Dr. Charles J. DiComo, President of the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County and the Empire State Postal History Society, shares a presentation entitled “Wafers Seals on U.S. Folded Letters and Covers, 1840 – 1860’s”.
When writing letters was primarily reserved for Royalty, the custom was to seal letters with wax using a hand-held, wooden & brass sealer. In England after 1635, when the Post Office was no longer serving only the Royalty, the upper classes took up that sealing method. Eventually, wafer seals were developed as a solution to sealing letters.
Charles shared that they were small, symmetrically-shaped pieces of colored paper, gummed on the reverse. Initially popular in Britain, they depicted a wide array of images, initials, mottos, phrases and scenery. They eventually made their way to the U.S. in the late 1830’s. At the Great Exposition of 1851, De la Rue demonstrated a practical envelope-making machine that could simultaneously fold and gum. It was this availability of gummed envelopes that eliminated the need for wafer seals – however use continued until the 1860’s.
Charles illustrated beautiful examples of the seals and covers from his collection he has built over 25+ years. Enjoy this journey back in time.