Bit Expensive for Now, but Prices of DNA Testing of Envelopes and Other Items Should Come Down in the Future

One article on DNA testing using envelopes, https://thefamilycurator.com/how-to-preserve-and-test-old-letters-for-grandmas-dna/. Estimated price range is $1,000 – 2,500 which will probably come down in a few years as more companies join the field. It’s iffy as they may not be able to get enough usable DNA from the item(s) and the DNA won’t be to the level you need for matching on companies like FamilyTree DNA (FTDNA), MyHeritageDNA, AncestryDNA, and probably LivingDNA/FindMyPastDNA. Autosomal DNA tends to degrade fast so your best chances are Y-DNA (for males) and mtDNA. That’s not to say in the future they won’t come up with new techniques that will be able to get enough autosomal DNA for such testing to be a good option. However you need to find out how to preserve the samples you have for the best chances of getting DNA out of them.