Today's cover is a favorite and it also shows up in this post. This piece of letter mail was sent from San Francisco, California in November (or December) of 1867, arriving in England January of 1868.
This item was mailed at the tail end of the 24 cent per 1/2 ounce treaty letter rate period.
How Much Did It Cost to Mail?
This cover weighed more than 1.5 ounces and no more than 2 ounces. Since the rate of postage for mail from the US to the UK was 24 cents per 1/2 ounce, 96 cents of postage were required to mail this item. The effective period for the postal convention that dictated how mail was handled between these entities was 1848 to the end of 1867. A new treaty became effective on January 1, 1868 that set the postage rate at 12 cents per 1/2 ounce.
And that is where the story starts to get a bit more interesting for this particular cover!
This item entered the US postal system in 1867, so it was correctly rated for postage to be collected under the old treaty. The accounting between the British and American postal systems would have been as follows:
The United States would keep 20 cents
- Surface Mail (from San Francisco to New York City) postage = 5 cents x 4 = 20 cents
The United States would send 76 cents to the British postal system
- Trans-Atlantic mail packet postage = 16 cents x 4 = 64 cents
- Surface Mail in the UK = 3 cents x 4 = 12 cents
But, as luck would have it, this item did not leave the United States until the new year (1868) had begun. That means the ACTUAL accounting that would have been done would be:
The United States would keep 84 cents
- Surface Mail (from San Francisco to New York City) postage = 3 cents x 4 = 12 cents
- Trans-Atlantic mail packet postage = 6 cents x 4 = 24 cents
- Extra postage as a bonus to the US postal system = 48 cents
The United States would send 12 cents to the British postal system
- Surface Mail in the UK = 3 cents x 4 = 12 cents
This is actually an even 'bigger deal' to someone like me who studies this material closely. Why? Well, the treaty made some major changes for accounting between the two postal services.
- The sending country was always responsible for paying the trans-Atlantic shipping company. Under the old agreement, certain companies were under contract with one country or the other. The contracting nation was responsible for paying the shipping company. That is part of the reason why breaking down the credits for covers is often more interesting prior to 1868.
- The regulations that required marking credits and debits on mail removed the need for these markings. From this point, you will not find them on mail between these two countries unless postage is DUE from the recipient.
And, of course, suddenly the 24 cent stamp was no longer as useful as it once was - with the postage rate now 12 cents instead of 24 cents.
So, Why Was This Item Delayed?
If this piece of letter mail had gone on its way immediately, we would never have had the opportunity to talk about the change in postal convention and the new postage rates. As it was, this item sat at the San Francisco post office for ten days before continuing on its journey. That makes this cover even more fun for me!
A company marking for Eric W Pierce shows a date of November 30, 1867 on the back - yet there is a docket on the front left that reads November 29, 1867. So, why in the world would there be a December 10, 1867 postmark from San Francisco?
A typical reason for this sort of delay on a cover usually lies with the sender of the item. They put some docketing on the cover and maybe a company handstamp, but then they did not get around to mailing it until later. Well, that is sort of what seems to have happened with this cover. But, we have a few clues that tell us that it is highly likely that the item was received by the San Francisco post office on November 30 and was held there due to instructions given on this envelope!
First, it is important to know that exchange offices and post offices that put mailbags aboard steamships were instructed to postmark the item with the date of departure for the ship it was to board. The docket at the top left reads "Steamer," which tells the postmaster to send it on a steamship via Panama rather than sending it overland.
The steamship departure schedule for mail carriage around the time this item was mailed was:
- November 29 - steamer Golden City departs SF
- December 10 - steamer Sacramento departs SF
It is clear that Eric W Pierce wanted this item to go via the November 29th steamer, but his own handstamp betrays the fact that he was not able to get this heavy letter to the post office on time for the steamer. He has clearly directed that it was to go by steamer. The docketing for "Steamer" is in the same hand as the directive that this item was to go "Care of Adelphi Hotel" in Liverpool.
Upon receiving the item, the post office realized there would be some wait until the next steamer departure for Panama. As a result, they struck the envelope with a bold and clear "Too Late" marking, postmarked it for the next departure (Dec 10) and probably opened up the new mailbag for the next steamer and put this letter into it. There it sat until the whole bag was placed aboard the Sacramento for its departure ten days later.
The rest of the journey was fairly typical for an item via Panama.
San Francisco, Cal Dec 10
Pacific Mail Steamship Company Sacramento
Aspinwall (Dec 23)
Pacific Mail Steamship Company Henry Chauncey
New York (Dec 31)
Boston (Jan 1)
Cunard Line Africa
Queenstown (Jan 12)
Liverpool Jan 13 68 (verso)
Here's where we notice one more thing. The Cunard Line was still alternating departures between Boston and New York. One departure every week, alternating ports. Once again, New York was the exchange office that held the letter. They marked it for the January 1 departure in Boston and put it in the mailbag. Once mails closed, that mailbag was sent on to Boston for departure from the port the next day. If there had been a trans-Atlantic ship departure on December 31, it is possible that this item would have left on that ship - which means it would have gone under the old convention's accounting. How's that for cutting it close on the difference between a nice, long, complicated story and a simple one?
Why Did Eric W Pierce Choose via Panama?
After a very short dig into the archives of the Sacramento Daily Union, I found this little snippet indicating mail up to November 12 from New York via overland routes had been received (reported in the December 2 paper). There is mention of some big storms in the Chicago area around November 30. Perhaps there was some knowledge of potential overland mail delays that I fail to find with a quick look. But, this seems to indicate that mail is at least coming TO California in a fairly timely fashion (16 to 18 days) as opposed to the normal 21 days via steamship.
The main difference here is that steamships left on a well-known departure schedule that were often a week (or more) apart. Overland mails left much more frequently. So, why would Mr. Pierce choose the steamer?
In fact, most letter mail, by the time we reached 1867, was carried overland. It would still be a year and a half before the 'Golden Spike' was driven at the trans-continental rail line completion, but much of the route did have rail service. Possible reasons might be:
- There were reports of delays due to weather via the overland route, there is some evidence in contemporary reports that there were some difficult storms around that time.
- Perhaps Mr. Pierce was sending something he felt was valuable and he had rumor that overland mail was less secure? If that was the case, why not also use registered mail?
- Since it was a heavier letter, is it possible that it was still required to go via Panama? Printed matter, newspapers, etc typically took the slower modes of transportation.
- Perhaps Eric Pierce had something to gain from a delay? Since there are no contents with this envelope, I will never know the answer to this question.
More About the Adelphi Hotel
The current Adelphi Hotel is actually the third hotel to be built in that location. At the time this letter was sent, the first building was still an active concern. Originally constructed in 1826 and was replaced in 1876. The building currently holding the name and location was opened in 1914 and designed by Frank Atkinson. Apparently, this hotel was a favorite of Charles Dickens - according to this article.
The first photo comes from the hotel's own history page linked in the prior paragraph. The second photo, shown below, comes from the Liverpool Record Office according the Dickens' article linked above. Take a moment and appreciate the differences between these two renderings.
The center portion of this building is sufficiently different to call into question accuracy. However, there are enough similarities, including the configuration of the windows, number of floors and the odd curve in the structure at the left. It seems to me that perhaps the first photo shows less detail at the roof line and may be the least accurate of the two. However, it is also possible that some rebuilding of the front facade and roof-line occurred at some point in time.
More About Cunard Line's Africa
This cover gets even better when you consider that this is the final mail sailing of the Cunard Line's wooden-hull, paddle-wheel steamship Africa. This ship was sold and fitted as a sailing ship in 1868. Details about this ship can be found at the Norway Heritage site.
The Africa was part of a series of ships commonly referenced as the "America-class" steamship, though I have seen other designations as well. She was replaced by speedier screw-propelled steamers that also had iron-clad hulls. Still, 17 years and 120 round trip voyages was a significant accomplishment for this ship using the paddle-wheel and wooden hull technologies!
Open Questions:
- It is possible that I might be able to confirm weather and overland mail conditions for the November/December 1867 period looking at contemporary accounts. This could either confirm or deny the possibility that Eric Pierce was responding to overland mail concerns with is choice to send via Panama.
- It is also possible that I can confirm postal procedure for heavier letters. If anyone has information that will point me to the procedure, please let me know.
- Should I also mention this is the last mail sailing of the Cunard's Africa? Yes, I probably should. Perhaps I'll add more on that later?
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