On the Shoulders of Others - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  Believe it or not, this is the 83rd entry in this weekly series that, oddly enough, seems to appear on Sundays.  I wonder why that might be?

Let's set those troubles aside for a few minutes (no - don't think hard about where you are putting those troubles - maybe you'll forget where they are and they won't bother you for a while AFTER you finish reading).  And perhaps, we can all learn something new!

This week I wanted to focus a little bit on some of the resources and works that have led me to the point where I can successfully look at pieces of postal history and read some of the story that they carry with them. 

But first, let's start with a piece of postal history!

The envelope you see above was mailed from New York City in 1863 to Shanghai, China.  There is 45-cents of postage on this envelope in the form of two ten-cent stamps (green), a one-cent stamp (blue), and a 24-cent stamp (lilac).  Each of these postage stamps have been marked by a cancellation device that left ink in the shape of a circle filled with grid lines on each stamp.  The basic idea was that, by marking these stamps, it would be difficult for someone to try to re-use them on another piece of mail.

The red circular marking at the top reads N. York Am Pkt Paid Jul 18 and tells us the day of departure of the trans-Atlantic mail packet (steamship) from the New York harbor.  It even tells us that this ship was under contract with the United States (Am Pkt) to carry this mail.  In fact, I can tell you all sorts of things about the voyage of this letter.

This is the route this letter took and the approximate dates at each location along the way:

New York Jul 18, 1863
    departed on Inman Line steamship City of Washington
London Jul 30
Southampton Aug 4
Malta Aug 14
Alexandria Aug 19
Suez Aug 23
Bombay Aug 29
    departed on Peninsular & Oriental Line steamship China
Singapore Sep 13
     typhoon Sep 20 - the China is delayed by 3 days
Hong Kong Sep 23
Hong Kong Sep 25
    departed on the Peninsular & Oriental Line steamship Ganges
Finally arriving at Shanghai on Sep 30

I can also tell you that the postage rate from the US to China was 45 cents per half ounce of weight and that this rate was effective from September of 1861 until December of 1867 - as long as it took the route via Southampton.  You can see that this route was indicated by a docket at the top of the envelope.  This was the slow way to China, taking the sea route around the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain & Portugal are) until it got to Malta.  The quicker, and more expensive route was overland through France (via Marseille).

The magenta colored "24" indicates that 24 cents of the 45 cents collected was to be passed to the British mail system, and the United States retained 21 cents to cover their costs, including the trans-Atlantic ship contract.

But, how in the world did I figure all of that out?

It started with postage rates

I am a fortunate individual.  I have been able to ride on the shoulders of others who had the ability and desire to study and do research with respect to how mail was handled between nations in the 1800s.  And, not only did they do this research, they shared the fruits of their labors with others by publishing their work.  I can say with certainty that I would not be doing what I am today with postal history if it were not for these, and numerous other, works.

One of the first pieces of literature that centered around postal history in my library was the 1990 edition of the work by Charles Starnes (United States Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations 1847 to GPU-UPU).  Prior to this effort, people would have had to rely on finding rate schedules and official announcements for rate changes from primary sources.  While that could be effective, it could also be cumbersome.  What this book did was put a quick reference in front of anyone who wanted to learn more about that old letter that was sent from the US to some other country during this time period.  You did not have to have access to a library that had copies of those primary sources.

In my mind, some of the most useful information a person can have are the effective postage rates between nations.  This knowledge by itself can help you understand whether an old cover is a valid representative of normal mail handling for the time, if it is an interesting exception to normal processes, or if it could possibly be a fake, altered, or damaged item.

This is why, as I expand my own knowledge of postal history, I often look for sources that help me to get a handle on postage rates.  For example, J.L. Bourgouin's web site features French postal rates to foreign countries and has given me a platform from which to work on cool things like this, an 1858 letter from France to Sweden.  And yes, this item shows a valid rate for the time.

In a future Postal History Sunday, I'll try to share various resources I have found over the years that have helped with postal rates.  But, suffice it to say, I have not found everything I have been looking for and the search continues.  Sometimes it is because I do not yet know where to look.  Sometimes the easy-to-use reference, like the Starnes book, doesn't exist yet for a certain area.  After all, postage rates have never been a simple study - so any useful and comprehensive resource will require significant effort to create.

The ocean caught my fancy

Walter Hubbard and Dick Winter's work, North Atlantic Mail Sailings: 1840-1875 came out in 1988 and its presence opened up a whole new world to me as a postal historian.  Suddenly, a person like me - someone who did not have easy access to newspaper archives and other resources to confirm ship departures and arrivals - was able to use a single reference and have a good shot at determining how a letter crossed the Atlantic in the 1860s (my primary focus of study).

Because this work was made available, I was given another way to look at a cover.  Another way to read the story.  Another opportunity to find something new and interesting.

If it were not for this work, I may not have been able to discover and explore the story of the Saxonia as it fought through a gale, arriving a bit late, but still successfully delivering its mailbags.  And, I would never have even thought that the item in this Postal History Sunday called Run Aground! was anything that was at all special.  Instead, it is one of my favorite things in my collection and a story I enjoy telling and retelling to anyone who might be willing to listen.

If this book did anything, it taught me how to read the exchange markings on letters that crossed the ocean.  And, in reading them, I find I can learn a great deal very quickly.  And, it helped me determine that this item is pretty cool.

Aside from looking a bit different from many letters from the time because of the stamp selvage sealing up the sides, this item was carried by a ship from the Galway Line.  Only 1.8% of the trans-Atlantic mail carried in 1863 was carried by this line, which is the only overlap the Galway shipping line had with the 24 cent stamp I enjoy.  In other words, you don't find much carried by a Galway Line ship.

Dick Winter continues to be prolific, writing Understanding Trans-Atlantic Mail (vols 1 & 2) and continues to write.  I always look forward to his work.

And I learned what guided postal services to do what they do

It was clear from the beginning that both the Starnes and the Hubbard/Winter books were references that you went to when you had an item that you needed to figure out.  The Starnes book is primarily tables with very little additional text.  The Hubbard/Winter book is also mostly ship sailing tables, but there is enough text to teach you about many things if you are willing to read for the details that were not the primary purpose of the book. 

History of Letter Post Communications Between the United States and Europe: 1845-1875 by George Hargest, on the other hand, is not what you would call "light reading."  Nor is it necessarily a reference book you go to for a quick answer.  And yet, it is this book that I attribute much of my ability to understand the mechanics of mail between postal systems. 

I know that I read portions of this book multiple times until the combination of my own personal experience and my "book-learning" finally matched up and provided me with what I call "operational knowledge."  Sure, I could have read this book once and had a few general ideas about how things worked.  But, until I could apply the things I found there to actual pieces of postal history,  I couldn't say I had really learned what I needed to.

I will admit that this process took me a while.  It is, once again, a difficult read that is full of information.  But, I recognized its value early on and kept coming back to it as my understanding grew.

This is the book that helped me understand how the postage was divided between nations and this is the book that introduced me to the postal treaties that set the foundations for mail between nations.

And much more, of course

I am only focusing on a few of the key resources that helped get me started.  These three books, along with the people who populate Richard Frajola's Board for Philatelists, were probably the most influential in encouraging me to go down the paths I have chosen to walk in the world of postal history.  If I were to focus on all resources I have used, I am afraid I would never finish this Postal History Sunday entry - and I don't see how that will help anyone.

If you were to categorize each of these resources, you might say the Starnes book was the practical reference that kept me from hurting myself too much.  The Hubbard/Winter book added a bit of window dressing that made the story line for postal history more attractive.  And, the Hargest book could be likened to a Chilton's repair manual, it gave me some understanding about what was "under the hood" when it came to mail between the United States and Europe.  The Board for Philatelists provided a sense of community that rounded it all out.

And that is the starter recipe for Postal History Sunday.  I have climbed onto the shoulders of others - and is still seeing how much further he can reach with their assistance.

Have a fine day and an excellent week to come!