US POSTAL HISTORY BLOG

Cachets can be official or private and they commemorate everything from political opinion, to specific routes, or the Super Bowl. Cachets for first day covers (FDC) made their appearance in 1923. Prominent philatelist and cachet-maker George W. Linn created a design for the Harding Memorial stamp issue. With this creation, Linn created an entirely new collecting area, and for many years, through his firm, Linprint, printed and sold first day cachets.

Most cachetmakers repeat certain elements in each design they produce. It could be a border, or the basic design of the cachet, or distinctive typography. One cachet designer well known for continuity of style is F.R. Rice’s whose lifesaver-style border is found on about 75% of his designs. C. Stephen Anderson’s cachets consistently feature an illustration with an historical narrative printed below it.

Editor, publisher, and stamp enthusiast George W. Linn holds a place in postal history as the designer of the first pre-printed cacheted FDC (first day cover). It was issued on September 1, 1923 to honor the late President Warren G. Harding. Linn prepared several hundred covers that he posted in Marion (the first day city) and other nearby Ohio towns.

Ask some people what ‘cachet’ means and they’re likely to tell you it’s a French word that refers to a stamp or a seal. Others may refer to its common English usage to refer to something that gives the owner superior status…as in “owning a bottle of Lafitte-Rothschild champagne gave the host a certain cachet among his guests.”
 
But to a devotee of postal history, a cachet is a design or inscription (other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage) that appears on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event.
 
Cachetmaking is truly an art form. The designs may be produced in a variety of ways, including drawing or painting directly onto the envelope, serigraphy, block printing, and lithography. Engraving, and more recently laser printing and rubber stamping have been used to create cachets. Continue reading

Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson (RWH&E), one of the most prominent printing and engraving firms in nineteenth-century America, was the first to receive a government contract for designing and printing U.S. postage stamps. Though the firm’s production was small—only two stamp Issues—its artistry set the standard for succeeding U.S. printing and engraving firms. The RWH&E issues were generally superior to the first stamps produced by other countries.

Greetings, cover lovers…or as I like to think of you my fellow philatelic fanciers. I’m talking about the tens of millions of people throughout history and throughout the world who have contributed in large ways and small to the health and vitality of stamp collecting.
 
In her book, then-First Lady Hilary Clinton wrote ‘it takes a village’ to raise one child. And it takes a village – including Presidents, cachet designers, and ordinary citizens – to conceive, manufacture, and create cherished collections of stamps and covers. As a subscriber, you’re part of my ‘village’ and together we’re part of a global village made up of people of all ages, all genders, and all walks of life. Continue reading