My friend Bill Schultz is leading a census of "Return To Sender" variations. That has made me more aware as I plow through my collection. Here's two interesting ones I found this week...
This one actually became a unique device! Honolulu, Hawaii in 1955 when it was still a territory. The letter inside is an inquiry on a boat that was for sale. Mr Flagler could not be found, so the letter was returned to sender. Check out the neat slogan cancel on the reverse side!
As I work through boxes of covers for my eBay store, I'm like the baker sampling cookies as I go! At least a couple covers a day wind up in my collection once I get a good look at them! Sometimes I get halfway through listing something and I think, "Hey! I'm keeping this one!" I'm having fun!
I love this cover! This is the kind of cover that instantly gets kept for my own collection! It as mailed by Yale University back in 1914. The addressee information is lost since it's a window envelope, but we can assume it was mailed to the Majestic Hotel in New York City since there is a nice backstamp. Then it was forwarded to Philadelphia, and there's a hand written note about Chicago... in the end it was returned to Yale!
The cover has it's battle scars... earned provenance! And it's absolutely unique!