S.C. Hopkins, Boston Mass. Paid Reply Postal Card Essay. Typographed on 260 x 76 mm dull v. faint y-o-yellow card in deep red and black, folded in center to 130 x 76 mm, the back or inside edge of the beveled end (Half B) is gummed, Very Fine.
USPCC No. MR1E-B; $3,500.

THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE S.C. HOPKINS PAID REPLY POSTAL CARD ESSAY.

This is probably the earliest suggestion utilizing the idea of a double postal card to prepay postage having been advanced by Mr. S.C. Hopkins probably in 1875 or 1876, although the date cannot be proved. Mr. Hopkins did not attempt to patent his idea, which consisted of a double card, hinged at one end, and with the two outside corners of the return half beveled. Printed in black on the back or inside of "Half A" was a rather complete summation of the advantages claimed for the card. USPCC $3,500
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USPCC $3,500

Charles K. Marshall, Vicksburg Miss., Paid Reply Postal Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ Black. First design style with "Patented July 10th, 1877" printed in tiny type outside left star on larger 148 x 88 mm dim vivid yellow card, has been addressed and with message ordering for Roemer's Polyglot Reader; some edge wear, F.-V.F. and rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-CBa; $500. USPCC $500
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USPCC $500

Charles K. Marshall, Vicksburg Miss., Paid Reply Postal Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ Red Orange. From the Second Marshall essays, on 131 x 76 mm dull v. faint o-yellow card, Very Fine.
USPCC No. MR1E-Da; $800.

This second Marshall essay having stamp representations in diagonally opposite corners. USPCC $800
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USPCC $800

Charles K. Marshall, Vicksburg Miss., Paid Reply Postal Card and Envelope Essays, 1¢ + 1¢ & 3¢ + 3¢ Red Orange. Four items from the second Marshall essays, first is 1¢ + 1¢ reply card, 3¢ +3¢ envelope paid reply essays in the same style, one 161 x 90mm size (E801a) and one 240 x 103mm larger size (E802a), and one 161 x 90mm design with same printed instructions but without stamp impressions (E801b), F.-V.F.
USPCC No. MR1E-Da, E801a, E801b, E802a; $1,550. USPCC $1,550
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USPCC $1,550

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 2c Black on Dark Buff, Paid Reply Card Essay. Style with single stamp, card backed with white card glued above and below rows of perforations, clear strike of blue "Office of the Postmaster General Washington D.C. Jan. 25, 1878" oval handstamp, Very Fine and rare, ex-Knapp.
USPCC No. MR1E-Ea var.; Estimate $500 - 750.

The large number of Brooks essays that follow were part of an intense multi-year campaign by Franklin W. Brooks to change the postal laws to allow the issuance of paid reply or "return" postal cards, and to profit from the anticipated change by patenting various designs that might be adopted by the Post Office Department, the law was indeed overhauled to allow paid reply cards, but the act of March 3, 1879 forbid the use of any patented postal cards and prohibited the payment of royalties, as such Brooks made no money from his efforts, but he left a legacy of fascinating collectibles for essay and proof enthusiasts (see UPSS catalog p. 269 for a detailed discussion). Est. $500-750 (Image)

Est. $500-750

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black, Paid Reply Card Essays. Group of 5 different colors: pink, light violet, buff, style with two stamps, card backed with white card glued above and below rows of perforations, with arced "U.S. Return Postal Card." moved to vertical orientation at left, address lines omitted, no oval handstamp, Very Fine group.
USPCC No. MR1E-GA; $1,500. USPCC $1,500
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USPCC $1,500

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on Buff, Paid Reply Card Essay. Three cards, style with two stamps and arced "U.S. Return Postal Card." in vertical orientation at left, address lines omitted and no oval handstamp, two GBa, one folded and one unfolded with no perforations, other is GBd with perforations, Very Fine and rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-GBa, d; $900. USPCC $900
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USPCC $900

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White Wove, Paid Reply Card Model Essay. Model card on white wove paper (with paste-on of same), the lower sheet being 134 x 165mm overall, including a 15mm strip outside a row of perforations on which is printed "Tear off communication and write replay on back on enclosed card", the paste-on portion, similarly printed, but without the portion outside the perforations, was applied tete-beche, so that when folded the card is 75mm in height, except for the strip outside the perforations, which was intended to be folded again, and sealed across the bottom of the opposite card, penciled corrections of the printing on this strip change the word "TEAR" to "Detach", and "ENCLOSED" to "Remaining", Very Fine and unique.
USPCC No. MR1E-Ha; $2,000.

THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS BROOKS PAID REPLY CARD MODEL ESSAY. USPCC $2,000
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USPCC $2,000

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White Card, Paid Reply Card Model Essay. Model card on 132 x 152mm white card, with paste-on of 130 x 75mm white wove paper, folded at top to produce a 132 x 76mm double card, sewing machine perforations across bottom of exposed card (not on paste-on), but accompanying instruction line omitted, with pencil markings., Very Fine and unique.
USPCC No. MR1E-Hb; $2,000.

THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS BROOKS PAID REPLY CARD MODEL ESSAY. USPCC $2,000
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USPCC $2,000

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White, Paid Reply Card Essay. Style with one printed card enclosed in printed folded white wove sheath, perforated at bottom thru all three layers with "Tear off communication, and write reply on back of enclosed card." printed below perforations, Very Fine and rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-Ib; $1,000. USPCC $1,000
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USPCC $1,000

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White, Paid Reply Card Essay. 132 x 259mm overall, triple folded with printing on two end folds, outer folds 132 x 87mm, inner fold 132 x 85mm, perforated 12, Very Fine and rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-Jc; $1,000. USPCC $1,000
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USPCC $1,000

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on Buff, Paid Reply Card Essay. Three unfolded large format cards with printing at top and bottom, one 132 x 258mm with "Tear off communication, and write reply on back of enclosed card." printed at bottom, one 132 x 258mm without the bottom printing, and one 131 x 240mm possibly trimmed to remove the printing at bottom, Very Fine and rare group.
USPCC No. MR1E-Jd, Kb; $1,600. USPCC $1,600
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USPCC $1,600

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ + 1¢ Black on White, Paid Reply Card Essay. 132 x 242 mm overall, triple folded with printing on two end folds. Inner fold 132 x 86 mm and perforated 15 horizontally at bottom; middle or back fold 132 x 78mm; front fold 132 x 88mm, including 10mm tab at bottom, perforated 15 horizontally, this tab is folded under and glued to the back of the middle fold, and has the customary printing "Tear Off Communication and Write Reply on back of Enclosed Card", which, because of the extra fold, appears inverted on the bottom of the back of the folded card., Very Fine, ex-Mitchell, Slawson.
USPCC No. MR1E-Ka; $1,000.

THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS BROOKS PAID REPLY CARD ESSAY. USPCC $1,000
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USPCC $1,000

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ Black on White Wove, Liberty Paid Reply Card Essay. One Cent Essay showing stamp completed except for routing to desired border width, 19 x 29mm engraving on 37 x 46mm white wove paper, fresh and Very Fine, Only 3 Recorded Examples.
USPCC No. MR1E-KA; $300.

This essay was created in part using the National Bank Note Co. vignette of Liberty from the first postal card issue of 1873, this essay then formed the basis for the extensive Brooks second design essay cards that follow, it was with these that he waged his main campaign to persuade Congress to accept his patent. USPCC $300
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USPCC $300

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, 1¢ Black on White Wove, Legend Paid Reply Card Essay. Completed essay of legend only 18 x 9mm on 40 x 36mm white wove paper, consisting of "United States, RETURN, Postal Card" in three lines, the first arched upward at its center, and the last arched downward at its center, fresh and Very Fine.
USPCC No. MR1E-KB; $300.

THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS ESSAY. USPCC $300
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USPCC $300

Franklin W. Brooks, New York, Liberty Paid Reply Card Essays Collection. A remarkable collection encompassing all facets of the Brooks second series design using Liberty vignettes, including La (4 in both colors - watermarked and unwatermarked), Lb (3 incl. unlisted dark blue), Lc (all 5 listed), Ld (all 6 listed), Le (3), Lg (3), LA, N (36 different from various subtypes including one specimen), NAb (1), NAbS (1), O (1), P (two different), Q (two different), R (two different), some toning as usual with overall quality better than the norm with better selected examples, F.-V.F.
USPCC No. MR1E-L, LA, M, MA; $12,750.

AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF THE BROOKS LIBERTY PAID REPLY CARD ESSAYS.

The second design essays, with which Franklin W. Brooks waged his one man campaign against Congress, comprise by far the most numerous group of essays in the entire postal card field. Most of the types of proposed reply cards produced bearing the first design of essay stamp used by Mr. Brooks are also known in the second design, although two types were excluded: cards requiring the same stamp to be twice canceled, and triple folded cards. One new type was added (MR1E-O). Numerically, by far the greatest quantities of these cards are concentrated in three of the types (MR1E-M, MR1E-MB, and MR1E-N) while most of the other types are quite scarce. Unlike any of the other patented cards submitted to the Post Office Department for its consideration this stamp design was printed from a carefully engraved die, with both die and printing being the skilled workmanship of an established bank note company. Unquestionably this method required a much greater financial outlay than most patentees desired to expend, but Mr. Brooks felt confident that ultimately his patent would be accepted, and he was financially able, and also willing, to spend money to further this purpose.

The National Bank Note Co., which still retained the master die for the first issued postal card design (S1 as issued in 1873) even though they no longer had any contract with the Post Office Department for producing stamps, transferred the vignette of Liberty as on the first postal card to form the central design of the essay die prepared for Mr. Brooks. A new, upright, rectangular frame was designed for this vignette, sufficiently unlike the escalloped scroll work used on S1 to eliminate any possible charge of counterfeiting or other improper usage, but at the same time sufficiently near the general appearance of the regularly issued card so recently in use that connections were readily made in the minds of the Congressmen, business associates and others whom Mr. Brooks contacted in an effort to forward the acceptance of one of his patented types of cards. USPCC $12,750
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USPCC $12,750

Frederick G. Mead, New York, Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ Black + 1¢ Red on Light Gray. 133 x 104mm 21 g/4 smoky v. faint o-y-yellow (light pearl gray) card, dual-sided card with Red on first side and Black on return side, both with 1¢ stamp with "F.G. Mead" and "Response Postal Card", patent information in small type at top left of return side, which is pre-addressed to Mead in New York; scuff on front side, still Very Fine and rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-SA; $1,000.

The top portion was intended to be torn off at the dotted line, removing the original stamp in the process. The return side had the stamp lower which would remain intact for mailing back. Mead believed the different colors would avoid confusion for postal clerks in canceling the correct stamp. USPCC $1,000
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USPCC $1,000

Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove. First style with two woodcut "stamps" at right, titled "U.S. Postage One Cent" with "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, frameline around perimeter, mailed bearing two 2¢ red brown (210) singles, top tied by "Cincinnati O., Jul 14 '86" duplex addressed to Mann & Keudig at Altoona Pa., returned with second 2¢ tied by "Altoona Pa., Jul 21, 1886" duplex to R.W. Mercer at Cincinnati, Jul 23rd receiver, message from R.W. Mercer reads "How much will you pay for the loan of this card with an article in regard to the merits of this duplex post card. Reply on this card" and the response "We really cannot see that it would be an advantage to use to pay for the prestige of advertising this card. The P.O. Dept. will probably issue one before long as a bill has been introduced with that view."; slight aging, F.-V.F., a rare through-the-mails use of a postal card essay.
USPCC No. MR1E-TA; Estimate $750 - 1,000.

The postage on this card essay was of course not recognized as this was not issued by the Post Office, and therefore not a postal card. Mercer aggressively pursued acceptance of his cards with many letters to the Post Office Department. Apparently, the only reaction of the Department was to take exception to Mercer's use of "U.S. Postage in his design. This essay was discussed in a Postal Stationery (Jul.-Aug. 1962) article. Est. $750-1,000 (Image)

Est. $750-1,000

Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove. Style with two woodcut stamps at right, titled "U.S. Postage One Cent" with "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, frameline around perimeter, two examples, one on buff card and other on 17 g/4 smoky v. faint o-yellow thin wove card; former with creasing, F.-V.F.
USPCC No. MR1E-TA; $700. USPCC $700
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USPCC $700

Robert W. Mercer Paid Reply Card Essay, 1¢ + 1¢ on Wove. Second Style with two woodcut stamps at right, titled "Postage One Cent" with blank space where "U.S." was on previous essay, "Postal Card" between and "Address must be placed on this side - message on the other" printed at center, back with "Postmaster will return to writer in not called for in ten days", no frameline around perimeter, four examples on different shades of card: Off-White, Light Gray, Pinkish Buff and Bluish Green, Very Fine group.
USPCC No. MR1E-TAa-d; $1,800.

The elimination of the "U.S." was likely in response to the Post Office Department's objections to the earlier essay. USPCC $1,800
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USPCC $1,800

Unknown, Paid Reply Card Essay (Unstated Value) on Buff. 83 x 152mm 17 d/2 dull pale o-yellow card, each side with "U.S." and Eagle adjacent holding arrows and flowing ribbon reading "Double Postal" in its beak, the eagle is surmounted by words "Message" and "Answer" on front and reverse of card; filing pin holes at bottom, Very Fine.
USPCC No. MR1E-V; $2,000.

This reply card essay is unpatented product of an unknown designer. Also like MR1E-A, its date of issuance is uncertain but is believed to be approximately 1885. This essay consists of a card called a "U. S. Double Postal", with the printing placed across the narrow dimension of the card, making the vertical dimension longer of the card than the horizontal. USPCC $2,000
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USPCC $2,000

Unknown, Paid Reply Card Essay (Unstated Value) on Blue Gray. Double sided 89 x 161mm vertically oriented design on 45 g/3 dingy v. faint b-g-blue (blue gray) card, "U.S. Postal Card" on front side and "Suggestion for a Return U.S. Postal Card" on back, both sides with woodcut of three bearded men in a circle with German names Gutenberg, Fust (Faust) and Schoiffher (Schaeffer) around the perimeter, Very Fine and extremely rare.
USPCC No. MR1E-W; $2,000.

This essay was submitted to the Post Office Department by an unknown designer apparently late in 1889, or early in 1890. The Boston Transcript Company used this same design for their advertising covers in the 1880s. USPCC $2,000
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USPCC $2,000