Mr Arthur Pitney had a brilliant idea in 1901. The idea of a postage meter occurred to him while he was employed by a wallpaper company in Chicago. He saw a postage meter as a preventive measure to help stamp out stamp theft. The Pitney Postal Machine Company was formed in 1902 and the machine that he inspired came of age as a true postage meter machine in 1912.

In 1919, Pitney met his English-born partner Mr Walter Harold Bowes who had had success with a Post Office stamp cancelling machine, and in April 1920, the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company was formed. The accompanying illustration shows a Patent drawing of the Company's famed Model M machine of 1920.