FOIAWEAR — LETTER REMOVAL DEVICE / Without Opening the Seals Tee

FOIAWEAR / ARCHIVE SERIES 050 — LETTER REMOVAL DEVICE

During the Second World War, this pincer was used to take letters out of their envelopes without opening the seals.

The method was small and specific. The pincers were inserted into the unsealed gap at the top of an envelope flap. The letter was then wound around the pincers and drawn out from within — the envelope left sealed, and looking untouched.

Everything about the tool assumes the envelope goes back: seal intact, flap unbroken, nothing for anyone to notice. It is a device for reading something without leaving a mark on it.

The artwork is drawn as a mid-century technical plate — the pincer laid across a folded letter and a stack of opened correspondence, with an inset of the tip and a bowl of the small red and blue seals that a cruder tool would have had to break. Around it are the office objects of the period: a paperclip, a pencil, a rubber band.

Offered in twelve garment colours, printed as two different plates rather than one image re-toned. On the dark garments (Black, Graphite, Espresso, Navy, Pepper) the plate prints in full colour directly on the cloth — the paper drawn as paper, with no printed background panel. On the light garments (White, Ivory, Butter, Chalky Mint, Light Green, Blossom, Chambray) it is drawn again as a dark-ink line plate for pale cloth — fine charcoal line work with the seal in a single red.

The QR code on the front opens the museum artifact page for the device — https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/artifact/office-of-strategic-services-letter-removal-device/

Note: the description above is as published with the artifact. No photograph of the device is reproduced in the artwork. This is not an official publication and is not affiliated with any government or agency.

Garment: Comfort Colors 1717 garment-dyed t-shirt. Heavyweight 6.1 oz/yd² (206.8 g/m²), 100% ring-spun US cotton, pre-shrunk, relaxed fit, double-needle stitched with no side seams and a sewn-in label. Sizes S–4XL. Printed on the front at 300 DPI; plain back. The main artwork prints at 10 × 10 in and the QR at 1.8 × 1.8 in.

Care: machine wash cold, inside out, with like colours. Tumble dry low. Do not iron directly on the printed area.

FOIAWEAR is an independent brand and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States government, or any other government or agency.