Measuring about 10" x 10", this is the British paper sleeve for a 10-inch 78 rpm record. What is unusual about it is the image of a hippopotamus around the label window, below the quote "I Want a Hippopotamus" and a reference to Philips record # P.B.211. That record, of course, was the Gayla Peevey hit "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." What is unclear to me is whether this is the sleeve that originally contained the Gayla Peevey record, or whether it's just an advertising sleeve that might have contained just about any other record on the British Philips label. What I'm pretty sure of, though, is that the sleeve is rarer than the record, which was also released in the USA on the Columbia label.

The bottom seam is intact, but the two side seams are partially split at the top. There is also some creasing at all four corners, especially at the upper left corner, which also has some actual paper loss extending from the corner to about the center of the top edge. The back, which has no Hippopotamus references, has a variety of handwritten inscriptions, as shown in the second picture.

I repeat, we have the sleeve only - we do not have the record. To qualify for Media Mail, we might choose to ship it with a different record.

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