| The picture below shows a larger view of all (13) Unused World War II V-Mail Letter Forms with V-Mail Advertising Envelope in this lot. Also shown is the back of one. These are not dated but they are from the 1940s during World War II. There are (13) of the original (24) that were once in the envelope. Rather repeat the use and purpose of these, please read below. The size of the V-mail forms is below. The size of the envelope is about 6-1/4'' x 10''. The forms appear to be in mint unused condition as pictured. The envelope is fair with some written notes on the back, wear, some soiling, and wrinkling as well. Below here, for reference, is some additional information about World War II V-Mail: V-mail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia V-mail, short for Victory Mail, was a hybrid mail process used by the United States during the Second World War as the primary and secure method to correspond with soldiers stationed abroad. To reduce the cost of transferring an original letter through the military postal system, a V-mail letter would be censored, copied to film, and printed back to paper upon arrival at its destination. The V-mail process is based on the earlier British Airgraph process. Operation and function
V-mail correspondence was on small letter sheets, 17.8 cm by 23.2 cm (7'' x 9-1/8''), that would go through mail censors before being photographed and transported as thumbnail sized image in negative microfilm. Upon arrival to their destination, the negatives would be printed. The final print was 60% of the original document's size, creating a sheet 10.7 cm by 13.2 cm (4-1/4'' x 5-3/16''). According to the National Postal Museum, “V-mail ensured that thousands of tons of shipping space could be reserved for war materials. The 37 mail bags required to carry 150,000 one page letters could be replaced by a single mail sack. The weight of that same amount of mail was reduced dramatically from 2,575 pounds to a mere 45”. This saved considerable weight and bulk in a time in which both were hard to manage in a combat zone. In addition to postal censorship, V-mail also deterred espionage communications by foiling the use of invisible ink, microdots, and microprinting, none of which would be reproduced in a photocopy. |
