Office Request Envelopes:
RFD usages
(this originally appeared in the August 2014 The Vermont Philatelist)
I know of no one other than myself who collects this area. These are envelopes with a pre-printed return address that only included blank lines and the post office name. Of course, individuals or companies could have their full names and return addresses printed on government envelopes for a fee in addition to the postal cost.
However, if a postmaster ordered at least 500 such envelopes at one time with the Office Request in the upper left, the cost to the postmaster was only the cost of the imprinted stamp. This service was available from the 1880s through the 1930s.
In the 1922 Postal Guide the advantages were enumerated: “The use of ‘office-request’ stamped envelopes by patrons of the Postal Service should be encouraged by postmasters. The presence of the blank return card is of much mutual benefit to the public and the Postal Service; when purchasers of these envelopes complete the cards by writing their names and local addresses on the blank lines, it provides prompt return of undelivered letters to the senders, lessens the work of the Division of Dead Letters, and tends to encourage the use of return cards on other mail.”
Listing of items in my collection:
