List of FORTUNE 500 companies.

1966 - As part of the company's business diversification efforts, electrostatic desktop copiers are added to the product line.

1968 - Pitney Bowes acquires the Monarch Marking System Company, which would go on to produce the first bar code equipment for retail trade use.

1968 - The TOUCHMATIC was the first mailing machine of its kind in the history of metered mail.

1976 - Formation of the Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation provides customers with a broad range of financing and payment solutions.

1977 - Pitney Bowes has $600 million in revenue [or about $32,500 per employee], doing business in 12 countries and continuing its geographic expansion in the Asia Pacific region.

1978 - Pitney Bowes introduces remote meter resetting - otherwise known as Postage by Phone® - eliminating the need to make trips to the Post Office.

1979 - Pitney Bowes acquires the Dictaphone Corporation. Electronic scales join the production line.

Technological renewal meant applying electronics to functions that for 50 years had been performed mechanically.

1980 - Pitney Bowes is 60 years old and highly successful. It begins a process of renewal that would match historic strengths to future challenges, A symbol of this determination is a new corporate headquarters designed by I.M. Pei & Partners.

1981 - Pitney Bowes continued to expand in Asia Pacific with an office in Japan and the company's chairman traveled to China to sign a trade agreement.

1986 - New copiers, facsimile machines and scales with microprocessors are added to the product line.

1987 - The 3100 series inserter could collate, insert enclosures, seal, count, and stack envelopes in one uninterrupted operation.

1988 - Pitney Bowes Management Services is formed to provide on-site staffing, service expertise and know-how in mail and document management.

1990 - Grand opening of the Technology Center in Shelton, CT

1992 - A new age of integrated mail processing begins with the launch of the Paragon® system - which automatically calculates and affixes postage based on weight and size of mail.

1994 - Pitney Bowes receives The Catalyst Award which annually honors innovative organizational approaches with proven, measurable results that address the recruitment, development, and advancement of all women, including diverse women

1996- Purchase Power™ is introduced, providing financing for equipment, services and postage to customers worldwide.

1996 - The launch of the Personal Post Office™ increases demand for Pitney Bowes products among the small and home-office markets.

2000 - Pitney Bowes becomes the largest provider of mail presort services in the U.S., aggregating outbound mail from many organizations and enabling more mailers to enjoy the benefits of postage discounts.

2002-The introduction of IntelliLink™ technology signals a new era of mailstream connectivity.

Pitney Bowes also becomes a leading international mail consolidator in the U.S., allowing outbound international mail to get to its destination faster and at lower cost to the mailer.

2004 - Pitney Bowes selected the #1 company for Diversity by DiversityInc. The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity is the leading assessment of diversity management in corporate America and globally.

2004 - Group 1® Software is acquired, expanding Pitney Bowes' presence in customer communications management software.

2007 - Maplnfo, a provider of location intelligence solutions, is acquired by Pitney Bowes.

2009 - Pitney Bowes is recognized as one of the world's largest software companies, according to Software Magazine.

2009 - Pitney Bowes launches the IntelliJet™ Printing System, a new production color-printing system for high-volume transactional mailers.