For a number of years, stamps were relatively staid in their designs, usually featuring the portrait of a monarch or president, or a coat of arms, or the value of the stamp. But as the nineteenth century progressed, designs became a little more adventurous.
In 1853, The Cape of Good Hope decided that it took too much effort to cut round four-sided stamps, and introduced their famous three-sided triangular stamps, while the New Brunswickians chose to stick with four-sided stamps but turned them round to stand on their corner. Still in New Brunswick, the Postmaster General became officially unpopular in 1860 when he ordered up some new 5c stamps with his own portrait instead of that of Queen Victoria!