On Your Marks - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the third entry of Postal History Sunday for 2023.  PHS is hosted every week on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  Everyone is welcome here, regardless of the level of knowledge and expertise you might have in postal history. 

A few people have been curious regarding the publishing schedule I maintain for these weekly entries.  Typically, I set each new effort to appear at 5:30 AM Central US Time - on a Sunday, of course.  So, if you want to bookmark one of the blogs I linked above, you can just go directly there each Sunday AM and expect to see that week's PHS after that time.  For those who prefer to be reminded that a new Postal History Sunday is available, I tend to post something on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at some point later each Sunday, depending on how my day is going.  I also put a link in a comment on Richard Frajola's philatelists board. 

If anyone who reads these blogs feels motivated to share with others in your own circles, you may feel free to do so - there are plenty of fuzzy slippers and comfortable virtual chairs to go around.

A postal marking brings out a question

The special Christmas Postal History Sunday brought forward a question that I had not exactly considered specifically.  I had an answer almost immediately, but it had not been a question I'd put much thought or time into prior to that point.

I see postal markings as one part of the equation that makes up the story around a given piece of mail.  Yet, I have to admit that I do not always consider things from the angle of marcophily (or marcophilately), which is the study of the postmarks themselves.  A person who concentrates first on the markings for their sake might have felt these questions were worthy of immediate and undivided attention.  I, on the other hand, filed them away as a point of some interest and moved on to things like postal rates, ship sailings and an odd fascination that the addressee lived on Drury Lane (do you know the muffin man?).

It's all about each person's interests, experience and knowledge base.  Each individual may see something completely different to explore about any given object!

Before we get to the question that was sent my way, let's describe what I see when I read the cover shown above so we can all start at the same place.

This letter was mailed in Lynn, Massachusetts on November 2, 1863.  The postmaster at Lynn used hand stamps to apply two markings in red ink on the front of the envelope.  The first is a big, circular marking that reads "Lynn, Mass, Nov 2, 24 Paid."  These sorts of postal markings are often referred to as a "CDS" or "City-Date Stamp," though I have also heard people refer to it as a "Circular Date Stamp."  Either way, it's just like all sorts of names we use for things... not terribly creative, but very blunt and useful as a descriptive tool.  However, we can't keep it that easy, we must shorten it to a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) so we can confuse people who are new to the subject area!

I'm all for confusion with a dose of chaos, so CDS it is!

The other marking was applied in the same red ink at the right.  It's an oblong marking with the word "PAID."  The Lynn postmaster apparently took their job seriously when it came to letting postal workers down the line know that the 24 cents required to send a letter from the United States to the United Kingdom was considered to be covered properly by the 24 cent stamp that appears at the top right. 

Every occupation has their overachievers!  I think you'll understand why I say that as we get further into this Postal History Sunday.

The nearest exchange office was in Boston.  An exchange office was a post office that had the facilities to prepare mail to be "exchanged" with a foreign postal service.  Boston was able to exchange mail with London, England, according to the postal treaties in force between the United States and the United Kingdom in 1863.  So, not surprisingly, this marking is known as an "exchange marking."  

A US exchange marking for mail to the UK typically included 

• the name of the exchange office (Boston), 
• the date the letter was to depart (Nov 3), 
• an amount of the postage that was due to the UK (19 cents), 
• an indicator as to whether postage was paid in full or not (red color and the word paid), and 
• an indicator as to the ship that carried it (Br Pkt).  

That is one loaded marking!

But, what I hope you will observe, in case you have not already, is that the exchange office provided indicators to the foreign mail service that this letter was paid in full.  In fact, the foreign exchange office was probably MORE, not less, conversant in all of the postage rates to foreign destinations than a typical town postmaster might have been.

This last marking tells us that the letter was taken out of the mail bag at the London exchange office on November 16, 1863.  They also include the word "paid" in this exchange marking.  So, when it was eventually delivered to Mrs. Jewett at Drury Lane in London, the postal carrier would know not to ask for anything more.

There is one additional marking on the back (or verso) of this envelope that is a London post office marking.  London W.C. tells us that this went to the West Central postal district in London to be prepared for delivery at the residence on Drury Lane.  If you look at the address panel, you will see that the sender of the letter also knew this and helpfully provided "W.C." as part of the delivery address.

And now, the question...

I received an interesting inquiry from John B that read "I was surprised to see a PAID 24 handstamp from a town that was not a maritime departure point for contract mails. Are there other such towns?"

So, remember when I said I thought the postmaster at Lynn, Mass was an overachiever?  I was apparently not the only postal historian who noted that they did things different from most everyone else!

So, let me take a moment to establish a baseline for you so you can understand what we're talking about here.

Shown above is a letter that was posted in Worcester, Mass on Dec 19, 1865.  Worcester is located inland from Boston, whereas Lynn is actually northeast of Boston and is situated on the Massachusetts Bay.  Still, both are relatively close to the exchange office.

Worcester, Mass CDS (city date stamp) gives us the city and the date the item was mailed (or was processed) at the Worcester post office.  A black target was part of this marking and its purpose was to deface the postage stamp to be sure it couldn't be used a second time by persons with "nefarious intent."

Ok.  I've always wanted to include the word "nefarious" in a Postal History Sunday.  Now that I've achieved that goal, let's move on.

The markings in red are exchange office markings (Boston and London). The Worcester postal clerk apparently figured their black postmark was sufficient and they left the rest of the work to the exchange offices.  No "24 Paid" or "Paid" in an oblong shape.  No special color - just black.

Here is a letter mailed from Lowell, Mass on July 19, 1864.  Lowell is inland and to the northwest of Boston.  Once again, there are no additional markings beyond the Lowell CDS and a black marking of triangles to deface the stamp.  The Lowell postmaster left the rest of the job to the foreign mail clerks in Boston - just like the Worcester clerk.

At this point, we'll cut to the chase and simply tell you that this is the norm in the 1860s.  Unless we are looking at a foreign exchange office we do not typically see markings that illustrate the postal rate (24 cents) or declare the item "paid" like we do with the Lynn cover we started with.

An aside about marcophily

A person who was intent on studying the postmarks probably would have taken note of something with respect to the three Boston exchange markings on the covers I have shared thus far.  Actually, they might note a few things.  They might be interested in measurements (how big are these markings) among other things.  But, there is ONE difference every single person who is reading this blog should be able notice.

I'll give you a hint.  Look at the date in each of the three Boston exchange marks and I'll get back to you later!

What other towns had overachieving clerks/postmasters?

 

It just so happens that I do have another example in my own collection from another town that illustrates this same zealous approach towards marking the mail - even if the post office was not an exchange office.  

Here is a letter mailed at Providence, Rhode Island, that includes both a circular "paid" marking and a nice red "24" to go along with the 24 cent stamp at the right.  Providence typically sent their mail to the New York foreign mail exchange office - and we do see a nice red "N.York Br. Pkt Paid 19" marking down and to the left from the postage stamp.

Over the course of time, I have seen other examples with a similar set of markings from Providence on several covers.  I have also observed a combination of similar markings on letters mailed in the 1860s (and bearing a 24 cent stamp to the UK) from Lawrence and Springfield (both in Massachusetts) and Jersey City (New Jersey).

Briefly, I considered the fact that Lynn, Jersey City, and Providence could have sent their mail via boat to the exchange office to be a clue.  But, Springfield and Lawrence are both inland, which breaks the proposed pattern quickly and efficiently.

So, for the time being, until I learn more, I will stand by my assessment that some postmasters were intent on excelling at their jobs - or at least applying more postmarks on their letters.

And that's about all I have for the reasons why.

Another marking pattern

 

A few questions from Gary D about this particular cover got me started looking at a different postal marking pattern that I had internalized and not really put into words.  Gary was curious about the fancy star cancellation on the postage stamp in combination with the RED New Haven, Connecticut CDS. 

Many people who enjoy collecting stamps and postal history are attracted to some of the fancy cancellations that postal clerks used in some towns during the 1860s (and other decades).  In fact, there are whole books cataloging fancy cancellations during the mid to late 1800s.  You can read about the book by Skinner and Eno here and see how you could access the original and an updated resource.

And yes, it is thanks to people who were very interested in marcophily that such resources exist.

Getting back to the original point, I guess there was more than one way to excel at the job!  However New Haven's approach seems like a fair amount of extra work because they used two ink colors.  Red for the CDS and black for the cancellation.

This seems to be a normal pattern for New Haven when the mail was intended for a foreign destination across the Atlantic Ocean.  

image from Siegel Auction Galleries

 

Shown above is a letter that was mailed from New Haven to Shanghai, China.  The pattern is the same - a red CDS and black ink for the cancellation device.  You might notice that this time around, the star has a hole in the center.  There are a number of other examples, including this one to Prussia, that show similar black/red uses from New Haven.

 

As I stated, it seems that the New Haven CDS is red when the letter was meant to cross the Atlantic Ocean.  I have seen letters with a three cent stamp that show a black CDS  to go with the black star cancellation for destinations within the United States.  Similarly, I noted a letter to Aspinwall (Panama) where both the CDS and star cancellation were in black ink.  But, I will not make a claim that this is absolutely the case - that might be job for a marcophilest!

 

To add fuel to that particular fire, here is a letter mailed from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1867.  Once again, the CDS is in red, but the cancellation marking on the stamp is in black ink. I have a suspicion that several towns followed a protocol where trans-Atlantic letters acquired a red CDS, while the cancellation marking was applied with black ink.

 

The question is this - what will I do with that suspicion?  The fields of postal history, marcophily, and philately have pages upon pages of articles and resources.  It is possible (and even likely) that others that have explored this topic already and I just have yet to discover their research and their conclusions.  So, we shall see where my own motivation ultimately takes me.

For now, we will be content that the subject area has plenty of room for continued growth and exploration.  More questions to ask.  More answers to seek.

More to learn!

 

And speaking of more to learn - did you figure out the difference between the Boston exchange markings in our first three covers? Look at the order of the month and date.  The second cover puts the day before the month, while the others put the month first.

I hope you enjoyed today's read.  Have a wonderful remainder of your day and a fine week to come.