Home Page › Forums › Prototype and Historical › MP/T&P Memorabilia › Illinois Southern Wax Seal › Reply To: Illinois Southern Wax Seal
There was and is an art to getting a good clean impression from a wax seal. Those fortunate enough to have a torch, wax and seal can attest to the issues involved, ranging from wax that is too hot, not enough wax on the paper, wax sticking in the letters of the seal, etc. Back in the day, it wasn’t necessary to produce a “perfect” impression such as was achieved in this case – it was only necessary to get a sufficient imprint to identify the originating station. I’ve seen as many as four wax seals from a single station, although its likely than not all four were in use at the same time. For MP stations, one seal would have the name of the railroad and the name of the station, another version might have the railroad name and only the station number, yet another would have the name and station for the express company, and yet another would be a “public” seal, usually used by the public when sealing valuables for shipment by registered express.
Bill Pollard
