Postal Covers
This online exhibit highlights postal covers in the collection of the Museum of Florida History. The Museum’s collection includes more than seventy Florida-related postal covers and envelopes. A cover is an envelope that has been canceled. It may also refer to a canceled postcard or other canceled document. Most of the covers here feature cachets. The cachet is the inscription or illustration on the cover. Numerous cachet makers offer these special envelopes, and collectors can even make their own.
This collection includes a special type of cover called a first day cover. A first day cover has a commemorative stamp canceled on the first day that the stamp was issued. Commemorative stamps highlight historical figures, events in American history, different features of American society, landscapes, or the environment. The US Post Office issued the first commemorative stamp for the 1893 World’s Fair, known as the Columbian Exposition, in Chicago.
The covers and commemorative stamps shown here honor events, subjects, and people significant to Florida history. The covers are divided into three standard types of collectible covers: First Day Covers; First Flight and Aviation Covers; and Space Contractor and Flown Covers. Click on the images to learn more about each category and view the covers within each group.
