NPS photo
On December 5, 1947, a new stamp went on sale in Florida City.
Overnight, an entire wave of hand-illustrated envelopes were circulated to celebrate it.
When the Everglades National Park stamp was launched on December 5, 1947, Americans didn't just buy the stamps; they also collected the envelopes carrying them. These decorated envelopes, often small works of art, are called first day covers. These envelopes, both historical and modern, were illustrated by everyday people, professional artists, and printing companies, offering collectors and enthusiasts an opportunity to memorialize a moment. These items allowed the American public to celebrate the launch of a new Post Office Department stamp or public event, and in this case, the dedication of a new national park.
Each cover image, or cachet, offered a different impression of what makes the Everglades worth celebrating. First day cover artwork highlighted the region's wildlife like the birds and alligators that made the Everglades famous. These envelopes brought the new park to life in different ways. Some featured maps that showed the sheer scale of the park, while others paid tribute to the people whose efforts made its creation possible. Some covers recognized the history of the land itself, including the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the area before the park was established. In general, these artists each found unique ways to capture the essence of the Everglades.
Why These Covers Matter
It would have been easy for these envelopes to disappear. Many were mailed, opened, and set aside. They were ordinary pieces of everyday life, a small souvenir, not precious objects anyone expected to matter decades later. Reprints and digital scans can show you what a cover looked like, but they can't replicate the postmark stamped by a real postal worker in Florida City on a specific morning in 1947.
But that's exactly what makes them valuable today. Unlike an official park photograph or a government press release, first day covers weren't created by the National Park Service. They were made by ordinary citizens, stamp collectors, and artists at printing/art companies who wanted to mark the occasion in their own way. Many came from specialty cachet makers who turned first day covers into a small but serious art form. Companies like Cachet Craft, Fluegel Cover, Artmaster, and PentArts, along with groups like the Miami Philatelic Society, worked to produce memorable designs for major stamp releases, like the Everglades dedication stamp. Each maker had a distinct style, which is part of why the covers in this collection look so different from one another despite honoring the same event.
The illustrated envelopes in this exhibit were not created by the U.S. Postal Service; most were made by independent cachetmakers who design artwork for first day covers. Cachetmakers preprint their designs on the envelopes, while the United States Postal Service issues the stamp and applies the official postmark. The finished, illustrated covers are then sold or distributed by cachetmakers through mail-order subscriptions, stamp shows, or sales to collectors, rather than through the Post Office. This tradition dates back to 1923, when a cachet was made for a stamp honoring President Warren G. Harding; it is widely considered the first of its kind. It soon became common for cachetmakers to create entirely different designs for the same stamp. Like the examples featured here, some cachets were individually hand-drawn, while others were mass-printed.
Each artist's individual style is reflected in the envelope illustrations. These three parts are what turn a decorated envelope into a piece of postal history:
A cachet (pronounced ka-SHAY) is the decorated design printed or drawn on the envelope itself. This is the artwork that makes each first day cover unique. Cachets were typically created by independent artists and/or small specialty printers rather than the U.S. Postal Service itself. Well-known names from this era include Cachet Craft, Fluegel Cover, Artmaster, and PentArts, along with regional groups and stamp collectors. Each artist or company brought its own distinctive style to illustrations commemorating the same historic event. Cachet designs ranged from simple line drawings to elaborate, full-color illustrations produced in advance of a new stamp's release.
This is the postage stamp being honored on its first day of sale. The U.S. Postal Service began issuing commemorative stamps (special designs celebrating people, places, and events, rather than everyday postage) back in 1847! National parks and other regional tourist destinations quickly became a popular subject. The 1947 Everglades stamp featured in this exhibit wasn't the park's last appearance on a stamp: it was honored again decades later, including in 2016 for the National Park Service's centennial celebration. On a first day cover, the stamp is affixed to the envelope just like on any piece of mail, but its connection to a specific release date makes it a permanent part of the collectible.
To read more about the first U.S. postage stamps, click here!
To read more about the first U.S. postage stamps, click here!
The postmark is the official mark applied by the post office to "cancel" the postage, preventing reuse. On a first day cover, this cancellation includes the exact city and date of the stamp's release... sometimes even the hour it was cancelled! That precision matters to collectors. A postmark is proof and confirms a cover was mailed on the actual first day, from the actual city where the stamp debuted, rather than assembled or backdated later. Covers with an authentic, clearly legible postmark from the correct first-day location are generally considered more valuable and more historically significant. The postmark is what turns a decorated envelope into a verified piece of postal history, especially when the cancellation is placed over the stamps.
Explore more than 50 first day covers associated with the 1947 Everglades 3-cent stamp in this exhibit!
Exhibit Navigation
The Stamp and Artist
A 3¢ stamp, a Great White Heron, and the artist behind it. Discover the story behind this tiny masterpiece.
President Truman at Everglades
A day after the stamp's release, President Truman dedicated Everglades National Park. Read about the event here.
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Last updated: November 6, 2026