My Smallest US Cover

Inspired by a thread on the world covers forum, I decided to post photos of my smallest cover - 1 5/8" by 3 7/8" (4.2 cm by 9.8 cm) - mailed from Cumberland, Maryland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.





I just noticed that the cancel on the back seems to be "backwards". How did that happen?

Your cover was lying on top of another freshly canceled cover.

Peter

Okay thanks.

I thought that I was adding on to a previous thread, but I seem to have started a new thread. I didn't mean to!

You have my little pink cover beat by just a hair. My smallest is about 4 x 2.5". I love this piece more for its contents than cancellation -- a tiny letter from a little girl to her papa, written in 1904.

Sweet! It's interesting that letters could be delivered without street addresses in those days.

How about this ?

I can't figure out how that piece was shipped for 1.5 cents! The letter rate was 3 cents in 1939 and that looks like it weighs more than an ounce. Neat item!

Maybe a postal clerk decided to let it slip by with insufficient postage because it was such a cute little thing sent by a little girl away at camp....or the clerk was asleep on the job!

Somewhere I have an envelope that was sent through U.S. domestic mail with a foreign stamp.

Single piece, 3rd class would carry up to 2 ounces for 1.5 cents in this era. Highly unlikely to be mis-rated.

Here's my smallest cover, measuring 4 and 1/8 inches by 1 and 13/16 inches. It is franked with a US Scott #11a in yellowish rose red tied by a blue August 15 Wellington, Ohio, CDS.

The cover was mailed to Brother Theodore Oberlin, Box 358, with no town provided in the address. Brother Oberlin must have lived in Wellington (2010 population 4802), where he marked it as received five days later, on August 20 1856.

Straddling the wax seal on reverse is the request: "Please an . . . swer soon."

Just recently I decided not to collect covers (stamped envelopes) and did put on sale the only one (!) that I had (a beautiful wax sealed and stamped letter)... Please look at the few of many that I have today (bought them just because of the stamps)... I love them. These are the smallest.







This one is my favorite... because of the word "Love" on it..

Nice stamps and interesting covers. I like the "Open this before reading" line! Someone had a sense of humor

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the letters were sent to the addressee c/o someone else, probably a male relative, possibly because the addressee was a spinster and it wouldn't have been proper for her to receive mail on her own.