I am not complaining at all and am thankful for the opportunity to get info on a few of mine.

Unfortunately the last letter I received was folded, bent and mutilated. The thin Manilla Vanilla envelope that it came in didn’t stand up.

Maybe a thin piece, (or better two,) of letter size cardboard would remedy this?

It probably sounds trivial but getting a factory letter that can’t even be laid flat when first received isn’t great. I’m hoping the next one I just sent in for arrives in better condition.

Jim

I don't know what happened from when I shipped your letter, but, we don't ship letters in "thin manila vanilla envelopes". Maybe someone in the Post Office destroyed the white envelopes we use.

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Don Mundell

Jim, thanks for your comment.

I've actually started to mail Historical Foundation documents in an inexpensive cardboard sleeve for this very purpose. That doesn't mean that the USPS won't still try to mangle it, but it gives it more of a fighting chance.

I'll discuss this good idea with the guys.

Mike

Try a photo mailer. Please be aware, anything oversize or overweight will increase the cost to mail an item.

If it's just an extra piece of cardboard or two, then it'll probably only increase the cost of postage by an extra ounce (I think that's 24 cents). If the envelope becomes too rigid or irregular, then the cost goes up dramatically.

We'll look into all of this. I, too, don't like crumpled letters.

Mike

It's not a bad idea but the amount of things shipped with cardboard, plastic, and other methods of reinforcing the DO NOT BEND stamp that find their ways to fit into the tiny mailboxes I've had don't inspire a confidence. If the postal worker doesn't care, it's going to fit regardless of the cardboard.

Yup, that's true. But at least with cardboard, there's less of a chance of a sharp crease.

Outside of shipping the letter in a cardboard box, I'm not sure that there's a perfect solution.

Mike

Even boxes aren't immune. I had a book sent to me that was placed inside two boxes with packing material between them and USPS still managed to rip the corners off of both boxes and damage the book.

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High Caliber History

I have personally had one person email me with a crumpled letter in the last year. I did a replacement letter right away. To me this is a moot point.

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Don Mundell