Page 102 - Prepaid Reply Cards

6 As the reply card became established very swiftly, there was always an urge to search for alternative
THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DOUBLE CARD WITH PREPAID REPLY

forms. This chapter gives an overview of proposed alternatives.

THE 1880 US RETURN ENVELOPPE ESSAY
In the early 1880s the US saw several
initiatives for alternate forms of both reply
cards and reply envelopes. All these essays
were of private origin and were aimed at
collecting license fees for a design ultimately
accepted by the US Post Office

Essay for a 1880 patented return
envelope by Charles K. Marshall of
Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The essay had two incipia imprinted
– one for the initial mailing, one for
return usage. The addresses of both,
sender and recipient had to be
written on the front

The back flap of the envelope was split
and showed a respective perforation to
open the envelope after initial mailing
and ensure a 2nd closure for return
(reduced copy)

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