I've Got You "Cover"-ed

[tobyedwards]

This posting will present to the interested viewer, a selection of early advertising envelopes (covers), all postally used, from The Russell & Morgan Printing Company and The United States Playing Card Company, some of which may not have been seen previously.

The first photo shows a wonderful depiction of The Russell & Morgan Printing Company's "tiger" logo and is dated 1884.

The second photo shows a different image, in color, of The Russell & Morgan Printing Company's "tiger" logo and is dated 1887.

The third photo shows a trio of early USPC envelopes, each with a different presentation of the company's name, dated 1899, 1903 and 1907, respectively.

The fourth photo shows the imaginative interior of the envelope with the company name within a wreath and is yet another example of their ingenuity when it came to taking full advantage of the opportunity to showcase their printing skills. The display of a selection of their Bicycle brand backs overlaid with one another is quite remarkable.

The fifth photo shows an example of their advertising envelope dated 1927 commemorating one of the events from the early days of commercial aviation. It also mentions USPC's bridge-playing radio station WSAI.

It is a pity that the era of companies employing beautiful and creative artwork to advertise their offerings became more and more simplified as time marched on as the early examples are a real treat for the eyes to behold.

[Chuqii]

Thanks for sharing.  These are great!

[tobyedwards]

I thought I would enhance my original posting by showing three pictures of that which was enclosed within the early Russell, Morgan & Co. covers, namely, a sampling of letterheads which will also serve to show something of the evolution of their "tiger" logo.

The first photo shows a stunning early example from 1870 which displays a full-figure tiger to the left of the outstanding representation of the company name all of which combines to make a truly attention-grabbing impression upon the viewer.
Please note that this same image can also be found on Dave Seaney's excellent website "uspchistory.weebly.com" under the "20 College St." tab. For those interested in playing card history, I strongly recommend that you visit this well-researched website.

The second photo shows a magnificent letterhead dated July, 1884 with a color image of the familiar "tiger" logo showing just the head. By this time, the company name had also been changed to The Russell & Morgan Printing Company. This was enclosed in the cover with the same date shown above.

The third photo shows a different letterhead dated July, 1888 displaying yet another version of the "tiger" logo, this time showing a head facing-front image to the left of a wonderful representation of their factory all printed in brown ink. This informative letter to the trade mentions the introduction of three new Congress lacquer backs - "Star", "Sun" and "Storm" patterns - thus enabling us to firmly establish when these came into existence. It also extolled the virtues of their entire line of playing card products and was written at a time when the brand numbers "404" (Congress plain-edge) and "505" (Army & Navy gold edge) were still being issued.