A COMBINATION ENVELOPE AND LETTER SHEET
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323- High Holborn in the County of Middlesex
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of .the said invention for “A COMBINATION
ENVELOPE AND LETTER SHEET," to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to devise a combined envelope and letter sheet
arranged to fold so as to hide the communication from view while leaving the
address exposed, provision for fastening the end or ends being made so that the
interior of the folded sheet cannot be examined without tearing off the end and it
consists essentially in a letter-sheet having an addressing space arranged on the
same side of the sheet upon which the communication is written, in such a position
that when the sheet is folded the address shall appear on the outside while the
communication is entirely hidden from view, the ends being fastened by a gummed
label or its equivalent, and other provisions made for carrying out the object of
this invention.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention for "A COMBINATION
ENVELOPE AND LETTER SHEET" (a communication from Arthur Cox, of Toronto,
Canada) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of the invention is to devise a combined envelope and letter-sheet
arranged to fold so as to hide the communication from view while leaving the
address exposed, provision for fastening the end or ends being made so that the
interior of the folded sheet cannot be examined without tearing off the end; and
it consists, essentially, in a letter-sheet having an addressing-space arranged on the
same side of the sheet, upon which the communication is written in such a position
that when the the sheet is folded the address shall appear on the outside, while the
communication is entirely hidden from view, the ends being fastened by a gummed
seal, and other provisions made for carrying out the object of this invention as
hereinafter more particularly explained.
Figure 1 is a view of the form open. Figure 2 is a view representing the first
fold. Figure 3 is a view showing the form fulded and one end sealed.
This invention has been specially designed with the view of providing a telegram-
form by which the address written by the operator when writing the message will
be used for directing the delivery-boy to the party for whom the telegram is
intended. I have therefore shown the telegram-form in order to explain this
invention.
In the drawings A represents the upper portion of the sheet, upon which is
printed the name of the telegraph company and other information usually found on
the envelope of a telegraph-message.
B is an addressing-space C the space on which the conditions made by the
company in accepting the message are printed and D is the space on which the
telegram is written.
E are perforations extending from end to end of the sheet near the side edges, as
shown.
F is a mark made on the surface of the sheet as and for the purpose hereinafter
explained.
The operator when he receives the message, writes the address, message, and
other particulars as usual on the telegram form, but in the spaces indicated in
Figure 1 Instead of handing the message thus written to an addressing-clerk to
envelope and address, the form so written upon passes from the operator to the
dispatching-clerk, who folds it in' the following manner :-The sheet is placed on
the table writing downward. The lower end is then folded over so that the bottom
edge of the sheet shall come opposite to the mark F which mark is at such a point
as will indicate the proper width of the fold required to hide the communication
from view, which in the form illustrated is about two-fifths of the length of the
entire sheet from the bottom edgo thereof. The sheet is then turned over and over,
producing folds of practically the same width as that first made, which succeed-
ing folds occur at about the points marked F¹ F when its entire length will be

page_text: absorbed, it assuming the long and narrow form shown in Figure 3 leaving the
address exposed on one side, and upon the other the advertisement shown on the
space A. The dispatching-clerk then fastens each end by sticking on it the seal G
so that the sheet cannot be unfolded until the end line been torn off. To facilitate
this operation the perforations E are provided, which, as indicated by Figure 3
enable the ends to be torn off without injuring any portion of the sheet upon
which the communication or address is written. A further advantage will be
found in the fact that the liability of making a mistake in the address is lessened,
as the only address written is that written by the operator.
Combined envelopes and letter-shects perforated and gummed on the side have
been made before, but a sheet having perforations at the sides and ungummed has
ever been provided with a detached adhesive seal adapted to fold over the edges of
the folded letter to secure them together in such a manner that when the seal is
torn off the edges are torn with it, which I deem an important difference over
a sheet having a gummed edge, as the letter-sheet without the gummed edge can
be readily copied in a press, which the gum on the edge would prevent; and also
over an ungummed sheet or envelope provided with a seal to lic' flat over the flap
and the body of the envelope, as in unsealing a letter of this class the body would
be torn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
A combined envelope and letter-sheet having a row of perforations down each
side, and arranged to fold so as to hide the communication from view, in combination
with an adhesive seal folded to embrace and adhore to both sides of the letter out-
side of the perforations when the sheet is folded, whereby the seal may be torn off
without injuring the body of the letter, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.