Duck, Duck, Goose - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the 91st entry of Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).  

For those of you who do not live in Iowa, someone must have hit the "reboot" button for the change of the seasons one too many times and we went straight from late Winter / early Spring to Summer in one 24 hour period.  After that jolt, temps are supposed to be more like a normal May for the coming week - but we shall see.  All of the trees, bushes and perennial plants around here have all decided that NOW is the time - regardless of what future weather will bring.

Now I will place my farmer's concern for upcoming weather to the side and I invite you to grind up your own troubles into a fine powder, just as I hope to do.  Then, we can use it as fertilizer for all of those plants we want to grow green and flower.  In the meantime, let's explore a little postal history -something I enjoy - and maybe we'll all learn something new!

Getting to Know the Regular Ducks

Many of us might recall the game called Duck, Duck, Goose (or Duck, Duck, Grey Duck if you live in Minnesota).  This game was often a feature in elementary schools in the United States (I am sure there are varieties elsewhere) where kids sit in a circle on the ground.  One participant walks around the circle, touching each person in turn - naming each person a "duck" until they opt to call someone a goose (or grey duck). At that point, the newly anointed goose/grey duck chases the namer around the circle...

Ok, that's enough of that.  The point I am making is that the goose / grey duck is different than the ducks.  I like to think of the simple letter as the "duck" of postal history.  The vast majority of surviving postal artifacts are, in fact, simple letters.  Like this one:

 

Other than the junk mail most of us are quite familiar with, we might have the most familiarity with letter mail.  Junk mail is typically referenced by postal historians as printed matter or reduced rate mail.  Unsurprisingly, that sort of mail is harder for a postal historian to find because...well... it is often considered to be "junk" and is thrown away.  Letter mail, on the other hand, is more likely to be personal in nature - whether it serves as a business record or part of a personal correspondence.  That makes the chances that a postal historian might encounter old letter mail pieces is much higher.

A simple letter is the most common sort of letter mail.  To put it - simply - a simple letter requires a single rate of postage for that letter to travel from its point of origin to its destination.  This typically means the weight of the letter is below a certain limit (or the number of sheets in the letter does not exceed a certain number).

Shown above is an example of a simple letter that traveled in the mails internal to the Italian state of Modena.  The postmark at top right tells us it entered the mail at Modena (the city) on Apr 1, 1853 and was sent to Guastalla, about 56 km to the northwest.  The back has a marking from Guastalla that shows it was received at the post office there on the same day.

The postage stamp is has a 5 centesimi value, which was the correct postage for a simple letter in Modena that traveled no more than 10 meilen (75 km).  Letters qualified as a simple letter if they weighed no more than 8.75 grams.  This postage rate became effective on Sep 4, 1852 and remained in effect until mid-1859, when Modena was going through the process of unifying with Sardinia and other Italian states to create the Kingdom of Italy.

There were actually destinations within Modena that were further apart than 10 meilen (75 km).  A simple letter that traveled these greater distances had a higher postage rate - 10 centesimi per 8.75 grams.  

Above is a letter that was sent from Massa-Carrara on April 10, 1854 to the city of Modena, arriving there two days later according to the postmark on the back.  Massa-Carrara was located near the shores of the Mediterranean and was about as far away from the city of Modena as you could get (about 150 km) and still be in the Duchy of Modena.

You will find Modena is the purple region just above Tuscany (which is in bright yellow).  You may click on the map image to see a larger version if you would like.

These two items would be the "regular ducks" a person might find to represent simple mail internal to Modena for most of the 1850s.  I find it very useful to identify the "ducks" in a new postal history subject area so I can learn what would be considered normal, or common, characteristics for mail of the time.  That way I have a chance to be ready for any "goose" that might come along - whether it is something uncommon or something that has been altered and is not what it seems to be.

Modanese "Ducks" for the Italo-Austrian League

You might recall that I wrote about the Italo-Austrian League just last month.   Austria, along with the Italian states of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, Lombardy, Venetia, and the Papal State agreed to regulations for mail exchange between all participants.  So, from Modena's perspective, their postage rates for mail sent to any of the other participating states was the same.  This was not something that could have been said prior to the establishment of the league.

Here is a letter that was sent from the city of Modena in 1855 to Bologna, a city that was then in the Papal States.  The distance between the two locations was only 43 km, so it would qualify as the shortest distance category for letter mail in the Italo-Austrian League.  The cost in Modena for just such a letter was 15 centesimi for a letter weighing no more than 17.5 grams.

Below is a table that summarizes how postage was calculated for each of the participating postal systems.  This is the same table that was presented in the April Postal History Sunday that covered the Austro-Italian League.

Letter Rates to Oct 31, 1858

League member	< =10 meilen	>10 and <=20	>20
Austria	3 kreuzer	6 kr	9 rk
Lombardy-Venetia	15 centesimi	30 ctsm	45 ctsm
Modena	15 centesimi	25 ctsm	40 ctsm
Papal States	2 bajocchi	5 baj	8 baj
Parma	15 centesimi	25 ctsm	40 ctsm
Tuscany	2 crazie	4 cr	6 cr

That means there are two other types of "ducks" as far as Modena and the Italo-Austrian League is concerned.  One for each distance shown in the table above.

Well, here's one! 

This particular piece of mail bears a 25 centesimi postage stamp at the top right and a postmark in Modena dated June 17, 1856 and received in Brescia one day later according to the postmark on the back.  The distance between Modena and Brescia is right around 150 km, which would be around 20 meilen.  Apparently, the postal tables of the time listed the distance as falling within the second distance (10 to 20 meilen).

Brescia was in Lombardy, which was part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia at the time this letter was received.

And our last "duck" for this series is shown above, a letter from Modena to Gandino in the Province of Bergamo (which was in Lombardy).  Gandino is further north than Brescia, so it makes sense that this letter had to travel further than the last one, exceeding 20 meilen, qualifying it for the longest distance and the higher 40 centesimi rate.

This folded letter is dated October 17, 1855 and the weak postmark on the front of the cover looks like it could either be Oct 17 or Oct 18.  Happily, the receiving postmark on the back is much easier to read.

The letter arrived at the post office in Gandino on October 20, two or three days later.  It would be tempting to say the postmark on the front was Oct 18, just to keep the delivery time to two days - but there might be a reason that this letter was slower to get to its destination.

Here is the region of Lombardy where both Brescia and Gandino are located.  You can easily find Brescia, which the destination of the 25 ct letter.  Gandino is located northeast of Bergamo.

Clearly, Bergamo and Brescia are larger cities and both show that a rail line runs through them on this map from 1879.  Now, granted, the letters we are looking at are from the 1850s, but primary routes would have been the same, even if they did not have rail service.

Gandino was smaller.  Gandino was not part of a major travel route.

Is this a Goose?

Is it possible that our last duck is actually a "goose" in disguise?  I suppose it depends on what sort of differences you are looking for.  If you are looking for an interesting oddity with respect to the postal regulations of the time, this letter is a fine "duck."  It is a clear and simple illustration of the 40 centesimi simple letter rate for an item that traveled over 20 meilen to get to its destination.

However, every letter we have shown in this Postal History Sunday was between larger towns or cities of the time.  If you look at more modern maps, you might come to the conclusion that Guastalla (our first letter) is a smaller community, but its growth was stymied once decisions were made to go through Gonzaga, rather than Guastalla for the railroad.  In the 1850s, it actually WAS a larger settlement in Modena.

But, Gandino is located in the Alps and, at the time, it was the end of the line.  There was no railroad to get there in 1879 and there likely wasn't much for continued traffic beyond that settlement.  Even today, the population of Gandino is listed at around 5000 people, though the tourism industry probably results in a wildly fluctuating number of humans in the area depending on the season.

This simply illustrates a truth for letter mail of the time.  Most surviving mail in collectors' hands will be to or from the larger cities and towns.  This is especially true for mail that traveled longer distances.  But, here we have an item that traveled to an individual in a much less traveled part of the world.  I suppose if you are looking for evidence of more rural mail services, this could be a "goose" of a sort, but I think I'll still call it a "duck" for now.

Unanswered Questions

There are a number of questions that come to mind that are still looking for answers.  I thought I would share some of them - and maybe you would share some leads with me if you have them!

1. Who was Marco Ghirardelli?

Our last letter is addressed to Marco Ghirardelli in Gandino.  If you are wondering why the last name is familiar to you, you might be thinking about the chocolate company in San Francisco.  However, I am fairly certain THIS Ghirardelli is not directly linked to that particular family.

 Here is a portion of a current map of Gandino, clipped from Google maps.  Note the names of the streets:

Giuseppe Garibaldi, Guiseppe Mazzini, and....  Marco Ghirardelli.

The first two are well know Italian nationalists who had much to do with the process that led to Italy's unification.  Is it a coincidence that Marco Ghirardelli's name is also honored in this area of Gandino?  Was Marco Ghirardelli the local hero of the unification movement?

I don't know.  And, I ran out of time and patience as I began to explore for an answer.  I'd be happy if someone could point me in the correct direction.

2. What is that black boxed marking?

Sometimes you just have to see another example of a marking to be able to read the one that is front of you.  I have not yet been able to decipher the marking in black.  I admit that part of the issue may be that I am trying to do too many things at once right now and just need to concentrate on one thing for a while.  Still, if someone knows what it says OR can point me to a proper resource, I would appreciate it.

But, perhaps I can reward you with a little bit of the "see how one thing builds off another" here.

Note the words "Via Malcontenti" at the lower left on this envelope.  My initial reaction whenever I see "via" is to think that this is a directional docket that says, get to your destination by going this way.   Things like "via Southampton" or "via Marseille" for example.

Or, note the words "via Brindisi" on the piece of letter mail from the United States to India below.  I know that was a directional docket to route the letter through Brindisi (Italy) on its way to India.

But, if we learned anything from the first question, it's the fact that streets in Italy towns and cities are named in this fashion:  "Via Marco Ghirardelli,"  "Via Giuseppe Garibaldi," and...

"Via Malcontenti"

In other words, it is a street address.

And this is why I always remind myself to be patient when someone from another location on this earth asks me a question that seems simple on its face.  I just have to imagine exactly how exasperated someone who lives and has grown up in Italy might be with me that I did not immediately recognize that this was simply a street address.  It is possible that someone is amused that I do not know who Marco Ghirardelli is too!

Well, I'm not that proud.  I learned something new about street addresses in Italy and I have become curious about a person who appears to have resided in Gandino in the 1850s and had a street named after them.  I don't know about you, but I'll call this a good day.

Thanks for joining me for Postal History Sunday.  Have a good remainder of your day and a great week to come.