Why The High Value On 19 Cent. Envelopes?

I was looking through my cut squares album and was struck by the 1861 40 cent square and even more by the 1870 90 cent? What could one fit into an envelope that would cost 90 cents to mail? That was more than a day's pay for a worker.

In 1861 the Civil War was raging. 1870 was the start of the
Gilded Age, with an increasing number of very rich people, but I doubt if they ran of with their newly acquired money to the post office to buy expensive postal stationary. So of what use were these envelopes? Any ideas?

Don

See this online exhibit: http://www.postalstationery.org/pdf...onery_90.pdf

Wow! Fascinating. Thanks, chasa.

One purpose of stamped envelopes was revenue protection for the Post Office Dept. Private express companies were allowed to carry mail only if "enclosed" in a government issued envelope. Higher value envelopes were often used as "paste ups" to pay the Post Office fees on larger items.