Victory-Mail Packet
name: label: maker
content: Stanley Wessel & Company
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Packet of blue-gray paper with a red border bearing the "V-mail" logo and information.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: During World War II, V-Mail became a popular way for soldiers and their loved ones at home to correspond. V-mail was written on specially designed sheets— a combination letter and envelope. These sheets were sent to the government where they were reduced to thumbnail size on microfilm. The microfilm was flown overseas and then developed at a lab close to the recipient's position. The V-mail letter-sheets, now about one-quarter of their original size, were mailed and delivered to the soldiers or their families back home. The development of the V-Mail system reduced the time it took a soldier to receive a letter by a month— from six weeks by boat to twelve days or less by air.
label: Description
content: However, the main advantage of V-Mail was its compact nature. Reduction in the size and weight of the letters translated into more space for crucial military supplies on cargo planes. One roll of film weighing about seven ounces could hold over 1,500 letters. Putting that another way, two pounds of microfilm replaced 100 pounds of letters! Over a billion letters were sent via V-Mail between 1942 and 1945. In all, about 556.5 million pieces of V-Mail were sent from the United States to military post offices and over 510 million pieces were received from military personnel abroad. Think of it as the earliest form of e-mail.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: Subject
content: Mail
label: Subject
content: Homefront, World War II
label: related event
content: World War II
label: related event
content: The Great Depression and World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
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content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1992.3030.18
label: catalog number
content: 1992.3030.18
label: nonaccession number
content: 1992.3030
objectType: label: Object Name
content: notepaper set
label: Other Terms
content: notepaper set; Documents
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: red (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blue (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 16 cm x 24 cm; x 6 5/16 in x 9 7/16 in