Heroes, Heroines, and History: LETTERLOCKING

By Mary Davis

If you are of a certain age, you likely passed a note in class folded like this or something similar.

Author image of a school note

You probably didn’t know you were doing the ancient art of letterlocking, though they didn’t call it that. That’s a term given, in 2009, to certain kinds of folded letters.

Before 1840, all envelopes had to be hand cut and folded, even in businesses. In this year, George Wilson of London was given a patent for an envelope-cutting machine, which greatly sped up the process. Even so, they still had to be folded by hand. In 1845, an envelope-folding machine was patented in England by Edwin Hill and Warren De La Rue.

Back side of machine-cut envelope

What did people do before envelopes were invented and more easily produced? People had to find ways to protect the contents of their letters. Sealing wax and a seal were often used to hold letters together. However, if you weren’t wealthy enough to have these luxuries or didn’t have them available, what would you do?

People developed intricate ways of folding letters so they didn’t come open, often by folding a flap into another part of the paper. But what if you had something super secret that you needed to send (like in a time of war or when Mary Queen of Scots was in prison) and wanted to make sure it wasn’t opened before it arrived at the destination?

A locked letter

Special folds, cuts, and tucks solved this problem. And if it had been opened, the recipient could tell. They would know that the enemy had the information within the missive. There were many variations of these methods.

A letter that had been spiral locked

In this video, you can watch a demonstration of the rare, spiral locking of a letter. It was nearly impossible to sneak open without the recipient knowing it had been tampered with.

Mary Queen of Scots used this method for her final letter to her brother-in-law Henri III, King of France before her death. It was also used by Catherine de’ Medici, Elizabeth I, as well as many others in the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th centuries.

I decided to try my hand at this one.

• First, fold letter in half, bringing the short sides together.

• Open and fold about 3/4” down one long side and cut a thin strip about a 1/4” from fold, starting at the center fold and taper off before the end.

• Refold paper in half with the strip pointing up.

• Fold up about 3/4” on the bottom.

• Fold up again in half to form a long skinny piece.

• Fold in half the other direction.

• Cut a slit with an x-acto knife through all layers. (Be extra careful when using a sharp knife.)

• Thread the strip through the slit.

• Flatten.

• Cut another slit on the reverse side and thread it through again.

• Then flatten.

• Cut one more slit on the reverse side.

• Thread the end through and tuck it under the first part of the spiral.

• Sometimes the creator would wet this last little bit with water to cause the paper to swell slightly, making it difficult to pull back out of the slit without causing damage.

• If you had wax—even from a candle—this would be a good place to put some.

• Now if anyone opens it before it reaches its destination, the recipient will know.

Hand holding a letter that was locked

Next time you are short an envelope, try letterlocking. But don’t send it through postal system because their machine wouldn’t like this ancient art.

THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle 4)

Will Geneviève open her heart to a love she never imagined?

Washington State 1894

Geneviève Marseille has one purpose in coming to Kamola—stopping her brother from digging up the past. Deputy Montana has lived a simple life. But when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into his arms, his modest existence might not be enough anymore. A nemesis from Aunt Henny's past arrives in town threatening her with jail. Will she flee as she’d done all those years ago, or stand her ground in the town she’s made her home? When secrets come out, will the lives of Geneviève, Montana, and Aunt Henny ever be the same?

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over forty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. They include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles are The Widow’s Plight, The Daughter's Predicament, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in Love In Bloom, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW.

Mary lives in the Colorado Rockies with her Carolina dog, Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: