Cemil Betanov, Vice President, Webmaster and Editor for the Errors, Freaks & Oddities (EFO) Collectors’ Club, speaks on Mail Wrappers: An Introduction, Foreign & Domestic. Issued by the U.S. in 1861 and then in other countries, these wrappers, a form of postal stationary contained the franking and address space to practically convey the items through the mail stream.
For collectors, there is a lot to study from the postal history, paper types, indicia, printing houses, essays, watermarks, and many others. These can be hard to find intact, as they were often ripped and discarded. Early collectors cut the indicia from the wrapper. Enjoy this primer…