A rather grubby and roughly opened stampless cover sent from Chippewa, ON to New York, containing two letters written by a sister to her sister who has moved away, and with whom she appears to have somewhat of a rocky relationship. The letters provide a fascinating glimpse of life in 1874. One letter is dated December 13, 1874, clearly before the cancellation date on the envelope of December 16, while the other is dated on the 18th. So, it would appear that the recipient placed both letters together and kept them in this envelope, which would have been common practice at the time. The cancellations are faint, but there is a Chippewa split ring on the front and then a Clinton transit backstamp and New York receiving CDS. The postage of 6c was paid in cash and has been indicated by a straight line “Paid 6” marking. The envelope is only VG, but the letters are in pristine condition. Although the Small Queens were current when this was sent, payment of postage using stamps did not become mandatory until 1876. Net est. $20.
