"Unless double stamps were part of his signature, he didn’t need to do that."
Ugh, I think you’ve answered it for yourself, Dukky.

These came in books too. How do we know it was a roll? Just curious…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-Scott-1284 … 4d0b776175

Well, there I go making it sound like I’m sure… but maybe not 100%. From our grainy scans it looks like the stamps were perforated on only two sides. And as a kid, I remember how common it was for rolls of these things to be lying all over our house. There’s the extent of my "knowledge." As masootz said though, it’s likely a moot point anyway.

To be clear, I only meant that THESE stamps in THIS picture cal from a roll:

Because, you know, perforations only on two opposing sides.
I didn’t mean to imply that every stamp that Zodiac ever used did. In any case, I’ve never seen good enough scans of any of the envelopes to really be able to tell one way or the other.

-glurk

These came in books too. How do we know it was a roll? Just curious…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-Scott-1284 … 4d0b776175

Well, there I go making it sound like I’m sure… but maybe not 100%. From our grainy scans it looks like the stamps were perforated on only two sides. And as a kid, I remember how common it was for rolls of these things to be lying all over our house. There’s the extent of my "knowledge." As masootz said though, it’s likely a moot point anyway.

I take it all back. These do appear to have come from a sheet. Now stop telling me I’m never wrong.

i have the following for his use of roosevelt stamps:

4 – vallejo times 408 letter
2 – examiner 408 letter
2 – chronicle 408 letter
1 – button map letter
1 – johns letter
1 – little list letter
2 – la times letter
2 – my name is letter
2 – stine killing letter
2 – dripping pen
2 – dragon card

i haven’t seen an envelope for the "my name is" letter. exorcist letter has an eisenhower stamp, belli letter has jefferson stamps, and there are other letters that i don’t consider from him so i don’t have info on those.

21 total – sent from 1969 to 1971. my thought was if he purchased a book or roll of roosevelt stamps in 1969 and used stamps from that roll or book to send all of these letters it would be another forensic clue that the same person wrote all of these letters. if we had the envelopes or even high-res scans we might be able, for example, to see that the tear on a corner of a stamp on one letter 1969 matches the tear on a corner of a stamp on a different letter, thus letting us know that both letters were sent from stamps in the same roll. again, sorry, i keep bringing up something that we can’t prove because we don’t have the info but i do think it’s possible if we had better scans. just my 2 cents, sorry for belaboring the point.

You might find this useful.

viewtopic.php?f=97&t=337&p=857&hilit=zoom#p857

Here’s a snippet for the ‘My name is’ envelope.

thanks trav! while i’m thinking of it, the aug 4 1969 "debut of zodiac" letter has no known envelope, correct? i think that’s the only one i’m missing. thanks.

Yeah the Aug 4th envelope isn’t available. I had to leave grey boxes for that one.

We know how many, more or less, stamps he sent in. Anyone know how many stamps came in a book? If he could’ve bought them all at once, he probably did. And to me that lends more likelihood that they were all from the same person, as opposed to him using a number that indicated that he bought them separately or on separate occasions.

Seems simple enough. I could look it up, as I said I don’t know about stamps…I just bought them one at a time to send in bills before the internet… but maybe someone could save me the trouble if they do know.

We know how many, more or less, stamps he sent in. Anyone know how many stamps came in a book? If he could’ve bought them all at once, he probably did. And to me that lends more likelihood that they were all from the same person, as opposed to him using a number that indicated that he bought them separately or on separate occasions.

Seems simple enough. I could look it up, as I said I don’t know about stamps…I just bought them one at a time to send in bills before the internet… but maybe someone could save me the trouble if they do know.

I don’t know if or how it varied, or by how much, but Z kinda answered your question DK. Creepy lol.

25 in a book of 8 cent stamps.

http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&tid=2028981

"The gray brown 6-cent sheet stamp was issued January 28, 1966, in Hyde Park, New York. The sheet stamp was produced from plates of four hundred and sold in panes of one hundred stamps with gauge 10.5 x 11 perforations. The stamp was also produced as a vertical coil and booklet panes and issued December 28, 1967, in Washington, District of Columbia. The vertical booklet pane of eight 6-cent stamps was used in combination with the horizontal 1-cent Jefferson pane of eight. The horizontal booklet pane of six 6-cent stamps was used in combination with the vertical 2-cent Frank Lloyd Wright booklet pane of six. The later booklet was sold only through vending machines, at an even one dollar, requiring both the Roosevelt and Wright panes to have slogan labels substituted for one stamp on each pane. A revised horizontal coil version that accommodated stamp-affixing machines was issued on February 28, 1968, in the District of Columbia."

so the vertical booklet pane was eight six-cent stamps, the horizontal booklet pane was six six-cent stamps. the horizontal booklet was sold only through vending machines and would have had three pages of five roosevelt stamps (30c x 3) with each page having a sixth "slogan stamp" and then a fourth page of five frank lloyd wright two-cent stamps with the sixth slot on that page being a "slogan stamp". in 1968 a revised horizontal coil was issued so the stamps could be used in stamp-affixing machines.

basically we could probably tell which type of stamps he bought (indicating perhaps whether he used a vending machine for them) by the direction of the perforation if we had scans that were good enough to make out the perforation. additionally we could also hazard a guess that they came from the same book if the perforation matched what you’d see in a book (i.e. – a stamp with perforation on the right and bottom, another with left right and bottom, another with left and bottom would indicate the top row of the horizontal booklet).

I’d venture a small wager that the stamps were purchased from a vending machine. Just a hunch.

I’ll bet he asked a friend to borrow a stamp or two on more than one occasion as well as asking the friend to drop the envelope in a mailbox for him after asking the friend to write "air mail" on the envelope.

You don’t like the way "Air Mail" is written, Cappy?

I’ll bet he asked a friend to borrow a stamp or two on more than one occasion as well as asking the friend to drop the envelope in a mailbox for him after asking the friend to write "air mail" on the envelope.

Too much risk for questions or getting caught, imo. "What are you writing the Editor about", "Why so much postage", "Why is there a circle-cross for the return address"… –just messin’ on the last one.

These were letters coming from a murderer and some letters could have been published at his request. I think it too risky to ask someone to mail his work, who might have recognized something that may have been provided to the public later on.