Please Share Your Government-Related Covers!

Hello everyone!

I have a few illustrated government-related covers that I wanted to share and I was wondering what other designs exist. Is there a reference book for this kind of cover?

Please feel free to share yours!

I don't know that there is a catalogue of material. Are you just interested in government related cachets? Or are you also interested in covers with government return addresses? Or addressed to governments? It could be a huge area unless you are limiting it to cacheted covers.

From what I gather through a web search, Harrisburgh, Pa. started out in 1791 with the town's name ending in "h", and it has never officially been changed. Dropping the "h" accelerated in the second half of the 19th century.

I'm interested in early government covers like the ones I posted. I usually come across them by chance so I don't really know what to call them other than illustrated government covers. I was wondering where I can find out more about them.

Do any of your covers have a printer name on the back side? Especially the first three, if they do, I would look at the references on civil war patriotics.

In the 1880-1910 era, covers illustrating county courthouses and state capitols are fairly common.

Only the Pennsylvania ones have something on the back.

The Auditor General's Office cover has "Singerly & Myers Printers Harrisburg, Pa" on the back.

The Executive Chamber cover has "Lane S Hart State Printer" on the back.

I found the latter on Ancestry, but don't know where or if I am able to find info on what he printed.

For an imprint like "Lane S. Hart State Printer", I would interpret this as the state periodically had bidding for a contractor to be the state printer for a modest period of years (very similar to the printing of embossed envelopes), and that Hart had the contract during this time period. Otherwise he likely had a general printing house, which would be researchable in newspapers, city directories, county histories, genealogy websites, etc. The Lane Hart you found would not be old enough in 1881 to be a match, but perhaps his father was.

I have quite a few official government covers and State of Illinois various government offices with perfins.

Ecostic

Have an early cover printed by Singerly & Myers from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of the Secretary.

With Mississippi intended Coat of Arms as designed and accepted by the committee appointed by state legislation on February 7, 1894 for that purpose. The design was adopted by the legislature in 1894 but failed to be included in the next, 1906, Mississippi Code Revision. As a result of the oversight, the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2000 ruled the state had no official coat of arms. The oversight was corrected in 2001 and the original design was then officially adopted and the law published that time.

Mike Ludeman has been gathering and documenting "Official Business" Envelopes For State and Local Governments in a series of monographs; they are published here
https://stampsmarter.org/learning/S...vCovers.html

Mike deserves a big 'thank you' from our hobby as this is just the latest in a long list of contributions that he has made in freely distributing knowledge to us all.
Don

Indeed - what a wonderful resource!

John

An interesting Penalty envelope from the Gualala, Calif. post office to an auto parts store in Napa, Calif. Nothing on the reverse. Trouble with the postal vehicle?

Here's one of those tantalizing covers that you wish still held its contents. Sent in 1880 from the Dept. of Interior Census Office to the Governor of Tennessee.