Patriotic covers….politically themed designs and propaganda placed on mailing envelopes…is as American as apple pie and almost as old. Even before the first shot was fired in the War Between the States, volleys of political rhetoric were flying thanks to patriotic covers. Freedom of speech was being exercised on the envelopes traveling through the U.S. Mail.

With the help of patriotic covers, a correspondent could use patriotic-theme envelopes to express a wide variety of sentiments. During a turbulent period that elicited strong opinions from citizens, the appeal of ‘making your voice heard’ in this way was a popular one.

The few patriotic themes that were used on envelopes prior to the Civil War were generally limited in their scope and intent. The majority of them were printed in connection to political campaigns. Everything changed on April 12, 1861 with the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the official start of the war. The escalation of hostilities and the clearly drawn line between Us and Them created an explosion of Civil War patriotic covers.

World War II gave birth to another boom of patriotic covers, some more are than others. Many specially prepared covers served as major propaganda media during the war. A design memorializing the fall of Corregidor in 1942 is a prime example.
 
95% or more of the patriotic covers that exist today were printed between 1861-65. It is believed that no fewer than 7,500 and perhaps as many as 10,000 designs exist. A wide variety of subjects were used to inspire patriotic sentiment and gain support for and against secession. Civil War patriotic covers include famous faces (military and political), scenes from the battlefield, designs related to the Army and its regiments, state-themed designed, and perhaps as many as 1,000 distinctive caricatures.