On The Homefront – WWII Patriotic Covers
By Don on Nov 3, 2007 in Featured
As much as bullets and boots, letters to the ‘boys in the uniform’…and today, the girls in uniform…have been a part of every armed conflict since the War Between the States. So have United States patriotic postal covers. Patriotic covers were first used during the Civil War era and immediately became prized collectibles. World War I patriotic covers also became highly collectible and valuable. It should come as no surprise that the combined popularity of Civil War and World War I covers was the catalyst for the ready availability of patriotic covers during World War II.
In many ways, the covers serve as a measure of the level of patriotism in the United States during World War II. Uncle Sam called on everyday citizens to marshal their forces as energetically as the GIs who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Americans responded with gusto. They agreed to rationing. They collected rubber for the war effort. They shaped their fingers into V’s when newsreel cameras whirred at wartime production plants.
Sending letters in envelopes with patriotic postal covers was seen as one more added service to the country. Americans signed-up by the thousands. They went to their local drugstore or five-and-dime and selected from mass-produced printed covers, as well as envelopes decorated with servicemen, flags, plans, and other patriotic stickers.
Matching stationary and envelopes were even available in major department stores such as Gimbles. Between 1939 and 1945, over 600 artists and painters published approximately 12,000 patriotic cover envelopes. Envelopes with patriotic covers were big business and printed by multiple publishers. Two of the more popular producers at the time were George Linn and Jacques Minkus.
Linn, a small time stamp dealer since his teenage years in Greenville, Ohio, created Linprint. His stamp-supply business, focused primarily on album pages, airmail envelopes and cacheted envelopes that Linn sold to collectors to make first-day covers for new U.S. stamps, and other stamp accessories. Minkus, a Polish immigrant, opened a stamp department in 1931 at Gimbels Department Store in New York City and later extended the service to 37 other Gimbels Department stores. His popular “A great past, a great future” cover was the winner of Minkus-sponsored national contests for new patriotic cachet designs.
Both Linn and Minkus are recognized as pioneers, the first to publish a series of wartime covers in anticipation of a growing demand. It was not long before other publishers of first day covers wanted to get into the action, notably Herman Fluegel and the prolific Fleetwood company. Many of the covers were very simple, and quite rustic. It is possible to find misspelled words on the covers. Other covers drew criticism for the way the flag was displayed or altered. The topics of these covers were as varied as the designs were.
Over time many of these covers would receive a one-of-a-kind fancy cancel from a patriotic postmaster. Others would receive auxiliary markings or military censor markings all of which would make the cover even more interesting and valuable.
When there is a consumer demand to be met (and a profit to be made), publishers throughout history have been eager to do their part for the war effort. Today, anyone with an interest in patriotic covers from the Second World War or any other historic period can share the wealth. Patriotic covers are in-demand with philatelists across the nation, as much for their emotional value as their financial worth.
And why not? Patriotic covers depict core American values during wartime, powerful illustrations for the public to remember the reason for fighting…in a country worth fighting for.
United States patriotic postal covers were first used during the Civil War era. Today, these covers are highly collectible and sought after by philatelists across the nation. World War I patriotic covers also became highly collectible to contemporary philatelists. Together, the popularity of Civil War and World War I covers resulted in the ready availability and mass production of patriotic covers during World War II. Jacques Minkus, a Polish immigrant, opened a stamp department in 1931 at Gimbels Department Store in New York City and later extended the service to 37 other Gimbels Department stores. Minkus published many of the envelopes that are included in the Elwin E. Muzzey Collection. The envelopes published by American Art Service of Chicago took a humorous slant on the war.
Between 1939 and 1945, over 600 artists and painters published approximately 12,000 patriotic cover envelopes
They depict core American values during wartime, illustrating for the contemporary public the reason for fighting. In many ways they serve as a measure of the level of patriotism in the United States during World War II.
