Envelopes

[18thVirginia]

While rehearsing for a friend's play about WWII women who wrote letters back and forth to their soldier, pilot, navy husbands or boyfriends, I was reminded of the envelopes I'd come across at the Library of Congress site for the Civil War and thought to go back and pull out a few of them for us to enjoy.

According to Steven Boyd, UTSA history professor and author of Patriotic Envelopes of the Civil War: The Iconography of Union and Confederate Covers (Louisiana State University Press), these were produced by local printers and sold in packs of 10 envelopes and letterhead--with pencil--for $.25. They were designed by printers in both the Union and the Confederacy, although fewer in the latter as they ran out of ink and paper.

 

[18thVirginia]

 

[18thVirginia]

Many of the envelopes featured some version of a patriotic female figure.

 

[18thVirginia]

I especially like this one.

 

[18thVirginia]

Published by James Gates of Cincinnati.

Some of these were used as collectables, to be saved like stamps. This seems like one produced for that purpose.

 

[18thVirginia]

Published in Dayton.

 

[ForeverFree]

This might be of interest - see here.

- Alan

 

[donna]

Very interesting. There are so many even small things like these envelopes that tell a story.

I have some envelopes that my Dad sent during World War II when he was in New Guinea. A friend had saved them for years and gave them to me as she knew I was so interested in where my Dad had served. They are real treasures.

 

[18thVirginia]

This might be of interest - see here.

- Alan

How cool, Alan, and thank you for the reference. I'll include some of those on this thread--like the one below. Stephen Boyd mentions that the envelopes often were about educating the public, both about the War and about other people involved.

"It is probably the first time that tens of thousands of Americans saw an image of an African American," Boyd said. "They simply had never seen such a person before. And, therefore, it exposed white, middle-class America to the reality of black people." http://www.utsa.edu/ovations/vol6/story/envelopes.html

An envelope that refers to Benjamin Butler's decree declaring escaped slaves as "contrabands," with one being pursued by an F. F. V. (First Family of Virginia) master.

http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/media_player?mets_filename=evm00001412mets.xml

 

[18thVirginia]

Another one portraying African Americans, even if not very well, from the Library of Congress collection and courtesy of Alan's blog.

Library of Congress, Reproduction Number LC-DIG-ppmsca-11328

 

[18thVirginia]

Very interesting. There are so many even small things like these envelopes that tell a story.

I have some envelopes that my Dad sent during World War II when he was in New Guinea. A friend had saved them for years and gave them to me as she knew I was so interested in where my Dad had served. They are real treasures.

I have some postcards from WWII that my dad sent home to his parents and I treasure them also. He was a clerk typist, before the war and during the war, so he typed the backs of the postcards. These all must have been special remembrances. Don't have any letters to my mother--they were married and together for most of the war and she threw away whatever he sent to her when he was overseas. But he took lots of photos and I have those.

 

[18thVirginia]

There seem to have been a variety of envelopes for different regiments and even occupations. Here's one for nurses. I find that one sometimes gets a different sense of how people were thinking about the War from looking at all the items and diaries which we feature in Ladies Tea than in reading statements by the political types.

 

[18thVirginia]

B. Murphy's and Son of New York produced this one.

Some of the envelopes were patriotic, but others are quite caustic in their commentary on the war. Since these were purchased and sent by average citizens, it may give us an interesting glimpse of what printers thought they would purchase.

 

[18thVirginia]

The Confederate envelopes are more difficult to find, as likely there were less of them and they weren't donated to the Library of Congress. Here's one of Jefferson Davis. We try to present both sides here in Ladies Tea--just be aware that there are fewer Confederate envelopes shown because they're more rare.

 

[18thVirginia]

Some of the envelopes referenced George Washington, like this one.

 

[18thVirginia]

Another Confederate envelope with a poem:

When the tempest of war overshadows our land,
Its bolt shall ne'er rend freedom's temple asunder,
For unmoved at its portal JEFF DAVIS will stand
And repulse with his brave band the assault of its thunder.
His sword from its sleep of its scabbard will leap
And cut with its edge tyrants' strong arm asunder.
And the Southerners' banner in triumph shall wave
O'er true patriot's home and o'er tyranny's grave.

 

[18thVirginia]

Interesting the commentary on slavery.

 

[18thVirginia]

Another envelope with an amazing amount of commentary.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Love the envelopes you're finding! Wonderful works of illustration art. It's amazing all these have managed to survive so long considering they are envelopes! I noticed in a few movies/shows set during the era I had seen these types of envelopes and wondered if it was accurate or not and I'm impressed they took the trouble to pay attention to such a small detail! Thanks so much for sharing these with us!

 

[18thVirginia]

Stephen Boyd says that "There's a whole series of 'the-girl-I-left-behind' designs that show an image of the women and children left at home. It's all designed to highlight the women's role, which is to support their husbands, sons and fathers going off to war." http://www.utsa.edu/ovations/vol6/story/envelopes.html

There are a variety of envelopes, some with poetry, which illustrate this.

This one is "The Girl I left Behind Me."

He turn'd and left the spot--O! I do not deem him weak--
For dauntless was the soldier's heart, though tears were on his cheek.
Go, watch the foremost rank, in danger's dark career;
Be sure the hand most daring then has wiped away a tear.