Among some period covers, I came across this 6/17/1958 slogan postmark announcing that effective July 1, 1959 the minimum envelope size would be 2-3/4" x 4?" (can't read the last number because it was obscured by the stamp):
Given that this cancellation is dated more than a year before the new regulation was to have taken place, it certainly gave the general public ample time to adapt.
Anyone know if this was just an interim postal regulation change, or was it the turning point in which they disallowed some of the early postal covers of the 19th century that were so remarkably small?
As a comparison, here is a very small cover from 1886, but the size is just a fraction short of 2-3/4" x 4", so I wonder if the USPO was just trying to eliminate such small pieces (perhaps due to that day's "modernized" mail sorting equipment?)
Posted 02/14/2011 11:13 am
