What's Your Favorite Over The Top Cover?

Just got it in the mail the other day:


Sixty 70 luma stamps. It's thick enough that it might not have needed the cardboard inside to protect the cover that was sent.

Some amazing covers here. It is great to see them.

Just to keep it going, I shall add a couple here that are definitely for the market examples but they have an interesting back story. The addressee on the second of these and, presumably, the first as well was Alfons Stach at a Nassau Street, New York location and as I understand it, this was a very active stamp collecting community at the time.

These came from the 1939 New York World's Fair and were prepared and favour cancelled at the Czecho-Slovak Pavilion. The first was cancelled on Czechoslovak Day, July 6, 1939. The second was on Opening Day of the Czecho-Slovak Pavilion on June 11, 1940. Both the miniature pane and the souvenir sheet have an added overprint inscription as well as a coat of arms. The two postmarks on the reverse show the timing of their short journey through the USPS.

Both of these dates come after the German occupation and division of Czechoslovakia and the second, indeed, was after the start of the European war although the U.S. had not entered the conflict as yet. Arrangements had been made prior to this for participation in the Fair and, although Germany tried to prevent it, the Exhibit was opened and funded by sale of things like these souvenirs since there would have been no support from the German controlled states of Slovakia and Bohemia-Moravia. I have no idea as to how many of these were created, hundreds if not thousands probably, but they do open an interesting window in the diplomatic manoeuvring at the time.

Indeed it is. I chose that stamp for my avatar because I think it's the most perfect Esperanto commemorative out there, and the color is part of the reason why. My Esperanto collection is even housed in green Vario binders!

My two favorite "Over the Top" covers are both registered covers, both from Humboldt County, California
The first cover is from Fruitland, posted Apr 8,1896, it is franked with 10 First Bureau 1 cent (264, I think, haven't checked watermark) pay the 2c first class rate and the 8c registry fee, addressed to Humboldt County's tax man, the back has nothing but pencil notes.



The other "Over the Top" cover comes from Martin's Ferry, up in the north-east corner of the county and has a bit of a mystery. The cover is misshaped from the contents and the 10 1882 re-engraved banknotes pasted on the back that held the cover in that shape. This cover bears .31 cents in postage and Registry fee.
Here's the mystery, the manuscript postmark doesn't match the only other known Martin's Ferry manuscript postmark.
First my cover;

Martin's Ferry opened Mar 18 1874 to Oct 1 1891 name changed to Weitchpec.




And the other known Martin's Ferry cover, image taken from one of Schuler Rumsey's auctions.




These two covers were posted about 3 months apart, from a Class 4 post office, in a less than desirable location (northeast corner of Hoopa Indian Res on a big bend of the Klamath River)
I'm guessing that Mrs. Martin took care of my cover while Mr. Martin was on the river earning their name.
"Pull Lemual, Pull!

The danger here is that some postal clerks will not accept this practice of overlapping stamps . I know that it can cost you a delay and getting the envelope return back .This would be covered under the P.O. policy of "loss revenue prevention " .