National Metal Company Postal History

I had the opportunity to pick up a number of covers in an Ann Arbor Stamp store over the holidays. I had a lot of fun researching some of the history behind the people and places ...

this first cover is the first in a series of letters from ARW in Mexico (in this case Guadalajara) to a Miss Harriet Lawrence of Ludington MI in July of 1903. I confess that I originally picked these covers out of a box of hundreds because of the stamps ... interesting that as I started researching the people ... I sort of lost interest in the stamps.

this next set of covers all come from the same return address. I say set because I have 4 covers but only picked the best stamps and postmarks ... there were probably a dozen in the box. The date has jumped forward a year ... these were all postmarked in the fall of 1904. The addressee has also moved to Ypsilanti MI.

here is a closeup of the best postmark and stamp in the lot

next we have a letter addressed to a Miss Grace E. Lawrence at the same address ... a sister perhaps? No return address, but the same Mexican stamp lends one to believe that the letter came from the same author. I cannot make out the postmark date ... even on the back the date is unfortunately smeared or covered up ...

the last letter in this group is addressed to a Mrs. A.W. Wren at the same address but postmarked 1907. Notice that the authors return address has changed .... from National Metal Company to Consolidated Metals.