The former Carnegie library building in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is pictured on the envelope above. All but a portion of the Carnegie building has been razed. One way that communities in the first two decades of the 20th century sought to attract new businesses was through advertising on envelopes. These envelopes typically included pictures on the front of the envelope that depicted significant buildings and attractions in the community. Libraries are often one of the buildings being depicted on these envelopes.
The Sheboygan advertishing envelope is part of my postal librariana exhibit “The Evolution of the American Public Library”. The exhibit includes more than 300 postal and related artifacts. The exhibit will be on display at Mt. Mary College in the Milwaukee area on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sept. 12-13). The exhibit is one of many which will be part of MILCOPEX, Milwaukee’s annual national level stamp show. For information on the stamp show click here. For information on the exhibit click here.