This is one of my oldest ones from French India. If you look closely you will see to slits opened on the front of the cover. These holes were used to fumigate the letter once it arrived at its destination.
JohnnyRockets, if you find yourself starting to collect the embossed envelopes or the cut squares from those envelopes, you'll probably want to get a copy of the United Postal Stationery Society "Catalog of the 19th Century Stamped Envelopes, Lettersheets, and Wrappers of the United States." (There is also a catalog of 20th and 21st century items.) Used copies of earlier versions of the catalogs are sometimes available for purchase at eBay, etc.
More specifically, if you develop a particular interest in that 2c green example you used to began this topic, you should take a look at this website.
Fellow SOR member, Thomas Galloway, started this site to begin cataloging and organizing the reported varieties of this particular indicium. There are many and it can get overwhelming. So, be aware!
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
"Thomas Tredwell (February 6, 1743 – December 30, 1831) was an American lawyer and politician from Plattsburg, New York. He served in the New York State Senate and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1791 to 1795."
This 1851 cover isn't the oldest I have, but it's the oldest addressed to a postmaster ("PM").
Dad had in his collection a few 1849-1852 letters addressed to Captain/Dr. Robert W. Hamilton. Some were addressed to Wayne County, Indiana, prior to his 1855 move to neighboring Randolph County where I grew up. This one was addressed to the White Water Post Office located at Hillsborough in Wayne County. Dr. Hamilton was White Water Postmaster at Hillsborough from 1849 to at least 1852.
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
What are the odds, rwillis29, that we'd both be posting Smithland, KY, postal history here at SOR within a few hours' time? According to Wikipedia, the 1850 population was 882 and dropped fairly quickly over the next 30 years. As far as I know, my Smithland cover is the only one Dad had that was associated with that community.
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"