Boys Town Nebraska 1952

I purchased a collection which included hundreds of covers from the 1800's to 1960's. Every once in a while I grab a handful and go through them. This one I thought was kind of neat due to the contents. Boys Town was the featured establishment in the movie of the same name starring Mickey Rooney in 1938. I didn't even know they had their own Post office, Police department, Churches and ball fields.

Pretty plain cover




A letter from Father Wegner (Monsignor) who apparently turned boys town into a $200 million dollar institution.

http://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/20/a...ys-town.html






A pre-paid return envelope (For a donation I presume)




A sheet of labels / Cinderellas that unfortunately are all stuck together from being in the envelope for 50+ years.

stallzer,

Thanks for the interesting and Nostalgic post. I live near Boys Town, and I've gotten excellent care at their local National Research Hospital.

Very nice
Would be a great start to an exhibit!

There is an excellent 13 page article on Boys Town philately in the December 17, 2017 issue of the American Philatelist (the monthly magazine sent to members of the American Philatelic Society). This article written by Ronald Blanks goes from the early days to the more recent ones with many illustrations of covers and seals. It goes to show that even junk mass mail solicitations can make for a fascinating theme for collecting that is rich in varieties and nuances. And it would be a very affordable and fun to assemble collection that would likely have no end of new finds over the years. It should give everyone a new way to look at and perhaps appreciate the mass mailing solicitations that arrive every day in our mailboxes and that we throw in the trash without ever opening.

As noted in the AP article, the number of Boys Town seals is considerable. A quick romp through my box of misc seals turned up these.