Strange Stamp - "Pratts Food" And 2c Postage Due

Good Afternoon,

Hoping to get this stamp identified - I'm not sure if it's worth anything at all but it's usually the ones I don't think are worth anything that are worth a ton.

STAMP TEXT:
"Have you used Pratts Food for horses & cattle"
"Medal & diploma awarded at the world's fair Chicago 1893"



Thanks for looking

this appears to be an advertising label that someone tried to use as postage that did not get past. a google search may reveal more info on the company or product.

I found the below image fairly quickly.

Jim

http://www.icollector.com/Pratts-Fo...-Co_i7404503

It is interesting that the company would make their ad look like a stamp.
The post office did require postage due.
I guess someone did try to pass this off as a real stamp.

I was just hoping it would be in the S.C. - maybe in an area I wasn't looking - S.C. seems to have everything in the US Specialized edition. Thank you for looking - yes I googled it prior.

So here's a question: Does it count as an illegal usage if the P.O. caught it? Or only if it slipped past and was canceled?

With only a snippet of the entire cover, we will never know for sure. But in instances where there is no postage on the cover, then the postage due should have been double the rate. I would think a more easily arrived at conclusion was that the cover was simply underpaid. But I will let our postal history experts weigh in. In any case, with so much missing, this piece to me is of interest for the "stamp" and little else.