Around-The-World Covers From The 19th Century

Apologies if the answer can be found elsewhere on the forum - I tried a couple of searches and came up empty-handed.

I read with interest a column in this month's Linn's about around-the-world covers from the 19th century. People would send covers to (presumably) fictional addresses with instructions to forward on to yet another address, before finally being returned to sender replete with postmarks and other notations.

Do these go under a different name besides "around the world covers"? Does anyone have photos of others to share? Would love to learn more. Thanks!

....An interesting cover! Thanks for posting.....Ive never heard of that happening....kind of like world wide "chain letter"

gvol21, that's a great cover you have there. Well traveled and a lot of nice backstamps to document its journey.

Here is a more contrived round-the-world postcard that went through Europe to South America, and back. Rather than being forwarded (for free) like your example, the one sports a new stamp from each country it visited.

(not my postcard. Found in Ron Leith Auction catalog #48 lot 863).

Here is a similar idea, an "autograph remailing card" that instructs the receiver to sign the card and forward it off to another friend (with a new stamp).



The fun that people had with the post office in the early 1900s.

Yeah, I'm not sure Post Offices today would like these....
Carriers can barely deliver.....ours was holding up stuff...

those are really cool covers!