Sunday, May 13, 2018

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day!
Here's a first day cover I picked up this year.  It's a cool little piece of history.
The American War Mothers organization was formed in 1917.  Here's a bit of their history.

When the envelope arrived I was surprised to see that there was something still sealed inside after 84 years.  I carefully cut one edge.
This is what I found:

Here's the stamp.

Most of you will have recognized the image as a copy of "Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1", popularly known as "Whistler's Mother".  


6 comments:

  1. I love this history. What a nice find! The condition is noteworthy. A perfect tribute for Mother's Day.

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    1. Glad you liked it. I'm loving my foray into postcard/first day cover collecting. I tried but couldn't find any reference to Mr. Wisehart.

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  2. That is an amazing piece. Surprised you actually opened the envelope. Was the card a Hallmark? It's also surprising that the Post Office was doing first day covers way back then. Also, kind of funny seeing an envelope without a zip code. I'm old enough to remember when zip codes were being added to the mail system. Back then it was a 5 digit zip added. Now, lots of times it's a 9 digit zip.

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    1. I had to see what was inside. I carefully took a scissors to one edge. The card is blank on the back. Definitely a bonus. I don't have a lot of covers but it's the first one I've found like that. I'm guessing it's fairly rare. I have postcards from the early 20th century that don't even have street addresses. I can't remember it but my parents told me that there was still morning and afternoon mail delivery when I was a child in the 1960's.

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  3. That's a beautiful poem you found inside of the envelope. Amazing piece of history.

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