1897 United States Medicine Co., Patent Medicine, NY Registered Cover

This item is a postally used, pre-printed business cover addressed to Dr. C. W. Dunlop, Treas. of the United States Medicine Co., located at 12 Clinton Place in New York City, N.Y.. The envelope was sent via registered mail, indicated by the handwritten “Reg” note and a large, hand-stamped number “7” at the top. It features a circular date stamp postmark from Stilwell, Ohio, dated May 20, 1897. Postage and registration fees were paid using two United States postage stamps affixed at the top right: a red 2-cent stamp and a brown 8-cent stamp. A vertical return address is handwritten on the right margin from James G. Richard of Stilwell, Ohio.

The reverse side of the cover illustrates its transit and arrival tracking through the postal system. It features a prominent purple circular receiver backstamp from the New York Post Office dated May 22, 1897, indicating a two-day transit time from Ohio. Additionally, a boxed, red-ink registration transit stamp is struck on the upper right, bearing the same May 22 date. The United States Medicine Co. was a notable late-19th-century wholesale manufacturer and dealer of proprietary patent medicines. Its treasurer, Dr. Clark W. Dunlop, was a physician who formulated and marketed several mass-produced commercial remedies during this era.