UNITED STATES STAMPED ENVELOPES & WRAPPER COLOR CHART

Description

UNITED POSTAL STATIONERY SOCIETY
UNITED STATES STAMPED ENVELOPES AND WRAPPERS COLOR CHART©
In 2012 it was my distinct pleasure to collaborate with the UPSS on the development of this Color Chart.  It was a labor of love inspired by my passion for collecting stamps, which I did for over fifty years.  I sold my collection in 2017 and donated the rights to the Color Chart to the UPSS.
I just recently donated all the original materials I used in developing this chart to the UPSS also.
This year I retired and was looking for a way to fund my latest hobby, without dipping into our retirement savings.  Hence, I now offer this Color Chart for sale, with the permission of the UPSS.  If you are interested in United States stamped envelopes and wrappers, I recommend that you join the UPSS at
www.upss.org.
This color chart is for the identification of the paper color of Unites States stamped envelopes and wrappers.  It can also be used with cut squares (aka cut corners), as they are cut from stamped envelopes and wrappers.  The chart will be of most benefit to beginning and intermediate collectors, although I am sure advanced collectors will find my chart useful, as officers and members of the United Postal Stationary Society graciously provided insight and feedback when I developed the chart.  This chart, Version 5, is the most advanced and detailed of the charts I made.  It is not a definitive work, but rather a modest tool to help get you in the ball park with regard to determining the correct paper color, which is required to determine the value of an envelope or wrapper.  This laminated 8.5"x11" color chart provides an accurate and reliable representation of the
nine major paper colors
, and
one major color variet
y, found in United States stamped envelopes and stamped wrapper produced from 1852 through modern production runs.
The paper color images were made from very high-resolution scans of genuine stamped envelope paper samples taken from a wonderful 75 year old hand made cut square color chart   A local stamp collector created the original color chart in the 1940's by gluing ten different, large, irregularly shaped lower left corner envelope cut squares on a large sheet of paper.  The squares were cut from genuine stamped envelopes and wrappers which are now 90 to 150 years old.  He then wrote the corresponding color in ink across the top of each square.  The original chart was not much to look at, but was worth its weight in gold when it came to correctly identifying US stamped envelope and wrapper paper colors. This new chart is printed on high gloss photo paper to provide the truest colors possible with my inkjet color printer.
The color prints are then hot laminated together with 3 mm thick plastic film to protect them from dust and scratches.  Do not leave the chart in direct sunlight or the colors will fade, as will also happen with actual envelopes and wrappers.
Please note that I have used high quality images for the photos used in this listing.  Please do not copy these photos and print them on your own, as the resulting product will not give true color representations.  The UPSS thinks well enough of this chart to sell it directly to their members.
If you are a US stamped envelope and wrappers collector, you might check out the UPSS website at www.upss.com.
The color chart consists of ten colors: White, Blue, Cream Cream #2 (a variety of Cream), Fawn, Blue, Orange, Manila (a paper, not a color), Amber, and Manila-Amber.  Please note that all the paper colors were issued in a variety of shades.  Amber and manila are the hardest colors to differentiate.  Both colors appear in a staggering variety of shades and it is often hard to be sure of which is which.  Both colors may appear to be shades of beige, which is most annoying, as beige is not a listed color.  I have found that amber squares most often have a slight to very slight yellowish hue, while manila paper usually does not.  The good folks at the UPSS have pointed out to me that manila is a paper type, not a color.  While I certainly defer to the UPSS regarding the technicality, I continue to list manila on the chart, as the paper generally falls in to the color range described as manila.   Be sure to validate questionable paper colors by design, watermark, post mark date (if available(, or other means.  The United Postal Stationary Society (UPSS.com) provides some excellent research material.  www.
I hope you will find this color chart helpful in identifying your US envelopes and wrappers.  Creating this chart was a labor of love.  I collected stamps for over fifty years, and have recently sold my collection, so I will no longer update this chart.  I will continue to sell the chart as long as stamp collectors like you deem it relevant by purchasing it here.
I wish to thank the kind gentlemen of Collectors Stamp, LTS in Louisville, Kentucky for generously providing me with samples of the original color chart for my own use.  After many years of serving stamp collectors all over the world that wonderful stamp store closed a while back.
Happy collecting, Bill