United Postal Stationery Society Introduction to Postal Stationery

postal matter which has either an Postal Stationery is postal matter which has either an officially authorized pre-printed indicium or inscription indicating that a implied monetary value when sold and retain their value until canceled when used or otherwise demonetized by the issuing authority. Items may be embossed or not. They may have a stated value or not, but must have been released for a specific value, e.g. the ‘A’ stamp had (and still has) a value of 15¢ and the forever indicia have a value of the current 1st class postal rate. Envelopes with these indicia are all considered Postal Stationery since a specific face value of postage has been prepaid.

postal matter which has either an Postal Stationery is postal matter which has either an officially authorized pre-printed indicium or inscription indicating that a implied monetary value when sold and retain their value until canceled when used or otherwise demonetized by the issuing authority. Scott UO14 to UO17 have been listed in many catalogs but are technically not postal stationery since no value is stated. The same is true for envelopes with ‘Penalty for private use’ printed in the upper right corner or elsewhere. These envelopes do not have a stamp with specific face value and are not considered to be postal stationery (even though the U.S. official postal service envelope at lower left is listed in many catalogs). These are free-franks.

Introduction The earliest items of postal stationery were letter sheets and envelopes. Other forms commonly include: postcards wrappers (newspaper bands) registration envelopes letter cards air letter sheets (aerograms) Telegraph forms Other types of postal stationery documents bearing impressions of postage indicium designs have been produced by many countries. Envelopes were not commonly used until postal agencies stopped charging by the sheet (where the envelope counted as a sheet) and switched to charging by weight which occurred in most countries in the mid 1800’s (see slide 7).

Introduction Other types of postal stationery documents bearing impressions of postage indicium designs have been produced by other countries. Postal orders, money orders, postal notes bearing impressions of indicium designs etc. Formular stationery produced by postal authorities or to their specification, but bearing no imprinted indicium or other indication of prepayment of postage and requiring the addition of an adhesive stamp before posting. Certificates of posting. Non value indicators - sold to the public at a specific price, indicating that a particular service/postage rate has been prepaid but without indication of value. International Reply Coupons Envelopes were not commonly used until postal agencies stopped charging by the sheet (where the envelope counted as a sheet) and switched to charging by weight which occurred in most countries in the mid 1800’s (see slide 7).

Pre-History 1609-1797, Republic of Venice, AQ lettersheets These lettersheets, manditory for postal mail, paid a 4 soldi tax to the Magistrate of Waters (Acque), postage costs were extra The AQ Lettersheets are considered by many to be the first postal stationery.

Pre-History 1653, Paris, de Villayer’s penny post For the collection boxes, letters were to be wrapped with a slip of paper indicating postage paid - No surviving examples 1712-1870, Britain, newspaper tax stamps From 1784-1870, carried post-free after paying the tax 1819-1836, Kingdom of Sardinia, the Cavallini lettersheets These paid a tax on letters carried outside the mails, did not pay postage

Lettersheets Before 1845 correspondence was not normally enclosed in an envelope because most countries charged by the number of sheets. Lettersheets were folded, sealed, addressed and postmarked on the outside. First issue was in New South Wales, 1838. Second issue was the Mulready, Great Britain, 6 May, 1840 Mulready folded (above) and unfolded (right).

Lettersheets Great Britain, Coronation United States, 1968 Letter sheets have been issued by many countries. At left is an Aerogramme, issued by many countries for international airmail at a reduced rate compared to letters. Great Britain, Coronation United States, 1968

Stamped Envelopes Great Britain First Issue, 6 May, 1840 First issued of Great Britain and US are shown. Lower left is a Stamped to Order envelope. Some countries offered this service where an individual could bring in unfolded envelopes and have them stamped with a requested denomination. United States First Issue, 7 July, 1853 Great Britain Stamped to Order

Stamped Envelopes - Airmail United States 5¢, 1947 Many countries began issues special envelopes for airmail with the advent of this service in the late 1920’s. In this U.S. this service ended in the mid 1970’s. New Zealand 4c +1c QEII 1971 25c Mexican airmail used to U.S. 1948

Postal Cards Postal cards (Post cards in most countries) are postal stationery that have a printed or embossed indicium and are sold by governmental postal authorities. In the U.S., Post Cards are cards prepared by private companies and do not have prepaid franking. Austria, 1 October 1869, the First Postal Card Canada, 1 June 1871 United States, 12 May, 1875

Message-Reply Postal Cards Message-Reply cards are postal cards with an attached pre-paid reply card. Serbia, 1 to 13 July 1873 United States, 25 October 1892

Wrappers Wrappers, for the sending of newspapers or periodicals, began in the U.S. in 1861. The first wrappers were rectangular pieces of paper with gum to seal them on one end and an embossed envelope indicium on it. France first issue, 1882, with 1/2 Centime Cancel Wrappers were generally used for mailing second or third class mail a lower rate than first class mail. Victoria Stamped to Order, ca.1887 United States, second issue, 1864)

Registration Envelopes An envelope, usually lined with linen cloth or made of extra thick paper, with an indicium that prepaid the registration fee. The United States did not issue any registration envelopes Mauritius 8c QV 1890s Canal Zone, 1918

Letter Cards Letter cards have the advantages of a postal card as far as weight and size, but also the advantage of privacy of contents. Letter cards are folded over, with gum applied to the three open edges. Once sealed, They are opened by tearing perforations or roulettes on the three sides. Australia QEII 20c 1900s China France Offices 10cts o/p 4ct Often called a lettersheet, this issue is the only letter card issued by the United States.

Air Lettersheets - Aerogrammes A form of letter sheet consisting of a blank sheet of paper with folding instructions and adhesive flaps that folds into its own envelope and carries prepaid postage at either the international airmail letter rate or at a special lower aerogram rate. Australia, 1981 Qatar, 1982 60d United States, 1991

Telegraph & Telephone Columbia Telegraph Card, 1890’s Austrian Telephone Card Many world wide postal services also had telegraph operations. An individual used these cards to write a message to be telegraphed and to pay the fee for telegraphing the message. Mexico "Telegrafo Federal" telegram form, 1899 Austrian Telegraph receipt

Stationery Types Postal Stationery collecting encompasses the indicium (stamp) as well as the differing types on which the indicium appears. Attributes necessary to identify the type may include: Size, knife, paper type, gum type, watermark recycle logo.

Knife Knife is the overall shape of the stationery before folding. Originally, the knife was a cookie cutter type mold used to cut the actual blank shape. The knife would be laid on a pile of sheets and cut around with a sharp knife in early years or pushed through the paper with a hydraulic press in later years. Knife is the size and shape of the envelope blank with flaps. In the 1800’s envelopes were cut by cookie cutter form (knife) and this switched to cutting on the web press from a paper roll in the 1900’s. The first U.S. postal envelope was produced by George Nesbitt. All U.S. postal stationery has been produced by contract with private companies, unlike currency or stamps at some periods. Many other countries produced postal stationery in government printing facilities. There are over 120 knives of U.S. envelopes. Now envelopes are cut from paper rolls by rotary knives. However, the term is still used to refer to the shape prior to folding.

U.S. Envelope Paper Two basic types of paper – Laid and Wove – have been used to U.S. produce envelopes. Additional paper types occur on envelopes of other countries. Paper is manufactured by placing a paper mash thinly on a woven wire mesh. Water is removed and the paper is dried. Laid paper shows a watermark of parallel lines close together when held to a light. The lines may either be horizontal, vertical or diagonally. Envelopes were produced on laid paper in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. The change to wove paper occurred during the Mercantile issue (1915-1916). Thus the mercantile issue occurs on both paper types. Earlier envelopes on wove paper are errors that are worth significant amounts. Horizontally Laid Diagonally Laid Wove paper is similarly produced however the wires of the mesh are interwoven much like a screen. This paper has a mottled appearance and was produced as both standard or extra quality paper which can be differentiated by either weight or thickness. Wove Paper

Watermarks Watermarks are impressions made when paper is manufactured as a security device and are visible as lighter areas when paper is held to a light. Watermarks were produced by soldering bent wires onto a mesh cylinder. Then the paper mash was applied and the raised areas of the cylinder transferred to the paper as thinner areas. U.S. Watermark 30 U.S. Watermark 48 Watermarks were considered a security device (to keep individuals from counterfeiting U.S. postal stationery envelopes. Shown left to right are watermarks of Denmark, Trinadad & Tobago, and Italy

Paper Color Envelope paper colors varied throughout production. They include white, amber, oriental buff, fawn, blue and manila. Manila is a paper type more than a color, is cheap and of low quality. White Amber Oriental Buff Fawn Most countries only produced envelopes on one or two paper types. The U.S. Postal Contracts called for as many as 5 different paper types at some times. Blue Manila

United Postal Stationery Society catalogs for all U. S United Postal Stationery Society catalogs for all U.S. postal stationery with illustrations, prices, knives, and more. Catalogs of former territories and some other countries are also published. Begin your collecting experience by joining the United Postal Stationery Society today! What may look like an everyday item could be something more valuable than imagined! Order printed or electronic books from the Society website at: www.upss.org