Triple Threat - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to 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).

This week, we're going to take a look at pieces of mail that weighed more than the normal "simple letter" in the 1860s.  For our purposes, a simple letter was a piece of letter mail that weighed no more than the base weight (for example 1/2 ounce or 15 grams) set by a postal service to get that letter from point A to point B.  A simple letter was typically used as a starting point by a postal service to describe the postage required to send a letter.

For example, a simple letter from France to Belgium in 1861 cost 40 centimes as long as that letter did not weigh more than 10 grams.  And a simple letter from the US to the United Kingdom cost 24 cents if it weighed a half ounce or less.

But what happens when that letter weighs more?

Why is this envelope so remarkable?

Above is an example of a letter that weighed more than a simple letter.  In this case, the item must have weighed more than one ounce and no more than 1 1/2 ounces.  The rate at the time was 24 cents per 1/2 ounce in weight.  So, this is a triple rate letter, requiring 24 cents x 3 in postage (72 cents).  Easy!  Right?

Well, yes it is.  And maybe that's why it is so remarkable.

But first, let's consider how much had to be in an envelope to make it this heavy.  A modern envelope with four to five sheets of standard printing paper would weigh about one ounce.  That means this envelope would have to have a bit more than that stuffed into it reach the weight that would require 72 cents in postage so it could be sent to London, England.

By itself, this letter is remarkable because it shows an example of heavier mail, which is certainly far less common for people to send than simple letters.  But, that's not the biggest reason that I appreciate this particular item.  And, before I tell you why, let's give you a bit more to think about first.
 

40 centimes per 10 grams : April 1, 1858 to December 31, 1865

The French kept the triple rate easy to figure

The French and the Belgians came to an agreement that the simple rate between their two countries would be 40 centimes for each 10 grams in weight (so anything over 20 grams and no more than 30 grams would be a triple rate).  And, shown above is a letter that weighed 25 grams - so it is a triple rate cover, requiring 120 centimes in postage to get from St Etienne, France to Roulers, Belgium.  

And, before you think my figuring out that this letter weighed 25 grams was magic, I show you this:

One of these days, everyone who reads Postal History Sunday is going to figure out all of my secrets and there will be no reason to read it - so I probably should stop sharing them!

Each of the orange French postage stamps on the envelope represent 40 centimes in postage and the red "PD" in the box indicates that the French post office saw this item as properly prepaid by those stamps.  This is about as easy as you can get when it comes to a triple rate.

80 centimes per 7.5 grams: April 1857 to December 31, 1869

And, just to show you that it wasn't just the Belgians that were okay with a simple rate progression when it came to the French - here is a triple rate letter from France to the United States in 1866.  This time around, we do not have a marking that tells us how heavy the letter was.  Instead, we have to infer that it was more than 15 grams and no more than 22.5 grams based on the postage applied and the fact that it appears to have been treated by the post office as properly paid.

There are three 80 centime French postage stamps on the envelope.  The red box with the "PD" shows up below them.  A nearby, red, circular marking from New York agrees that postage is paid.  And that neat little "9." in red indicates to me that nine US cents needed to be passed to the United States for their share of the expenses.  This is precisely three times the 3 cents owed for each 7.5 grams in weight.

If that last bit doesn't make sense to you, let me refer you to last week's Postal History Sunday.  That post covered mail from the US to France during this same time period.

7d per 1/2 ounce : January 1, 1868 - May 31, 1870

The British seemed reasonable too

Shown above is a letter mailed from London, England to London, Ontario, Canada, in October of 1869.  There are three postage stamps paying a total of 1 shilling, nine pence in postage.  There is no evidence that further postage was needed, so it seems this item was properly prepaid by the stamps.

This letter was carried by the steamship named "Russia," which was part of the Cunard Line - a British steamship line.  According to British rate tables found in an excellent book by Jane & Michael Moubray*, there were two possible rates.  One for letters carried on the Allen Line (a Canadian steamship line) and British ships that landed in the United States.  This letter was carried by the more expensive option (the British ships landing in the US - either New York or Boston).

A simple letter (weighing no more than a half ounce) was 7 pence.  So, at 7 pence per 1/2 ounce, the amount for a triple weight letter would be 21 pence, which converts to 1 shilling and 9 pence (12 pence per shilling).  

That wasn't hard either.

*British Letter Mail to Overseas Destinations: 1840 - 1875, Jane & Michael Moubray

3rd weight letter for internal letter in France, 1867

Or were they?

You had to know there must be something more going on here - especially if you've read Postal History Sunday before.  Shown above is a domestic (or internal) letter mailed from Paris, France to Bordeaux, France, in 1867.  The amount of postage is 80 centimes, but the rate of a simple letter was 20 centimes as long as it did not weigh more than 10 grams.

It would be tempting to say, without verifying anything, that this is a quadruple weight letter (20 centimes x 4) and have done with it, wouldn't it?  No.  Apparently the French expected more of their own people.  They, at least, should be able to figure out something that was a bit more complex.  Here is a look at the internal letter mail rates for France from 1849 to 1871.

Prepaid Internal Letter Rates for France

Date	1st Rate	up to	2nd Rate	up to	3rd Rate	up to	Additional	Per
Jan 1, 1849	0,20	7.5g	0,40	15g	1,00	100g	1,00	100g
Jul 1, 1850	0,25	7.5g	0,50	15g	1,00	100g	1,00	100g
Jul 1, 1854	0,20	7.5g	0,40	15g	0,80	100g	0,80	100g
Jan 1, 1862	0,20	10g	0,40	20g	0,80	100g	0,80	100g
Sep 1, 1871	0,25	10g	0,40	20g	0,70	50g	0,50	50g

The rate table effective for the letter I am showing is in row 4.  The simple letter and the double weight letters are pretty easy and calculate as we might expect.  But, the third rate actually covers a much larger weight range.  Any letter weighing over 20 grams and no more than 100 grams (!) would qualify for this third rate at 80 centimes in postage.  Then, any 100 grams after that would cost another 80 centimes.

Ok, so the French can't always be trusted to do the easy calculation thing, but what about the British (and the American for that matter)?

The short answer is "no."

Here is another example of a letter from the US to England that bears three 24-cent stamps for 72 cents in postage.  This letter was mailed in 1864, and unlike the very first item I showed in this post, it was NOT accepted as being properly paid.  If you look, will notice a hand stamp at the right that says "short paid."  Also, the black coloration of the New York marking and the black coloring of the "20" marking are indicators that this was considered to be unpaid.  Think of these as signals to the British Post from the US Post Office that all was not well on the postage front.  

"Hey, you Brits!  The sender failed to pay enough for this, so you better collect.  And while you are at it, send us the 20 cents you owe us for this letter!"

The British Post proceeded to do that, collecting FOUR shillings (the squiggle in the middle).  One shilling was equal to 24 US cents, so they collected the equivalent of 96 cents.

The US and the United Kingdom made a treaty agreement that became effective in 1849 and remained effective until December of 1867.  That agreement set the simple letter rate as 24 cents for a letter weighing no more than 1/2 ounce.  A double weight letter would cost 48 cents and would weigh more than a half ounce and no more than one ounce.  But, from there it all changes!

Any letter over one ounce in weight would add 48 cents in postage for every additional ounce in weight!

And to add insult to injury, any letter that was not fully prepaid would be treated as....completely unpaid!

So, even though the sender might have thought their letter that weighed more than one ounce and no more than 1.5 ounces was properly paid, it was not.  Their 72 cents in postage stamps was completely useless and the US Post Office thanked them for the generous donation.  The British Post, on the other hand, came calling to the addressee at Horbling with their hands out, awaiting payment for the costs of this letter.  

All of that brings us back here.

The first letter I shared with you is dated Jun 12, 1866 and it clearly shows a properly paid triple rate that is 24 cents PER 1/2 ounce.  It would have weighed roughly the same as the cover that required the recipient to pay 4 shillings in postage (over 1 ounce no more than 1.5 ounces).

The first question is, of course, how do we know this one was treated as paid?  There are several clues, and I am betting you can see some of them - even if you don't know postal history.

1. markings in red typically indicated that a letter was considered paid
2. both the Boston and the London markings include the word "paid"
3. the 57/3 marking in pencil is red and gives us confirming information

Yeah.  I think the word "paid" in two places is probably enough for most of us.  But, the "57/3" mark illustrates very clearly that this was considered a valid triple weight cover and NOT a mistake by the post office or overpayment by the sender.  The "3" was written by the clerk to indicate that this was a triple weight.  The "57" indicates to us that 57 cents were due to be sent to the British for their share of the expenses.  If this were a simple letter, that number would be a "19," like this simple letter.

But, our triple rate letter would require 19 cents x 3 = 57 cents.  Which confirms that the cover in question is a triple rate letter.

So, why was that first letter special?

It turns out that many postal agreements and rates through the early 1860s followed what was known as a "British Rate Progression," where there was a simple letter up to a half ounce, a double rate letter up to one ounce and then, every other rate progression would be by the ounce.  You can guess that people who got caught by the British Rate Progression were less than happy with it.  And, the British began changing from that rate structure to a simple rate progression.

On April 1, 1866, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to follow a simple rate structure that was 24 cents per 1/2 ounce.  This rate would only be effective from April 1, 1866 until December 31, 1867.  After that, the rate was reduced to 12 cents per 1/2 ounce.

And that, my friends, is why this envelope is so neat! It illustrates a major change in postal rates that was not the result of a new postal treaty.  And, it was also likely a relief to postal customers who wanted to mail heavier letters.

1 shilling per 1/2 ounce : April 1, 1866 - December 31, 1867

It went both ways too!

Here is a letter that left Liverpool, England, in August of 1867 and was sent to Houston, Texas, in the US.  This illustrates the same thing our first cover did, only going in the opposite direction.  The 24-cent rate per half ounce translates to one shilling (12 pence) per half ounce from the perspective of a person in England looking to send the letter.

This letter has two postage stamps, one representing 1 shilling in postage and the other 2 shillings, for a total of three shillings paid.  Once again, we have a paid marking in the circular, red New York marking at the left.  The red pencil "15" indicates that the British Post was aware that fifteen US cents (5 cents x 3) needed to be sent to cover the US portion of the expenses.

Is life simpler now?

I've had people remark to me that they are glad that postage rates aren't as complex now as they used to be (like the 1860s).  That got me to thinking.  What does a "triple rate" letter look like today - this very moment?

A simple letter from the US to the United Kingdom, if you sent it today, would cost you $1.40 to mail as long as it weighed no more than one ounce.  So, if we use a simple progression today, the cost for a triple rate letter (over 2 ounces and no more than 3 ounces), the cost would be $4.20.

So, I looked it up.  Is the cost for a triple weight letter $4.20? The United Kingdom belongs in "group 5."

from USPS site

Again, the answer is "no."  The cost would be $3.82.

The first ounce cost $1.40.  The second ounce is $1.22 cents and the third ounce is $1.20.  The maximum weight for a first class letter is 3.5 ounces - and that extra 1/2 ounce costs $1.22.

Ok.  Not simple.  And perhaps a good explanation as to why we rely so much on computers to do rate calculations for us today.  What escapes me is the rhyme or reason for rates this complexity.  I suppose I could probably speculate on the data that resulted in these amounts, but that might be a fun exercise for another time (and maybe another life).

Instead, we will stop there for this week, with gratitude for the postal workers who have to deal regularly with today's complex postage rate structures.

Thank you again for joining me for this edition of Postal History Sunday.  I appreciate all of the feedback, as well as the kind words that have been sent my way.  I hope you learned something new and enjoyed yourself, if only because you avoided doing some unpleasant task that I am afraid I will no longer distract you from doing!

Unless, of course, I can distract you with a silly story or thoughts about leaves.  Your call!

Have a fine rest of your day and an excellent week to come.