Curtis & Brown was a limited partnership of Jeremiah Curtis & Son and John I. Brown & Son. This entity was founded in 1865 to market various proprietary items other than Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup or Brown's Bronchial Troches. Private die stamps were issued in two denominations. The one-cent was issued from August of 1865 until September of 1877. 1,368,000 were printed on old paper and 525,476 on silk paper. The copy above is on silk paper.

The two-cent stamps were not issued until December of 1871, and were last issued in July of 1875. All 383,420 copies were printed on silk paper.

The name of the firm was changed to Curtis & Brown Manufacturing Company in 1877. Their stamps were altered to reflect this new name. 996,048 of the one-cent stamps were issued between November, 1877 and April 7, 1883 on pink and watermarked papers. The one illustrated is on watermarked paper.

An unknown number of two-cent stamps were issued between late 1877 and the beginning of October, 1880. These were printed on silk and watermarked papers. The one above is on watermarked paper.