Walking the thawing streets of Chicago yesterday, I happened to look down and saw the back of an envelope encased in some sort of clear plastic. It had obviously been on the ground and exposed to the elements for some time as the envelope, despite it’s plastic protector, was soaked and covered with that special form of grime and dirt that can only be found topping the last remaining snow banks of spring. The ink of the address had almost completely bled away, and the envelope itself had some large format printing along the left side, which was also almost invisible.
The only thing that was legible was the postmark. The postmark, in addition to looking like it was it was almost brand new, was also odd as it was dated June 5, 1929. This peaked my interest and I gave the envelope a closer look. After getting it home and doing some quick research on the net, it seems this was a stamp collector’s envelope commemorating the release of a new Thomas Edison stamp. The faded large format print on the envelope was a portrait of Thomas Edison and the postmark was from the Menlo Park post office. The stamp itself was gone; it’s adhesive undoubtedly being no match for the melting snow and rain of late.
I was able to find some one selling a similar “first day” edition of the stamp on e-bay, and all they were asking was $5 (and that was the “buy it now” price, not even a starting bid). So obviously there is no real monetary value to this dirty and grimy piece of paper, but it seems like such an ignoble end to simply toss it in the trash after being able to survive for the past 80 years.
Anyone have a parent born on June 5, 1929? Perhaps you could rework just the postmark into some sort of card/gift for them? Any other thoughts on what I should do with this (including just dumping it into the trash)?