The much heralded novelty of the Post Office finally appeared July 7, 1853. At least, this date is certified to by the National Intelligencer of the _Washington Journal_, which, in describing the envelopes just sent out for distribution, states: "they are as yet but of a single size and of the three cent value." It also adds that the addition of the Nesbitt seal is an outrage.
Without entering into further details, it is of general interest to note that, up to 1869, Geo. F. Nesbitt & Co., of New York, continued to furnish the United States Post Office Department with envelopes.
Recalling the fact that Nesbitt originated the dies; that the machinery for embossing was very crude compared with our modern apparatus, collectors must concede that his work deserves great credit.
The question, however, of superlative interest to philatelists is: why has Nesbitt produced such a large number of dies or die varieties? The answer is simple: Pressed hard by the Department to manufacture several millions of envelopes, a gigantic task in the early days of stamp making, and lacking our present means of reproducing working dies from the matrix, he undoubtedly used his best effort; i.e. he probably ordered a number of engravers to reproduce the original die, and, in the hurry of the work, little attention was paid to exactness. This would seem a very plausible explanation, and in the absence of any official data let us permit the above assumption to stand.
Whatever may be the facts in the case, one thing is certain; the varieties exist and have been a source of trouble to many collectors of United States envelopes. With wider knowledge and on better acquaintance, it is certain that in future they will prove a most interesting branch of United States philately.
Short labels with curved ends close to the letters. 10 loops in left side ornament and 9 in right.
In accordance with the instructions of the United States Postal Department, the first issue of United States envelopes was to represent a profile of General Washington after Houdon's famous bust. No doubt the spirit of the engraver was willing, but the "flesh was woefully weak." Indeed, it is no exaggeration to affirm that the head, or heads, of Die I (or A) are as far from Houdon's masterpiece as the sun is from our planet. Moreover, on a close inspection we find a lot of curious and noteworthy details which seem to indicate that the artist, or artists, had peculiar ideas of the manly beauty of the "Father of our Country."