Full Corners, Cut Squares and Cut-to-Shape

Hi Lila, I'm new to the forum TODAY but have been collecting for many years (see my new member introduction). I have thousands of full postal stationery entires and the way I identify them is with the United Postal Stationery Society Catalogs (UPSS). They provide a wealth of information on die types, varieties, watermarks, envelope types, paper types..etc.

It would be an invaluable resource for you as you get into this part of the hobby. You can find some of this info on web searches. Prior to the UPSS issuing their catalogs, others such as Thorpe cataloged these as well and much of this is in the public domain on the web.

I'll be glad to help contribute to your questions/comments as they come up.

Now, for your semi-regular postal stationery update:



I have sorted my blue and dark blue 1c franklins, and I have added the famous Columbus and Liberty squares to the page of sorted squares. There are two franklins that are so dirty/stained that I cannot tell what color of paper they are supposed to be, and I am considering using them as guinea pigs for soaking/washing cut squares. So, before I potentially ruin two tiny scraps of paper, do y'all have any suggestions?
Also, the sorting page is almost full! I think I will sort one or two more batches of cut squares and then make my first album pages.

For the two that you wrote in your scan "not a clue", my best guess without having them in hand looks to me like;

the one with the oval cancel is a U294 and a late printing as the die looks worn. Notice the faint lines on the outer oval ring and the thinness of the flowers compared to your other 1c Franklins and;

The second one is most likely a U300 or if the paper is thinner than it probably a W301.

Sometimes, the hard part of identifying the color of cut squares/ postal stationery is that there are different shades of the same cataloged color

Alright, here are the two troublemakers:



The reason this one ended up in the "not a clue" section is because it is a cut-to-shape piece that has been pasted onto different paper, and I am not sure whether it is manila, because that is what the paper consisting of Ben's head looks like to me, or if the glue has stained the paper. I am still VERY new to the cut-square scene (less than a month), so any advice/opinions are welcome!

As for this one:



It is indeed thinner than the rest of my squares, but I assumed that was simply due to wear. Is that not the case? Also, I have noticed a few Scott numbers in my catalogue that start with "w", do you know what this means, and could you explain the difference between u# and w#? (You did say I could ask questions!)
Thanks for all of your help!

It's very difficult to distinguish whether the paper is manila. My opinion is that both of these are U294 that are toned. There are many tones of "white" primarily from age but also slight variations in paper rolls. The easiest way to identify the difference would be unused copies of the full envelope (also known as an entire).

One of the main differences between the two full envelopes is the knife. The knife is the die used to cut the envelope to size. U300 has the same shape knife as U294 but it is a rougher cut which can be seen on the edge of the top flap where the adhesive is placed and the envelope is then sealed.

From what I can see without seeing them in my hand I would consider both as U294's that have toning and keep looking for a distinct color difference (also check the back of the cut square for color difference)

Also, the difference between the U and W prefix in the catalog listings is U is for envelopes and W is for wrapper. Wrappers were used primarily to send periodicals such as newspapers instead of putting them in envelopes or putting labels directly on them. They were used in the US from 1861 to about 1934.

I hope this helps you. Collecting cut squares is very interesting and there are treasures to be found at bargain prices! keep Hunting!

Edith, I think that @falshung knows the most about resizing images and it was probably in one of his posts that he talked about how to do it.

Hope this helps!

I use PhotoScape which is really easy to use and is quick. Once you get use to it, like any software, I find it very intuitive and allows quick easy rotation, resizing and combining of pictures quickly.

Ladies and gentlemen, the first postal stationery album pages are under construction!
Until they are ready for the public eye, however, I have a new mystery for all y'all:

To the naked eye these two cut squares appear to be on exactly the same type of paper, but when placed under a black light:

The bottom one fluoresces blue while the top does not. Any ideas why this might be?

Tyronne and Weyerhauser seem to exhibit a green tagging bar and minimal fluorescence.


Whereas, Manistique shows a pale orange tagging bar and fluorescing paper.


   
Thomas

Back to where all of the cut square madness began, A.K.A. my first homemade album page:

Edith,

Excellent! I like the way you have separated between handstamp cancels and machine cancels on the page with 1c U76 Columbian cut squares. That's a good start to displaying what you have and at the same time breaking it down into the varieties. One suggestion would be to add the year of issue.

Mike

A couple of Andrew Jackson cut squares.

OK, didn't see a thread for cut squares in general, so.....

I've got a big pile of these I've been trying to identify. so far it hasn't been too bad, but now I'm getting into the ones with many many dies. These 4 U90 1 centers, on manilla paper (I think) only have, from what I can see, 2 die types according to Scott specialized. They are die 1 and die 3.

Die 1 is described as having a "wide D" in UNITED
Die 3 is described as having "wide S's" in STATES

These examples have, what I consider to be wide D's, but also the S's appear to be wide compared to some of my other ones.

Any opinions on whether these should be Die 1 or 3?