Columbians Paying Post for Packages

Like so many collectors of U.S. stamps, I always held the 1893 Columbian issue up as something I would love to obtain a complete set of someday.  And, if you know these stamps, you know that this is a tall order once you get into the dollar value Columbians.  Over time, my interest has moved towards postal history, which means we can typically take the dollar value Columbians completely off the table if you want examples properly paying a contemporary postage rate.

Happily, this does not hold true with other Columbians - especially when you consider the Otis Clapp package fronts appearing in the market at this point in time.

Above is a package front addressed to Otis Clapp & Son of Providence, Rhode Island.  Total postage is 45 cents, including a 30 cent and 6 cent Columbian issue stamp.

Unfortunately, the mute cancels are smudged and unreadable.  Since there is no return address on this package piece we cannot ascertain where it was mailed from, nor can we be absolutely certain as to the year it was mailed.  However, it is a fairly safe bet that this item was mailed in 1893 simply because the 1cent and 2 cent issues are from the 1890-93 definitive series and a new series of these was issued in 1894.  The stamps with most common use (such as these low value stamps) tend to make their appearance on postal history items closer to their dates of issue than higher denominations.

Internal Fourth-Class Mail 1879-1912

Since these are package fronts, we cannot be certain, but it is a good, educated guess, that the contents fit the definition of fourth-class mail.  Essentially, anything that was not classified as first, second or third class mail fell into this final class of items that could be sent via the postal service.  This included various merchandise, including the types of materials Otis Clapp and Son might ship out or receive. 

The rate was very simple - 1 cent for every ounce up to 4 pounds and was effective from May 1, 1879 to December 31, 1912.  Thus, the item above would have weighed 45 ounces (2 lbs 13 oz)

A similar, third-class mail rate was 1 cent for every 2 ounces and was applied to all types of printed matter packages, such as books, circulars and newspapers.  It too, had a 4 pound limit, which eliminates it as a possibility for the package front shown above.  Since that is likely the case, this is almost certainly a fourth-class rate example.

The item shown above is franked only by a 15 cent Columbian stamp and is likely an example of a 15 ounce package mailed at the fourth-class rate.  However, we cannot rule out the possibility that this was printed matter carried in a wrapper - and it could have been a third-class rate.  We'll never know for certain, and that's just the way things are sometimes!

Unlike the first item, we have no other stamps to help us determine a likely year of mailing and just like the first item, we have no postmarks that will help us.  However, a quick history of the J. Ellwood Lee Company gives us an idea that, perhaps, we should not be surprised by a contemporary use of Columbian issue stamps from them.

J. Ellwood Lee Co

The J Ellwood Lee Company of Conshohockem, Pennsylvannia was a well-known supplier of medical supplies, such as rubber gloves, ligatures, rubber tubing, as well as other medical equipment.  John Ellwood Lee was born in 1860 and started the business in the attic of his parents home in 1883.  By the time the Columbian Exposition came around (the time when the Columbian stampes were issued) in 1893 his company was quite well established.  J Ellwood Lee Company won five gold medals against international competition at the fair.  The company's involvement in the exposition doesn't make it hard to see why Columbian issue stamps might be on some of their mailings.

This article on the Pennsylvania Heritage site can provide more detail on J Ellwood Lee if you find that interesting. 

Oddly enough, Johnson & Johnson (yes, that Johnson & Johnson) purchased J. Ellwood Lee Company in 1905, placing Ellwood Lee onto its board of directors. 

Supposing this package held rubber tubing (not a bad guess giving Otis Clapp & Son's activities), 15 ounces could have held a decent bit of tubing.  Below is an invoice (that I do not own) that was on an online auction site.

The invoice shows an 1894 purchase of reels of silk - presumably used for stitches.  Given Otis Clapp & Son's focus as a pharmaceutical business and the advertising on the front, I think it more likely that this was, in fact, some sort of rubber tubing.

Above is an item that bears 51 cents in postage to carry a package that must have weighed three pounds and three ounces of weight.  Unlike the other two, this one was sent from Otis Clapp & Son to a customer in St Louis, Missouri - the Antikamnia Chemical Company.

Once again, we have a 1 cent stamp from the 1890-93 definitive issue that encourages me to believe that this, too, is an 1893-94 mailing.

Antikamnia Chemical Company

The Antikamnia Chemical Company (est 1890) was known for its powder and tablet products to reduce pain.  The main ingredient, acetanilid, was sometimes mixed by this company with other active ingredients such as codeine, heroin and quinine.  The initial efficacy of acetanilid rested on a single German study of 24 patients, but the company is known for prolific advertising to maintain sales even after running afoul of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.  More may be read here: Fiedler, William C. (1979). "Antikamnia: The Story of a Pseudo-ethical Pharmaceutical". Pharmacy in History. 21 (2): 59–72

The bookmark shown above is not in my possession and was found as an offering on Etsy.  A person could also find advertising covers for this firm.

Otis Clapp & Son

Otis Clapp first opened his retail homeopathic pharmacy in 1840 and the company Otis Clapp & Son was still operating until it was purchased in 2008.  Oddly enough, you can find the company advertising various homeopathic remedies over a long span of time AND you can find it listed as a publishing company.

By all accounts, Otis was a remarkable individual, serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, is listed as a founder for M.I.T., the Boston Female Medical College and an orphanage.   His son, was also quite remarkable.  Dr. J Wilkinson Clapp was as professor of pharmacy at the Boston University Medical School and put emphasis on research.  A decent outline of the history can be found at the Sue Young Histories site.  Sadly, the old Otis Clapp company site with the company history has been taken down.

Apparently, Otis Clapp bottles are a fairly popular collectors item.  These bottles were found on the Antiques Navigator site. 

What I find interesting in all of this is the connections these three pieces of postal history make within the medical and pharmaceuticals fields.  Clearly, Otis Clapp & Company was populated by exceptional people and the early stories surrounding that company are generally positive.  Similarly, J Ellwood Lee was seen in a good light - even by employees well after he could have been excused from personal interaction with the workers.  In both cases, the primary players saw significant success.

On the other hand, the founders of the Antikamnia Chemical Company could be said to have found financial success, but there is some question about the ethics and quality that went along with it all.  It could be interesting to uncover how Clapp and Lee might have felt about Antikamnia. 

Perhaps we should get back to the postal history stuff now?

Why the Ugly Cancellations?

The postal markings available to us on these parcel fronts are far from helpful to the postal historian.  However, they did the job they were intended to do - deface the postage stamps so they could not be re-used.  

Most third and fourth class mail items were struck with cancellation devices that did not include a date and sometimes did not even indicate a city/town of origin.  In the fine book by Beecher and Wawrukiewicz (US Domestic Postal Rates, 1872-1999, 2nd ed.), they suggest that these 'mute' cancels purposefully eliminated the date to not call attention to the speed of delivery of this type of mail.  We need to remember that all sorts of things were being mailed in fourth-class.  Sometimes an item would simply have a mailing tag tied to it.  With all of the different sizes and shapes, shipping could provide some interesting puzzle for the postal service.  It is no wonder that it might take longer and it is understandable that they did not want to give customers any additional ammunition to complain about the speed of delivery.

As far as the quality of the strikes are concerned, we can also surmise that the package surface was rarely as stable as a flat letter on a solid surface would be.  It does not take much of an experience with a stamping device to figure out exactly how hard it is to get a clean strike on an unevenly supported surface.

Personal Connections - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the Genuine Faux Farm blog!  Grab your favorite beverage (but keep it away from the paper collectibles!), put on the comfy slippers and pet the purring feline or the puppy with the big eyes.  Take a few moments and enjoy - perhaps learning something new or interesting in the process.

Why?  Because it's Postal History Sunday!

 Today's question is a paraphrase of a question I received from three different people over the past month.  

" How does a person select a theme or a topic for their collection?"

Finding a Focus

Postal history is an incredibly broad area that has plenty of room for people with all sorts of interests - there is plenty of room for creativity here!  I do recommend that a collector find some way to define what they are looking for because this hobby is like any other collecting hobby, you can easily be overwhelmed in so many ways.  It isn't hard for a collector to gather so much that they aren't even able to appreciate or enjoy what they have.  Some people just succumb to the weight of indecision with the sheer volume of options - and there is little enjoyment in being overwhelmed!

One of the easiest ways to start is to find a personal connection that has corresponding material that you find attractive in the hobby.  

For example, my heritage on my Mother's side of the family is Norwegian.  I went to college and lived for a time near Decorah, Iowa, AND I lived for a couple of years in western Minnesota near Morris (and Benson).  How can I parlay that information into a collecting topic?

Norse-American Centennial Issue of 1925

Enter the 1925 postage stamp issue that commemorated the 100-year anniversary of "organized Norwegian immigration" to the United States.  In 1825, the sloop Restauration sailed form Stavanger on July 4 and landed in New York City on October 9.  The ship was determined to be carrying too many passengers for its size (52 passengers) which resulted in a fine, confiscation of the ship and the arrest of the captain.  A month later, President John Quincy Adams rescinded the fine and confiscation and ordered the release of the captain.

Two stamps were issued as a part of a centennial celebration that had its focus in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin).  The 2-cent stamp (which depicted an artist rendering of the Restauration) was valid for standard letter mail within the United States and the 5-cent stamp paid for the Universal Postal Union letter rate between nations.

The ensuing celebrations featured music from several small colleges, including Luther (Decorah, IA), St Olaf (Northfield, MN), Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), and Augustana (Rockford, IL).  For those who wish to learn more, you can start with wiki and go from there to verify and find details.

In short, the stamps have a connection to my heritage, to the college I attended and to places I have lived.  Suddenly, I have a focus I can use.   Let's see what we can find!

First Day of Issue

By the time we reached the 1920s, stamp collecting had become very popular and the issuance of new stamps was becoming an event.  You may or may not recall, I have mentioned the concept of event covers in a prior Postal History Sunday post.  A First Day of Issue Cover is simply a collectible item that commemorates the event of the stamp being issued on a certain day by including a postmark with that date AND one of the designated towns or cities for the first day. It just so happens that Decorah was one of the towns selected for the first day of issue for the Norse-American stamps.

And, it also happens that Benson, Minnesota was also one of those cities!

Aha!  Connections galore!

But, Is It Postal History?

This is where my personal interests depart a bit.  I am more interested in studying rates of postage, routes taken to deliver mail and the whole process of how mail systems did what they do.  First Day Covers (FDCs) are the commemoration of an event (the issuance of the stamp) that, in turn, commemorated another event or person(s).  Most FDCs were created simply as collectibles and many of them, especially in more recent times, did not even go through the mail as a letter.

Even so - I still own a couple of FDCs for these stamps.  The first cover in this blog post has both stamps postmarked in Benson, MN on the first day of issue, May 18, 1925.  The seven cents in postage is an overpayment of the 2 cent rate.  But - the person wanted this as a collectible - they did not care that 5 cents of postage was 'wasted.'  The second cover in this blog post was postmarked in Decorah on May 18.  This one properly pays the postal rate of the time.

In short, I am interested enough in the event that I happily found these items and enjoy learning about them and viewing them.  Good enough.  But, I don't really consider them postal history.

Adding the Postal History Bit

You could guess (and you would be correct) that a significant percentage of these stamps were issued to the post offices in the towns and cities that had the highest population of Norse-Americans.  So, it makes sense that if you are looking for postal history with these stamps on them, you will see much of it coming from towns like Northfield, MN (where St Olaf College is located).

How much better would it be to find an item from a bank, to someone in Norway that includes the 2 cent Norse-American stamp as part of the 5 cents of postage needed to send that letter to Norway?  In my opinion, it is LOTS better.  

My collection - my opinion counts the most!  Bwahahahahaaaaa!

Or perhaps, we could find an item to Sweden from St Paul, MN?  This one also pays the 5 cent rate to a foreign nation and was posted a year and a half after the whole Norse American celebration was completed.

I appreciate these two covers because it is fairly clear that the stamps and the event they commemorated were not necessarily the main focus of creating the piece of mail.  This makes it postal history, rather than event commemoration, in my mind. 

For the cover above, I also appreciate the irony that the postmark suggests that airmail would save time.  The year, 1926, was still quite early for airmail and this was mailed prior to Lindbergh's famous Atlantic crossing (note: the first crossing of the Atlantic was in 1919 by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown).  In other words, air mail was going to do next to NOTHING for an overseas letter.  It was going to go via boat, and that's all there was to it!

And A Sidelight

It's a collection.  It's YOUR collection.  So - it is ok if you want to have some stamps in the collection that aren't on a piece of postal history.  One of the fun sidelights you could participate in is finding varieties in the stamps themselves.  Sometimes the inks for the stamp printing come in different shades for stamps that were printed over a long period of time.  

And, sometimes, the method of printing introduces some variety.  For example, the Norse-American stamps were printed in 2 colors.  And sometimes the colors did not exactly line up like they were supposed to.  It can be interesting to find copies of the stamp with a 'fast ship' (too far left), a 'slow ship' (too far right), a 'sinking ship' (too low) or a 'flying ship' (too high).  But, if you ask me, it would be more fun if you found these varieties on a cover that was properly mailed to an interesting location!

Can you imagine a "sinking ship" stamp on an envelope mailed to Bermuda?  Or maybe a 'slow boat' to China?  Perhaps a "flying ship" to Friedrichschafen Germany, where they often launched the zeppelin airships?

And yes, I'd love to find a piece of mail from 1825 that actually references that sailing from Stavanger to New York City.  Or maybe something that discusses the incarceration of the captain and his subsequent release.  Now that would be something!

Thank you for joining me for Postal History Sunday.  I hope you have a good remainder of the day and a fine week to follow. 

On the Road to Mantova - Part III

This is the third in a series of posts that features postal history items that have a connection to Mantova (Mantua) in the Lombardy region of Italy. 

 If you wish to read these posts in order:

• Part I
• Part II

Today's post highlights an item that originated in Mantova on November 2, 1959 and was received in Vienna, Austria on November 6.  This letter would be considered an 'internal rate' letter because Mantova was still under Austrian control at this point in time, even though the rest of Lombardy was not. 

What did it cost to mail?

15 soldi per loth : Nov 1, 1858 -  October 1866

Rates in Austria included a distance component at the time, with break points at 10 meilen and 20 meilen.  A letter sent 10 meilen or less (one meilen was approximately 7.5 km) cost 5 soldi.  A letter sent more than 10 meilen and up to 20 meilen was 10 soldi.  Anything over 20 meilen (150 km) was 15 soldi. 

The weight unit used for postal services in Austria at this time was the zoll loth, which was about .56 ounces or 15.625 grams.  The zoll loth was a Prussian weight unit that was adopted at the time Austria and most of the independent German States signed an agreement creating the German-Austrian Postal Union (GAPU) in 1850.  Prior to that, the Austrians used a Vienna loth (wienerlot) which was equivalent to 17.5 grams.  

The distance traveled to go from Mantova to Vienna was approximately 100 meilen (about 750 km) via Triest.  Well over the 20 meilen required for the upper level rate.

 

How did it get there?

markings on this item:

Mantova Nov 2, 1859 (from dateline)

Mantova Nov 3
Wien (Vienna) Nov 6 (verso)

The rail services in Northern Italy and on up to Austria were limited, so the most likely route would take the rail spur from Mantova on up to Verona.  From that point, it would have headed east to Venice and Triest, continuing on to the Semmering Pass and north to Vienna.  This rail line had been largely completed as early as 1854 and fully opened by 1857, so it seems highly unlikely any other route would have been taken.

What seems to be a decent, and brief, summary of transportation history for Triest can be found in this article by Bernd Kreuzer.  The biggest takeaway for me is that, despite the completion of the route, the rolling stock and efficiency of the rail lines themselves had much to be desired.  Therefore, one should not apply the same speeds other more efficient rail systems were accomplishing at the time.

What was in that letter?

Unfortunately, the writing in this letter is difficult to decipher.  Thus far, I have been unable to find someone who could translate much to satisfaction.

However, the front of the envelope includes the docket "Campioni di nessu valore" which can be translated to "samples of no value."  I am, of course, curious as to what those samples might be!  If someone believes they can help with the contents of this letter, I would love to hear it.

My own floundering attempts to read and understand the Italian written here has only provided confirmation that the author was offering samples of some sort of product in hopes that the recipient would sell this product on commission.  While it is not necessary for me to have a complete translation, it would be nice to know if I have the basic idea of the letter correct.  It would be a bonus if the product could be identified and a super bonus if there were any references to current events.

City of Mantua / Mantova
from Die Gartenlaube, published in 1866

Why didn't Austria cede Mantova with the rest of Lombardy?

As was mentioned in the prior blog entry on Mantova, the city was mostly surrounded by three man-made lakes in 1859.  The flow of the Mincio River had been altered in 1198 by Alberto Ditentino to create four lakes: Lago Superiore, di Mezzo, Inferiore and Pajolo.  The land was reclaimed from the last in the 1700's, while the other three remained.  The lakes, combined with fortifications, made Mantova a military stronghold for the Austrian forces at the time.

In fact, Mantova was part of a series of four fortress cities.  The Quadrilatero Fortress Cities of Peschiera, Verona, Legnago and Mantova were a key part of Austrian defenses in Lombardy-Venetia.  Their formation as a quadrilateral funneled invaders to predictable routes, both on invasion and retreat.  Once inside the ring of fortresses, an opponent would always have defenders that could approach from any side.

The second war of the Italian Risorgimento (Italian Unification) in 1859 is worthy of a lengthy post all its own, but others have written enough and a summary is all that is needed here.  The French allied with the Sardinians against the Austrians and the war essentially ended with the battle at Solferino on June 24.  The Austrians suffering defeat.   

The Armistice of Villafranca on July 11, 1859 (just four months prior to this letter’s mailing) ceded Lombardy to France.  France then ceded Lombardy to Sardinia in exchange for the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice (Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860).  Venetia, however, remained with Austria until 1866 - and Mantova was included in that territory.

Of the four fortresses, only Mantova was located in Lombardy, and as it was part of the Quadrilatero, Austria would not forfeit the area around the city.  While Austria had lost, they were not going to give up the defensive advantage provided by occupying the city and its fortifications.

Open Questions:

1. The contents of the letter are of the most interest at this point.  If someone can help with this, I would appreciate it.
   

In the News - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to this week's edition of Postal History Sunday!  The blog post where you check in your worries for a time and learn something new and hopefully - interesting.  Remember, if you wish to see one of the images in a larger format, you can click on the image.

I realize that newspapers and magazines no longer hold the same prominence in our culture as they did even a decade ago, but in the 1860s and 1870s, periodicals required substantial attention from the postal services around the world to get these items from the printer to their various destinations.

While letter mail was typically the first thing addressed in postal agreements between countries, they could not escape the fact that newspapers and other printed documents required a different type of handling.  You certainly don't have to read the blurb shown above.  It's just a sample of text from the 1867 convention between the United States and the United Kingdom that mentions newspapers and other "printed matter."  I offer it only as proof that this kind of mailed matter got its own treatment!

Remember - you are reading a blog written by a postal historian who enjoys collecting these things - so he just might write a blog simply because he found something he likes!  (oh no!)  You see, I have been aware of the existence of mailed newspapers from the 1860s in the collector's market for some time.  But, normally, the nice looking items have prices that exceed my budget... and the things that are a price I can willing to pay?  Let's just say I can smell the must and mold through the computer screen most of the time.  No thank you.

Well apparently, there are more examples of Italian printed matter than the market will bear, or I just happened upon a person who was happy to sell at a lower price - so I was able to pick up a few things that illustrate the mailing of newspapers and printed matter.  How cool is that?

You have now been able to view the Belluno, Italy newspaper of March 2, 1871.  It almost looks as if it was never removed from the wrapper band that was used to keep it all together as it went through the mail.  I suppose I could gently remove it to view the rest and then work carefully to put it back in the wrapper....  but, maybe not.  I'm pretty happy with it the way it is.  That, and, well, the news probably is a bit dated.

This newspaper I show above cost only 1 centesimi to mail to Vittorio, Italy, and maybe it cost less than that!  Wait... what?

Letter Mail in Italy

Let me back up for a second so you can see the whole picture.  Above is a piece of letter mail.  It cost 15 centesimi to send from Chiavari, Italy to Torino, Italy.  The envelope is a personal or business correspondence and it weighed no more than 10 grams.

Letter mail provided great flexibility.  You could mail one item and you could seal it up, placing whatever you wanted (within reason) inside the envelope or folded letter - as long as it was flat.  The only reason the postal service might open the letter is if they couldn't find the addressee and it went to the Dead Letter Office to be processed.

You could include a picture, an invoice, paper money, a newspaper clipping, a lock of hair and even, perhaps, the letter you got from Aunt Mable so your cousin could read it too.

Printed Matter Mail

Printed matter mail, on the other hand, could not be sealed up.  It had to allow the postal workers to be able to check contents to be sure there weren't personal messages or other non-permitted material being snuck in with the mailing!  The item above was mailed from Torino to Allessandria (both in Italy) for 2 centesimi for items weighing up to 40 grams.

2 centesimi for 40 grams vs 15 centesimi for 10 grams.  

Ok - I think we see an advantage for the printed matter folks to send their newspapers, magazines and advertising!  But, it only makes sense.  People were used to paying, perhaps 5 to 10 centesimi for a single copy of a newspaper at a newstand.  Even if you could pass your costs on to the customer, it was unlikely that readers would pay that much more for the privilege of mailing it to their home address.

Newspapers and Journals

The next item is a sample Farmers' Journal of Agricultural Practices in Italy.  The white band at the bottom essentially indicates that this sample is being provided 'gratis' and that the recipient should not delay in sending in for a subscription!  At top right is a 1 centesimi stamp that is paying for the mailing of this item from Casale Monferrato.  Sadly, the "where it was sent to" portion has been lost.  But, it is safe to say it stayed in Italy - and likely landed somewhere in northern Italy.

There was a 'concessionary' rate that provided a discount for newspapers and magazines that pre-sorted their bulk mailing by the destination and the route the items were to take to get to that destination.  In fact, some bulk mailers paid even less than one cent per item if they were regular customers.  A weekly newspaper got a better rate than a monthly magazine, for example.  The thing is, there weren't stamps with denominations for all of these fractions of a centesimi - so they just used the 1 centesimi stamp and the bulk mailer simply paid the bill at the agreed upon rate.  In some cases, the stamps were adhered to the newspaper before printing and you can find examples where the printing goes OVER the stamp.

If you think about it, this makes a great deal of sense for the post offices as well.  They can count on consistent business rather than the whims of those who send a single letter at a time.  A pre-bundled batch of newspapers to go from Belluno to Vittorio required about as much handling as a single letter from Belluno to Vittorio - until you got to the delivery part.  And, yes, they typically weighed more.

When I unfolded the Farmers' Journal item, I found it was a larger piece of paper that was printed as four separate pages on each side.  Other than the title page, it was all advertising for agricultural implements, plant stock and other items.  At a guess, the actual sample of the journal had been wrapped inside this covering and is no longer part of the whole.

Perhaps someday I will find an actual copy of this Farmers' Journal of Agricultural Practices.  Then, I'll brush up my Italian - and learn something new!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and thank you for joining me on Postal History Sunday.

On the Way to Mantova - Part II

This post continues with the theme of mail connected to the Italian city of Mantova/Mantua.  This entry is focused on the letter below that was mailed from Montpellier, France to Mantua on February 9, 1857.

This is part two of a series:

• Part I
• Part III
  

 

Another Letter to Louis Sartoretti, avocat

This is another envelope from the correspondence saved by a Mantovan lawyer in the 1850s named Louis Sartoretti.  Since, neither of the items in my collection have contents or provide an indication as to who sent these pieces of letter mail, I am not able to determine if these were private or business correspondence.  However, odds are good that they are the latter.  

This address panel reads:

"Monsieur Louis Sartoretti avocat a Mantoue, Daun(?) Lombardie-Venitie (italie)"

 If you looked at the prior post, you could notice a number of differences.  First, there is only one use of the honorific "Monsieur."  Second, the sender did not see fit to provide any postal instructions for directing this letter.

And, third, there is the mysterious "Daun" that follows Mantoue.  Of course, it is possible I am reading the letters incorrectly.  It could be a shorthand reference to something else.  It is also possible that the writer misspelled something.   At this point in time, I have no idea.  It appears to have some sort of significance in naming a region - but I cannot be sure at this time.

Um... You Need to Pay More than That!

As we mentioned in the prior post, the cost to mail an item through Sardinia to Lombardy from France was 1 franc (100 centimes).  This rate applied for pre-paid mail as well as unpaid mail.  However, there was no provision to provide credit for partially paid mail.  Therefore, part paid mail was treated as unpaid at the destination.

This item bears only a 20 centime stamp, clearly not enough to do the job.  The hand-written "timbres insuffisant" can be translated to "insufficiently stamped."  That, and the absence of a "P.D." marking made it clear that this item was not pre-paid.

As a result, Monsieur Sartoretti was forced to pay 25 kreuzer - the full price that it would cost for him to mail a letter to Montpellier, France - just to receive this letter and find out what was in it!

The scribbles shown above actually DO mean something.  As most people would guess, the "25" is the due marking, instructing the carrier or clerk to collect 25 kreuzer to pay for the mail services from France to Lombardy via Sardinia.  The smudged scribble on the left should be read as "16/9."   These are amounts to be sent back to the other mail systems that provided mail services that had not yet been paid.

The amount of postage collected was 25 kreuzer, of which 9 kreuzer covered the Austrian postage (the lower number).  The remaining 16 kreuzer needed to be given to the French and Sardinian mail services.  Of those 16 kreuzer, the French received 12 kr and the Sardinians 4 kr.   

It would be tempting to calculate the breakdown from the French perspective by using simple ratios, multiplying each of these by 4 to get the equivalents in French centimes.  However, I have learned over time that this is not always going to be the case.  Therefore, I will await a time when I can read the original postal agreements to determine what the breakdown was from the French perspective.

As for the 20 centime stamp?  Well, it really did not do anything, in the end.  This was not an uncommon occurrence during the transition to using postage stamps to show payment of postal services.  Part of the logic might be an assumption that at least the internal postage must be paid.  In the end, it is impossible to tell whether it was misinformation, misinterpretation or the fact that the envelope already had a stamp on it and they just needed to use it.

Getting from Here to There

The markings on this cover:

Montpellier Feb 9, 1857
    2128 in diamond
“Timbres Insuffisant”
     (stamps insufficient)
Marseille Feb 10 (verso)
Gap Feb 11 (verso)
Mantova Feb 13 (verso)
Arrta Di Notte (Night Arrival - verso)

The travel time for this letter was much shorter than it was for the other letter we show in the prior post, only four days total.  However, the square marking on the back (Arr di Notte) indicated that the letter did arrive during the night time hours.  So, the letter was not available to our lawyer friend until the 14th of February.  

Here is the map from the prior post with a small addition showing the route from Montpellier to the rail line from Lyon to Marseille.  This section was covered by a railway at the time this letter was posted in 1857 (Montpellier to Nimes should have been completed by the end of 1856).

Once in Marseille, this piece of mail likely followed the same route that the first letter did, heading up to Gap and then Besancon - on the way to Turin.  Only, this time, we have evidence that it went this way because there is a postal marking for Gap.  Most of this part of the route would still have been by mail coach until it reached the rail spur west of Turin.

Shown above is a portion of an 1855 map that clearly showed the rail lines running from Turin to Milan then Verona and a spur down to Mantua.  While Italy was behind much of Europe for rail development, the major northern cities were connected.

Mantova - Fortress City

Below is a portrayal of Mantua in 1575.  At this time, the city was surrounded by man-made lakes created by diverting and damming the Mincio river.  By the time we get to the 1855-1857 period, the 4th lake, Lake Pajolo (south & west), is now dry.  This still provided for a defensible position from a military perspective - thus the Austrians maintained a stronghold there as a part of their 'Quadrilatero' of fortresses in Lombardy-Venetia.

Open Questions:

1. The addition of "Duam" after Mantoue would be interesting to solve.

Un Saluto ai miei amici filatelici in Italia  

I could not help but notice that these two posts for Mantova has attracted the attention of some philatelists on the forum at Filatelia e Francobolli.  I apologize that I do not know much Italian, but I welcome you here.   If you have suggestions or corrections, feel free to make them and we will do our best to understand each other!

Timing is Everything - Postal History Sunday

Welcome back to Postal History Sunday! 

This week's post was inspired by last week's post on how long it took to get from 'here to there' in the 1860s.  This time, we're going to see how an informed person in the 1860s could save themselves a little money (and time) by knowing when ships were scheduled to sail!

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Last week we introduced you to this piece of letter mail.

Mailed on July 25, 1863, this letter was sent from New York City to Shanghai, China via England, France and the Suez.  It took this item 60 days to get as far as Hong Kong and another 7 days to get to Shanghai.  Over two months of time for a business letter to arrive at its destination.

It took 53 cents to mail a single weight letter from the United States to China if you chose the option for British Mail "via Marseilles."  This was fully paid for all mail services to the destination.

So - I now introduce you to another item from the United States to China.

This piece of letter mail was posted in New York City on July 18, 1863 to Shanghai and it also arrived in Hong Kong on September 23 and Shanghai on September 30.  This letter took one week longer to travel the distance from its origin to its destination (74 days).

You should also note that this letter has 45 cents of postage - which was sufficient to prepay all costs to get to Shanghai on the route "via Southampton."

67 days for 53 cents and 74 days for 45 cents.

What's up with that?

 

Via Southampton

Now we go back to the map showing how mail traveled from the United Kingdom to China at this time.  Let me draw your attention to the blue line that leaves from Southampton and goes by sea - around France, Portugal and Spain until it lands at Malta.  This route is referenced on the second letter where the words "via Southampton" is written at the top left.  You could think of this as the 'slow boat' to China because it took much longer to go from the UK to Malta by boat.

Via Marseilles

The faster alternative is was to cross the English Channel to France and take French railways to Marseilles.  Once at Marseilles, a steamship would take the letter the rest of the way to Malta (that's the red line that goes from Dover to Marseilles and then Malta).

In short - if you wanted to save some money - it looks like you could pay 8 cents fewer for your letter at the expense of 7 days more travel time.  If only it were that simple!

What would you say if I told you that paying 8 cents more did NOT guarantee you a faster delivery of the mail?

Let's look at the chart below again - pay particular attention to Malta's schedule:

Essentially, if you wanted your letter to go via British mail to the countries in the Far East, it was important for you to get it to Malta on the 15th or the 30th/31st of the month.  If you get it there on the 16th, it's just going to sit there until the next mail departure on the 31st!  Similarly, if it arrives on the 1st - it will wait until the 15th.

If you lived in the United States - it was simpler just to look at the schedule the British put out for mail departures "to India and the Far East."  Four times a month, London/Southampton would make up mails to go to China - the 4th, 10th, 20th and 26th.  If you know that mail crossing the Atlantic typically took around 12 days, your cut off dates would be (approximately) the 8th (to leave by Southampton), 14th (to leave via Marseilles), 22nd/23rd (Southampton) and 28th/29th (Marseilles).

The first letter left New York on the 25th of the month - so if you wanted to get to Malta on the 15th of the next month, you had to take the letter via Marseilles and pay 8 more cents.  If you failed to do this, then your letter would be delayed by at least a week for the next mailing before it even left London, which is the same as a two weeks delay at Malta, regardless of the route it took.

So, really, the sender of the first letter was paying 8 cents to get an item to its destination TWO WEEKS earlier - maybe that would be worth it?

Letter #2 was mailed on July 18th with an arrival in London/Southampton on the 30th.  Well, gosh golly gee!  The next mail in the UK to China leaves via Southampton.  So, you might as well pay 8 cents fewer, because the extra money will gain you nothing other than a false belief that you will get faster service.

Of course, things were always changing and increased demand for rapid mail services and trade routes necessitated changes over time.  In fact, there were options to send letters to China via French mail and there were times French mail steamers would carry mail in the Mediterranean and in the Far East using different schedules, increasing the options for a mailer.

Compare the Costs

Still confused?  Not to worry!  You don't have to think about the mail route through Europe for your mail going to China because we have something called airplanes now.  But, here is the real kicker:

It cost 53 cents for a letter weighing up to a half ounce to go from the US to Shanghai via Marseilles or 45 cents for a letter weighing up to a half ounce to go via Southampton in 1863.

Today - it costs $1.15 to mail a letter weighing up to 1 full ounce from the US to Shanghai.

Thank you for joining me - I hope you have a good remainder of the weekend and fine week upcoming. 

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These are posts put on our farm blog in an effort to reach out to those who are not philatelists or postal historians (yet!).  But, I am cross-postings them to my postal history blog as well.  Maintaining the original date so they correspond with the original post on the farm blog Genuinely Faux.

On the Way to Mantova - Part I

The city of Mantova (Mantua) has captured my imagination enough to encourage me to pick up items addressed to that location more than any other Italian city.  Today's postal history item is an envelope mailed from Espalion, France to Mantova in 1855.

This is part of a series of posts:

• Part II
• Part III
  

 

The Address Panel

An interesting thing about letter mail is that there can be a very wide variety of what is written on the front of a piece of mail.  The combination of language differences and handwriting differences can certainly make interpreting what is there a bit more difficult.  The address panel above reads as follows:

"Italie  Monsieur Monsieur L Sartoretti avocat  A' Mantoue  Royaume Lombardo Venitieu, par Clermont Lyon et Turin"

There is a wealth of information here - as well as some interesting points of discussion.

"Italie" and "Royaume Lombardo Venitieu"

Even though Lombardy and Venetia were under the control of Austria, people clearly still identified these regions as part of Italy.  In fact, the region of Lombardy and Venetia was semi-autonomous and was identified as a "kingdom" (royaume) though it was under the control of Austria's emperor Franz Josef I from 1849 to 1859 (and 1866 for Venetia).

The borders shown above in a current day map seem to be largely consistent with what was known as Lombardy in 1855.  You will notice Mantua (Mantova) in the southeast portion of Lombardy.

"Monsieur Monsieur L Sartoretti avocat"

I have noticed the double honorific "Monsieur" on many business letters in Europe during this period.  While I have not been able to verify this (in part because I don't have enough motivation to hunt it down), this could be a bit like saying "Honored Sir, Mr. L Sartoretti."  This double honorific does not seem to be consistently applied during the 1850s and 1860s and it seems to decline in use as mail services become more available to a larger portion of the population.

Mr. Louis Sartoretti was a lawyer (avocat) in Mantova who apparently kept his correspondences, which was normal as these served as records for his business.  At some point in time, the covers from these records were made available to collectors since I have not one, but two envelopes that had been sent to him in the 1850s.

"par Clermont Lyon et Turin"

Not only was there addressing information to show the postal services who the letter was to and where they were located, the writer even included directions as to how they intended the letter to travel.  Let's see how that worked out!

"A' Mantoue"

I was introduced to this city as "Mantua" which is the Latin or Lombard name.  So, to those of us in the US, it would be "at Mantua."  The Italian language references it as "Mantova" and the French - "Mantoue."  A similar pattern can be seen for the Italian city of Padova/Padua/Padoue.   

How it Got There

The markings on this cover are as follows:

Espalion Nov 19, 1855 (front)
“Royaume Lombardo Venetia, par Clermont Lyon et Turin”
     1197 in diamond
Clermont-Ferrand Nov 20 (verso)
Clermont A Paris Nov 20 (verso)
Lyon Nov 21 (verso)
Lyon A Marseille Nov 21 (verso)
Marseille Nov 22 (verso) (exchange office)

     PD in box
Mantova Nov 27 (verso) (exchange office)

It seems that the routing indicated by the writer was followed - at least as far as going through Clermont and Lyon are concerned.  There is no marking to confirm Turin, but, that would have been the most common route after crossing the Alps for a destination in Lombardy from southern France (Marseille).  So, it is highly likely the entire route was followed as suggested.

Another option, of course, would be to travel next to the sea and go up from Genoa to Turin.  But, there is no evidence that can support that on the letter.  Typically directives were followed (via Turin/Torino) if they were given and the implication of the Turin directive was to cross via at Besancon.

So, let's take a look at where these marking say the letter traveled.  To see a larger version, click on the map.

At the time this letter was written, there was no rail service in or near Espalion.  However, there WAS a rail terminus in Clermont-Ferrand that connected to one of the very rare rail lines that did not go only to Paris.  France was rapidly developing a 'star configuration' of rail lines with Paris at the center.  Often, if someone wanted to travel from west to east in southern France, they were often left with only the option to go via Paris!

This letter likely traveled by mail coach to Clermont-Ferrand, where they had a brand new train station, courtesy of completion of the rail line from Gannet from the north.  One has to wonder if there was some amount of excitement that this option for mail now existed that might have caused the writer to be so explicit in these routing directions.

The letter was able to travel by train from Clermont-Ferrand to Lyon and then by train to Marseille.  From Marseille, it was back to the mail coach to go northeast to Gap and to cross the alps until meeting up with a railway spur west of Turin.

Five Days to Mantova

The trip to Mantova from Marseille seems to have taken a good bit of time, especially considering I have another letter from this correspondence in 1857 that covers the same distance in three days.  But, we have to remember that a great deal could change in a couple of years.  It is possible that some improvements in the roads or rail lines could have made that much difference.

On the other hand, we must also consider that this letter had to cross the Alps - in November.  There is always the possibility that weather had a hand in delaying the mail, especially in the mountains.  However, there is actually one more wildcard that might have influenced the travels through the Alps.

On November 23, 1855, there was a foreshock to a larger earthquake that would be in the Castellane vicinity.  The foreshock was strong enough to cause a major landslide and minor damage to dwellings in nearby towns.  The main tremor on December 12th did much more damage, but would have little to do with this letter as it was presumably in Monsieur Sartoretti's hands at that time.

Is it possible that this quake set travels back a day?  Or perhaps there was a bit of a snow storm that slowed the coaches as they made their way east?  Or, perhaps, the letter took the southern route via Nice, where there would be less railway but possibly calmer weather?

It is likely the coach had traveled well past the earthquake zone before mid-afternoon on the 23rd, so a delay because of the earthquake seems unlikely - though it would certainly be dramatic from the postal historian's point of view.  The directive to go via Turin also implies that the letter would travel via Besancon rather than taking the southern route via Nice - and then presumably to Turin.

In the end, it is unlikely that we will ever know for certain the actual route this letter took, nor is it likely that we can confirm that it was delayed by storm, earthquake or other issue. 

What it Cost to Mail

Some people might say that this cover is more attractive because it doesn't have just one stamp, but it has five postage stamps on it.  Others might argue that it is a little ugly because the stamps are placed on it a bit sloppily, with one of them folded over the top of the envelope.  I, on the other hand, appreciate it because it shows some realities of life in a smaller community (Espalion).

There are two commonalities for rural communities that apply even today with postal services.  First, the frequency that people will mail things to another country is much less than more populace areas and, second, post offices and postal patrons are less likely to have higher value stamps available.  After all, five 20 centime stamps DO add up to 1 franc, which is the amount of postage needed for this item to get it to Mantova!

As of July 1, 1851, the rate for mailing a piece of letter mail, weighing no more than 7.5 grams, to Mantova via Sardinia or Switzerland was 1 franc (100 centimes).  During the same period, mail from France to Lombardy that was taken via the German States would cost 1 franc and 20 centimes.  This would change to a flat rate of 60 centimes regardless of route per 10 grams on January 1, 1858.

Then there is the matter of the big, black pen "X" that spans the front of this cover.  This was the Mantovan post office's method of marking a letter as "paid."  When the carrier delivered the mail to Monsieur Sartoretti, they would know at a glance that the lawyer would have to pay nothing prior to receiving this letter.

I make the assumption that this letter was delivered.  Mantova was known to have several carrier distributions of the mail each day and the circle around the "1" marking is placed where a distribution number is often situated on this cover.  So, this would have been the first mail distribution of the day.

Exchange Offices

Exchange offices were post offices in each country that were identified as being able to exchange mail between those two nations.  Marseille and Mantova could exchange mail, which essentially means they would place the last marking on the letter prior to putting it into the mailbag (or other container), not to be opened until reaching the exchange office in the destination country.  

This essentially implies that the PD marking would have been stamped onto the letter in Marseille by the clerk that handled the foreign mail.  The bag, opened in Mantova, would be marked by the clerk there who handled the incoming foreign mail.

Open Questions:

1. I do not yet know how the postage was split between France, Sardinia and Lombardy/Austria. *** This will be answered in the next post - at least from the Austrian perspective. ***
   
2. It could be possible to find other letters from October to December of 1855 that traveled from Marseille to Mantova to determine if the five day travel was common or an aberration.

Un Saluto ai miei amici filatelici in Italia  

I could not help but notice that these two posts for Mantova has attracted the attention of some philatelists on the forum at Filatelia e Francobolli.  I apologize that I do not know much Italian, but I welcome you here.   If you have suggestions or corrections, feel free to make them and we will do our best to understand each other!

You might note that there have been a couple of edits in response to comments in the forum mentioned above.  First, you may notice a brief discussion regarding the Genoa route.  Second, you might notice that I have corrected the ordering of markings to show the likely application of the P.D. marking at the office of exchange (Marseille).  The application of the "X" would then be part of the Mantova processes of exchange. 

There was a third issue mentioned in that forum thread that I could not understand.  If someone is willing to clarify, I would love to discuss it. Grazie.

How Long to Get There? - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday!

For those who might be new to reading my recent Sunday entries, the Postal History Sunday blog is intended to be an opportunity for Farmer Rob to share his postal history hobby with others who might enjoy learning a few things about it.  The Postal History Sunday blogs are initially shared on our farm blog - Genuinely Faux and cross posted here after a few people mentioned that some of these were meaty enough for those who already collected, but were not familiar with a particular aspect of postal history. 

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A couple of weeks ago, I shared a Postal History Sunday blog showing an 1863 letter from India to France that was sent unpaid.  The focus of that blog was on how postal services handled an unpaid letter.  

I had an excellent question after that blog: "How long did these letters typically take to travel from somewhere, like India, to another place, such as France?"

We get to start with a map!  If you love maps - there you are!  Feel free to click on the image to view a larger version.

What you see here are the common routes for mail traveling to South and East Asia in the late 1850s to mid 1860s.  The two major differences you will see here is that one route, in blue, travels by sea from Southampton (United Kingdom) to Malta and the other, in red, travels overland across France - then goes on to Malta.  The other difference is the stop(s) in India.

First, I need to make it clear that transportation in the 1850s to 1870s was rapidly changing.  Rail lines were springing up in Europe, the Suez canal was being built.  Passes were being developed for more rapid transit in the Alps and shipping lines were adjusting as it became clear where the money was in terms of routes and schedules.  Just trust me when I say that transportation companies were not concerned that postal historians in 2020 would have a difficult time piecing things together because they kept changing routes and schedules!

On the other hand, there are all sorts of sources, primary and secondary, that provide opportunities to unearth the most likely schedules and routes that fit items in a postal historian's collection.

Above is a rough schedule that was commonly followed for mails that would have left the United States for destinations in India, Singapore, China and Japan (among others).

So, to answer the direct question from our item that traveled from India to France - it would usually take 19 days - if the letter was mailed at the optimal time.

But, the item in question (shown above) was postmarked in Calcutta on May 22 and arrived in Lyon on June 25.  The red marking appears to be a June 24 marking for the rail line from Marseille.  That's 34 days?  What's up with that?

First, this item had to get to Galle or Bombay from Calcutta, so that would take some time.  Second, it had to wait until a mail ship arrived to carry this letter.  If you look at the schedule above, you can see that bad timing could result in a letter being delayed for a couple of weeks.

Now, before you try to reach conclusions based on the calendar I give above, remember that those are dates for ships heading TO the East.  This letter was coming back the other way.  Those dates would be different, but the spacing would be similar.  All this schedule does is illustrate that a poor arrival time at the port could result in a longer overall transit time.  This letter clearly fits that circumstance as it missed a connection to a ship somewhere along the line (most likely Bombay).

Let me take you a bit deeper into my comfort zone for postal history - the sort of material I have studied the longest - to show you another answer to "how long did it take for mail to travel?"

This item shown above was a business letter sent from New York City, United States to Shanghai, China in 1863.

And here is how it traveled.  Dates in parenthesis are those I can derive from shipping tables (among other things).  Other dates correspond to markings that can be found on this letter.  When these things line up, you have likely identified the correct route!

New York Jul 25
Southampton (Aug 6)
London Aug 7
Dover (Aug 10)
Marseilles (Aug 12)
Malta (Aug 14)
Alexandria (Aug 19)
Suez (Aug 23)
Bombay (Aug 29)
Singapore (Sep 13)
     typhoon Sep 20 - 3 day delay

Hong Kong Sep 23

Shanghai (Sep 30)

Why yes!  They DID have typhoons and hurricanes in the 1800s!  So, even the best laid plans (or schedules) were subject to change.

And now you know a little bit more about how long it took for mail to travel from here to there in the 1860s.

Thank you for joining me - I hope you have a good remainder of the weekend and fine week upcoming.

Visiting the Arctic Circle - Postal History Sunday

Here we are on Postal History Sunday!

This is the moment where I (the farmer and postal historian) gives himself the opportunity to share some things that interest him with others who may enjoy it.  Please take a moment to take off your shoes, put on some fluffy socks and check any baggage you might have from the week at the door.

Let me remind everyone that you can click on an image to see a larger version.  Sometimes, you can see some of what I reference better when you allow yourself to do that!

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This time, we're actually going to look at an item that is so far away from my normal interests that I find myself checking and re-checking what I've learned about it.  

You see, the subject area that is postal history is so broad that it is not at all difficult to leave your comfort zone.  I am most comfortable with US mail to foreign destinations in the 1860s.  The next level of comfort is for mail in the 1850s to 1875 between different countries (primarily US, Canada and Europe).  Then it is any mail from 1850 to 1875.  From that point, we move further and further away from the knowledge that comes to me fairly easily.  

So - today we are looking at an item that was mailed in 1931 from German to Russia - via the North Pole?  What's up with that?

 By 1931, philately (stamp collecting) had a strong following.  In fact, it was not at all uncommon for people to send 'letters' via certain routes or on certain dates to simply create a commemorative item for some event.  For example, each time a new airmail route would open up in the United States, there were individuals who would make up envelopes with special designs to be mailed the first day the route opened.  Sure - they paid the postage and they made up a valid envelope or postcard - so these were real pieces of mail.

But, this is where the postal historian sometimes collides with souvenir hunters.

I - as a postal historian - prefer to find pieces of mail that carried real letters or real business correspondence.  I am less excited by items that were created as a souvenir for an event (often called event covers).  On the other hand, there are times when the souvenirs themselves illustrate an important event in the history of postal carriage or they connect so strongly to a historical event that has a good enough story, that I am willing to bend a good bit!

For example, the item I am highlighting today was a special event cover to celebrate a special flight by a zeppelin airship.  In the 1930s these 'lighter than air' ships were coming into more prominence, providing an opportunity to cross the oceans more quickly than ships that had to fight their way through the water.  In fact, there was even discussion that it would allow travel 'over the poles' of the Earth.

Knowing a good thing when they saw it, many airship flights were promoted to the philatelic community to encourage the sending of commemorative mail for fundraising purposes.  Postal administrations all over the globe got into the act by issuing special stamps and establishing special postage rates for these flights (typically costing more than normal mail).  And, it worked!  Much of the surviving mail items from these flights were made up just to commemorate the event.

This experimental flight of the Graf Zeppelin LZ 127 was largely funded by philatelic interest (believe it or not), carrying 650 pounds of mail at the time it departed Leningrad (it returned with another 270 pounds going the 'other direction' on the flight.  It is estimated that around 50,000 pieces of philatelic mail was processed through this flight.

This piece of mail cost the sender 4 RiechsMarks (RM), which was roughly equivalent to one US dollar in 1931 (to be more precise 1 $ US was 4.2 RM). 

The airship left Friedrichshafen on July 24 and made stops in Berlin (July 24) and Leningrad (July 25).  It then transferred its mail to a Russian icebreaker ship on July 27 near Hooker Island.  If you look closely, even the stamps had a special marking ("Polar Fahrt 1931" = polar flight) and were sold specifically to persons who wanted souvenir mail to go on this flight.

If the person mailing this just wanted an item to be mailed from Germany to Russia so that it got there as fast as possible, then it would have made sense to take the letter off the airship in Leningrad.  But, the typed instruction "via Nordpol nach Russland" made it clear that the sender wanted this item to get off-loaded on the scheduled icebreaker rendezvous.

The Russian icebreaker Malygin then took the mail from the airship back to land, where the mail entered the Russian mail system.  This piece of mail arrived at its destination: Ishevsk, Russia on August 8.  Clearly much later than regular mail would have taken - at a much higher cost. 

For those who would like to learn more about the scientific and mapping purposes of the 1931 polar flight of LZ 127, I suggest this summary on the airships.net site.

 I hope you enjoyed a quick voyage to view the North Pole from an airship.