Postmaster general unseals bids for the stamped envelope contract

1. The contract started October 1, 1874, and it would run for four years.
2. The contract “aggregates eight millions of dollars, and calls for a supply of about one hundred and fifty millions of envelopes a year.”

1. The article referred to George F. Nesbitt & Company as “F. F. Nesbitt & Co.”
2. The article referred to G. H. Reay as “G. H. Reary.”

The contract had not been awarded at this point:  according to the article, it would be awarded “in a day or two.”

On August 20, 1874, it would be reported that Marshall had rejected all three bids and had re-opened the bidding process.

The Courant reported that last year, 144,000,000 stamped envelopes had been printed.

1. James W. Marshall was the first assistant postmaster general who briefly served as postmaster general after John Creswell resigned in late June 1874 and before Marshall Jewell took over in late August.
2. George H. Reay held the current contract for stamped envelopes.
3. The contract would be worth $221,263,859.65 today.

Unattributed.  “Telegraphic items,” Hartford Daily Courant, August 15, 1874, page 3.

Unattributed.  “The Plimpton company,” Hartford Daily Courant, September 29, 1874, page 2.