2022 Iditarod Trail Mail Auction
The Iditarod National Historic Trail was once used as a mail route, with dog teams being the primary means of delivery. In order to honor this part of the trail’s history, Iditarod mushers have carried cachets for most of 50 years as part of their mandatory gear. These cachets are now part of the Iditarod Education Department programming. Each year, a design is selected from a student contest and printed on envelopes. The mushers sign these envelopes the week before the race starts and then the cachets are prepared for traveling 1,000 miles by dog team to Nome. In each envelope, a classroom has a piece of mail that will be mailed back to them once the musher finishes the race. One envelope from each musher is also reserved for public auction to support the Iditarod Education Department.
But wait! There's BONUS Mail from the 2020 Race!
Own a piece of history with the autographed 2020 Trail Mail envelopes. This was the year when COVID hit mid-race. Personnel were cleared as quickly as possible and mushers were brought in and out of Nome with no lingering around for race festivities. These cachets were on that race route! Recently recovered and opened, they are ready for auction. Note the 2020 Census design created by 7th grader, Frank R., from Comanche Middle School in Clinton, IA. (Not all envelopes got returned for apparent reasons.)
There are multiples of the 2020 envelopes and inlcude mushers such as Champion Thomas Waerner, past champions such as Lance Mackey, Aliy Zirkle in her final Nome finish, and each of the Elim 11.
Who are the Elim 11? In 2020, a group of mushers were delayed in Elim for a very long time and eventually left together and made it to Nome. We are auctioning off the envelopes from this famous group dubbed the "Elim 11". Read more about the Elim 11 HERE.
Make sure you use the search function to find all of a musher's available envelopes.
*IMPORTANT NOTE* - This auction is set up with POPCORN BIDDING, which means if you place a bid right before auction closing, it will extend the auction by 2 minutes. Here is an example: On auction close date, Monday, May 23, Bob makes a bid on item #101 at 11:59am (the auction closes at 12pm ASKT/ 4pm EST). That will then extend the bidding window by 2 minutes, giving Sally (who was also bidding on this item) an extra window to place another bid, which will then extend the bidding window by another 2 minutes, giving Bob another opportunity to bid. Bob places another bid, which then extends the auction by another 2 minutes, giving Sally another chance. Sally decides she cannot bid anymore, no other parties bid on the item, so the additional 2 minutes from Bob's bid runs out and Bob then wins the item. If Sally were to place another bid, and this cycle were to continue, it will end after 60 minutes and the highest bidder at 1pm ASKT/5pm EST will be the winner of that item.
So, just because you placed a higher bid at 11:59am AKST/ 3:50pm EST, doesn't mean the bidding is over... stick around your computer to ensure that you keep getting your bids in on the bidding war and win that item!
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THANK YOU for supporting The Iditarod! All money raised in this auction goes to support the Iditarod Education Department, which means each winning bid is a donation to this amazing program.