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Business Envelopes

June 10, 2013

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Profile America -- Monday, June 10th. A patent was granted on this date in 1902 for something that most of us would rather not see -- an envelope with a transparent window in it, usually meaning a bill or solicitation. The inventor, Americus Callahan of Chicago, called his idea the "outlook" envelope. The idea caught on quickly, as businesses discovered that it spared them the bother of addressing each envelope -- since the address on the enclosed letter was visible through the window. The year Callahan's invention was introduced there were nearly 76,000 post offices around the U.S., while the amount of mail has grown enormously since then. There are now just over 27,000 offices. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: 440 International Calendar of Events, Those Were the Days
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 804
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 1127
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/transportation/us_postal_service.html