I Haven't A Clue On This One

Hi guys,

I was hoping someone could shed some light on what I have here. It seems old and brittle so I wanted to check with you guys before I threw it in the "to sell" box. For reference, this piece is about 1-2 inches long.

Thanks!

This looks to be a piece cut from an envelope or invoice. If it is, the printing is probably a wood engraving which was a primary method for illustrating typeset documents of the period, which appears to be 1850's - 1870's..

With some detective work, you may be able to determine what the purple stamp indicates and then research to find a similar whole document or envelope.

If you are REALLY lucky, perhaps one of the U.S. classics experts here at this site knows exactly what this is.

It is pre-Civil War maybe 1840's or 1850's from New England or New York . Two things, first the style of the train engine and the positions of the horse's leg ,same as a Curry &Ives print .

Does the box car say "Past Mail" or "Fast Mail" ?

Searching on the term Fast Mail I found this information which probably makes your piece late 1875 or newer:

The original Fast Mail (the name was used again later for other, similar trains), inaugurated September 16, 1875, was the first express mail train in the US, running on the route from New York to Chicago in record time - it completed its first run in only twenty-six hours, half the previous time! Congressional penury over fees for transporting mail led to the cancellation of the service on July 22, 1876. These two envelopes (both are Scott U163, issued in 1874) may date from the ten months between those dates. (Towle pictures six versions of this postmark, numbered 114-J-1 through 114-J-5, and 115-L-1, in RAILROAD POSTMARKS of the UNITED STATES, 1861 to 1886, coauthored with Henry A Meyer, pub. The U.S. Philatelics Classics Society, 1968.)

It does say fast mail on the boxcar. All I can make out on the purple cancel is 10cts on the bottom. Can't read the top portion.