Cruising Along - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday.  This week we're going to spend some time on a couple of the popular cruise ships of the 1930s.

Take a moment to make yourself comfortable.  Put those troubles away and get out the deck shoes.  If you have trouble with sea sickness, take some dimenhydrinate.  Maybe we will all learn something new while I share something I enjoy!

Receiving Mail on the S.S. Rex

Today's story starts with an envelope sent from the United States in 1935 to a couple of passengers on the Italian luxury liner named Rex. 

At first glance, this letter is simply a single-weight, surface letter from Rochester, New York in the United States to Naples (Napoli), Italy.  The rate was five cents for the first ounce (20 grams) in weight and this rate was in effect from Oct 1, 1907 until Oct 31 1953 - quite a long time for a postage rate to be effective without an increase.

At the time this letter was mailed (July 30, 1935), there were options to use the new air mail service for part of the journey to Italy at a higher postage cost, but there was not yet air service to cross the Atlantic Ocean.  But, since there were air mail options, it is important for a postal historian to note that this was sent by "surface mail" - as in, it stayed on the surface of the earth, whether it was land or water.

There is a postal arrival marking for Napoli (Naples), for August 11, on the back of this envelope, but our eyes are drawn to the bold purple marking on the front of the cover.  This is not a postal marking, instead, it was applied by the Tourism Office (Ufficio Turismo) in Napoli for what was commonly known as the Italian Line of steamships (Italia Flotte Ruinite).

The names on this marking might be a bit confusing because it is actually a combination of names that came from the origin of the Italian Line.  In 1932, three Italian steamship companies were merged to create a single, national, steamship line.  These three consisted of Lloyd-Sabaudo (based in Turin), Cosulich STN (based in Trieste) and Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI - based in Genoa).  So, the three companies actually make an appearance on this marking (Italia - Cosulich - Lloyd).  The marking was applied on arrival at their offices and we can assume that the letter was handled by the shipping line for their passengers from that point on .

Artwork by James A Flood

Some of the motivation for the merger came directly from the Italian government because, during the 1930s, most national powers touted a strong shipping line to show their strength.  The British had the combined Cunard - White Star Line and Germany had the HAPAG/North German Lloyd line.  Now Italy would have a strong steamship line and with that line would come state of the art ships such as the Rex.

The Rex was one of a number of very large, speedy ships that were being developed in the 1930s, but its true distinction came with the on-board accommodations which attracted strong attention from customers in the United States seeking to visit the Mediterranean.   The ship boasted not one, but two swimming pools, a theater and a cinema among other things.  In March of 1933, a radio broadcast from the ship of Schubert's Ave Maria, sung by Rosa Ponselle was heard on both sides of the Atlantic - a first.

Map taken from the GG Archives for the Aug 21, 1935 sailing of Rex

The Rex sailed a route that began the western route in Genoa and terminated the eastern route in Naples. The terminus in the United States was the harbor in New York.  The Italians held a great deal of pride in this ship and it secured the Blue Riband of the Atlantic in August of 1933, taking it from the German ship Bremen, that had set the previous speed record for an Atlantic crossing just one month prior.

Speaking of the German Ship Bremen

Well... looky here!  Another envelope featuring the National Parks issue stamps I enjoy.  And, this one has the words "S/S Bremen" boldly written at the top.  I wonder what that could be about?

Here is a larger envelope that carried some sort of letter mail content from New York City to Lahti, Finland in July of 1935 - just 25 days prior to the first piece of letter mail shown above.

There is 24 cents of postage on this particular item, rather than the 5 cents on the first one.  This was also sent as by surface mail (no air mail), so the need to have more postage had to be for other reasons.  First, the letter was sent as a "registered letter," which cost an additional 15 cents.  Registered mail provided the customer with tracking that was intended to provide more security that the item would get safely to where it was going.  The fifteen cent registration fee to a foreign destination was effective from Dec 1, 1925 until Jan 31, 1945.

The rest of the postage is mostly accounted for if we consider that this letter was a "double-weight" letter.  It weighed more than one ounce and no more than two ounces.  The first ounce, as we saw with the first letter, cost five cents in postage.  Each additional ounce cost three cents more.  So, the postage needed was eight cents plus fifteen for a registered letter.  Apparently, this item was overpaid by one penny.

Artwork by James A Flood

So, this letter was intended to be taken on the Bremen, the same ship that had held the Blue Riband by setting an Atlantic Crossing record in July of 1933 at 27.92 knots.  From a practical standpoint, this meant this ship could complete a round trip on a two week cycle since a one way trip could be completed in less than five days.  And, in fact, the Bremen maintained a schedule of departing from New York every other Friday.  It's sister ship, the Europa, had actually held the Blue Riband pror to the Bremen.  That meant a German steamer from the HAPAG/North German Lloyd line could leave port every Friday.

It just so happened that July 5 of 1935 was a Friday.  So, it might make sense that the sender of this letter might expect one of the fastest steamships of the time to take the letter across the Atlantic.

And, yet, we are left to wonder - why did this letter arrive in Lahti, Finland on July 20th - fifteen days later.  Surely, it did not take ten more days to get from Bremen or Hamburg to Finland?

The answer is actually on the front of the cover.  The words "S/S Bremen" have been crossed out.  This could be because the letter was received at the post office too late to be placed in the mailbag for the Bremen or perhaps, mails for Finland were not to be routed via this ship.  I suspect it was for the second reason because there was no "too late" marking applied to the letter.

The Bremen Incident

As with the Rex, there are numerous interesting stories that surround the Bremen during her tenure as one of the finest vessels crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  One particular story occurred just a few weeks after the July 5th departure that this particular letter missed.

from this ALBA article

German vessels at this time were flying the German Weimar Republic flag and the Nazi flag.  The presence of the Nazi flag was not welcomed by many and an incident on July 26, 1935, created an international incident when the Nazi flag ended up in the water.

Members of the American League Against War and Fascism were regularly protesting and handing out anti-Nazi propaganda to those who sought to board the German luxury liners.  But, after the capture of one of their own and suspected torture by the Nazis, they decided that a stronger demonstration was needed.  

It was a regular practice for departing ships to allow the public on board for a nominal cost prior to departure (ten cents in this case).  This allowed relatives and friends, the press, and, in this case, persons intent on removing a certain offensive flag, to be on board until those without tickets were told to leave with the call "all ashore that's going ashore!"

The first-person account of Bill Bailey, the individual who eventually managed to get the flag down and into the water, can be found at this location.   

"I hurdled the last sea breaker and grabbed the first rung on the short ladder leading to the bowsprit. Pandemonium was all about me as I reached the top. The Nazi symbol was just a few inches from me. I drew a deep breath. Behind me I could hear the screams of the passengers, the barking of orders in German of the captain and the blowing of police whistles as dozens of police boarded the Bremen."

The United States deflected German claims that their ship had taken injury in an American port by stating that the Nazi flag was not the official flag of Germany, but they did issue formal apologies.  They found themselves apologizing yet again when Magistrate Louis Brodsky dismissed most of the charges against the "Bremen Six."

So - if I wrote all of that just because this particular envelop had the words "S/S Bremen" written on it - what would I have done if it had actually been carried on the July 26 sailing on the Bremen?

Looking for Examples of Higher Rate Letters

The letter to Finland is a pretty good example of a letter that was an excellent candidate to be heavier than the one ounce limit for a single weight letter.  The difficulty is that, unlike some of the early postal history I collect, there aren't many clues to confirm that an item really did require more postage. 

Above is another 1935 letter from Stratford, Connecticut to England.  Twenty cents of postage are applied to the envelope.  The letter is not registered.  There are no markings to tell me it went via air mail.  And, the valid postal rates we might consider for surface mail are:

• 5 cents for a letter up to one ounce
• 8 cents for 1 to 2 ounces
• 11 cents for 2 to 3 ounces
• and from there it would be 14 cents, 17 cents and 20 cents.

Do I believe this letter held over five ounces of material?  The short answer is "no."  It is not at all uncommon to find letters that were overpaid simply because the recipient was a stamp collector... or maybe the sender was the stamp collector and they hoped to see the envelope again in the future.

On the other hand, something like this letter below feels much more likely to be an actual payment of the 8 cent rate for a letter over one ounce in weight.

Is it still likely a collector was involved?  Yes, I think so.  But, I also believe it more likely that it paid a proper 8 cent rate.   You might notice that this item was sent from one person to a relative that must have been traveling in Europe at this time in 1934.  Sure, they could probably expect the envelope to come back to them if they were a collector, so why not use interesting stamps?  But, why not also put some extra content in the envelope as well?

And then, there are items like this one.  There is ten cents worth of postage on here, which probably means the individual who sent it thought the rate was five cents per ounce of weight, so they overpaid by two cents.  

Can I verify this information?  

Once again, I cannot prove any of my assertions, but there are signs that might support my guesses.  If a person were going to send a letter that was solely with the intent of sending some stamps through the mail, they typically took the time to put things much more neatly on the envelope (such as the first in this series).  And, the postmarks seem to indicate that the collector wasn't standing over the clerk asking for light cancellations so the stamps would be "collectible."

And then there is this larger envelope.  It could clearly handle enough contents to warrant 17 cents in postage to go along with the 15 cent registration fee.   And, a business address makes it likely that business correspondence of some sort was included.  Is it still possible that the sender or recipient collected stamps?  Sure!  That, in itself, may be the reason this particular still survives today!

Epilogue - End of the Line

Both the Bremen and Rex reached the end of the line in the 1940s, though only one of the two was a casualty of war. Oddly enough, the Bremen succumbed to a fire set by a disgruntled employee while it was at Bremerhaven.  

"The Gestapo initially suspected that British intelligence had a hand in the destruction of the ship, but before long the investigation fell upon a 15-year-old deckhand from the Bremen, Walter Schmidt, who eventually confessed to having set the fire in revenge for a clip on the ear given him by a supervisor. Wartime justice was swift and severe. Schmidt was executed."  taken from the Cruise Line History site.

The Rex, on the other hand, was laid up for the war in Trieste until the Italian Armistice on Sep 8, 1943.  At that point, the German forces seized the ship and gutted her of anything of value to them.  In September of 1944, the ship was towed out of port and anchored off the Istrian coast where it was bombed and sunk by Allied planes.

And thus ended two of the most widely lauded ocean-going vessels of the 1930s.  Both fast ships and Blue Riband winners - and neither was on the move when they met their doom.

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Once again, thank you for joining me for this week's Postal History Sunday.  I hope you enjoyed this week's post.  Have a good remainder of your day and a wonderful week to come!

How You Slice It - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to this week's Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  This entry comes to you LIVE (ish) from Chicagopex in, not surprising at all, Chicago!

One of the things the farmer enjoys doing is sharing his exhibit (display) of his postal history that features the 24 cent US 1861 stamp.  Yes, that's the topic of last week's PHS.  Good for you for remembering!  

Just as I reported in August, when I attended the Great American Stamp Show, there was a competition for those who, like me, wish to show our work on various topics related to philately (stamp collecting), postal history, deltiology (postcards), and other similar areas.  I must admit that participants see the competition part in different ways.  I, for example see this as mostly a competition with myself to see how well I can convey information to others.  To me, this is a teaching and learning opportunity more than anything.  

It just so happens that I have also had some success with the competition with others part as well.  I am certainly pleased with that, of course, but the introvert in me sometimes struggles with how to take that sort of success - so I focus on the internal push to improve.

I spent some time walking and viewing the various exhibits the past couple of days and I have been struck by all of the ways we find to determine the focus and limits of the topics we choose to display.  What each of us shows depends on 

How We Slice It

One of the tricks to creating an enjoyable exhibit is to identify a subject area, but that subject area has to provide a reasonable set of boundaries.  For example, I could do an exhibit on "postal history," but that is far too broad.  To make a long story short, I use a particular stamp issue (the 24 cent US 1861 stamp) to slice a chunk out of the bigger topic and give what I show some focus.

My exhibit is seven frames in length and each frame holds 16 pages (8.5 x 11 in sheets).  But, not every exhibit lends itself to the same amount of space.  Doug Weisz shared a one frame (16 page) exhibit that focuses on a single stamp that was issued in New Orleans after Louisiana seceded from the Union (New Orleans 5 Cent Brown Provisional 1861-1862).  Selection of this particular stamp effectively limits the date range (1861-62) and the geographical region.

 (Doug was a winner of the Reserve Grand Award for single frame exhibits.  Nice job Doug!)

Of course, you can go the other way and limit your topic with geographical limitations.  Harold Peter brings this down to a fine point by showing postal history from Koslin - A Prussian City in Pommerenia.  Harold also limits the topic by giving us a time range from 1588 to 1945, which is... well, let's just say that the time frame doesn't limit the topic much.  But, if you click on the image above, you might be able to see that the first letter shown there is from 1588 - which is impressive no matter how you slice it.  (apologies for the blurry photo)

Ed Fitch does something similar with his Little Fort/Waukegan Illinois Postal History - but Ed has a much shorter history of postal services to pull from (starting in 1841) and probably a smaller population.  In both cases, the limits make it very clear what belongs and what does not in each of their exhibits.  Mail that came from, went through, or was mailed to these locations qualify.  Unless the exhibitor can make an excellent case for some other sort of item, the boundaries are clear.

Another excellent example at Chicagopex of an exhibit that shows a geographically bounded topic is Anthony Dewey's A Postal History of Hartford, Connecticut (1792-1897).  Part of the competition is to clearly and completely show the topic you have selected.  The exhibitor sets the goals and then strives to meet them.  The judges determine how well you meet these goals.  In addition to meeting your expressed goals, you try to do so with a display that is attractive and communicates well with the audience.  Anthony's exhibit is beautifully executed and is easy for me to follow.  

(Anthony's exhibit won the American Philatelic Society's Medal of Excellence for pre-1900 material.  Congratulations Anthony!)

Speaking of beautifully executed, I have to give another shout out to Vicky Hadley for her Kansas and Nebraska Overprints.  Vicky's layout gives a person the feel that everything has the space it needs and no more than it needs.  There are places where there are layers, making use of a third dimension of space.  But, this exhibit brings out another part of the competition, illustrating that you know your topic and you can communicate to others what you know about it.  If I had a question about the Kansas and Nebraska overprints, I know exactly where to go.

Vicky's exhibit won the American Philatelic Society's Medal of Excellence for 1900-1940 material.  Congratulations Vicky!

There are other options for selecting a topic area, for example, you could select a topic that has nothing to do with a specific stamp issue or geographical location.  You could, for example, find material that shows connections to something like... oh... libraries?  America's Membership Libraries 1731-1910 by Larry Nix shows all sorts of items, including a wooden bookmark to tell his exhibit's story.  A topical exhibit, such as this one adds the extra challenge that there needs to be sufficient connections to the postal realm - since this is a stamp show.  Larry is one of the masters in this type of exhibiting.

(Larry received the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors Award for Epilogues for his approach to closing out his exhibit.  Well done Larry!)

And, Susan Jones moves the concentration away from stamps, postal history and geography and pushes us to enjoy the artwork.

Susan shows a ten-frame exhibit titled Carol Gordon Cachets.  While you can view envelopes that have postage stamps on them that are postmarked, this is not what she wants us to appreciate.  Instead, it is the design (cachet) that has been applied to the envelope.  The design is often typically related to the design on the postage stamp being shown.  

(Susan's exhibit won the American Philatelic Society's Research Medal, well deserved Susan's!)

Here is where my own personal bias begins to show.  Since I prefer postal history, I tended to view exhibits that have that sort of focus.  And, it should not seem odd if I have an attraction for an exhibit that shows material from the same 1861 United States issue that I favor.

How about a little bit on Trans-Oceanic Uses of the 30 Cent U.S. Issues of 1861-68 by Rich Drews?  Sure, I can enjoy that!  Rich has a knack for putting some of the most amazing 1861 issue items out for others to appreciate in his exhibits.  Let's just say he showed a few items that I would have loved to move from his pages to mine.  But, since that will not happen, I was pleased to have a chance to enjoy them in this fashion. 

(note: Rich won the Grand Award for single frame exhibits - well done Rich!)

The last two exhibits might give you a taste of how wide the range of topic area can be at a show like Chicagopex.  Most people can find something that they can relate to at some level or another.  I was able to find a couple of exhibits that actually focused on different values of the same stamp issue I favor.  Topics that are closer to my own area of expertise are easier for me to quickly appreciate BUT it is also possible that I will get stuck on missing details that I know, but the exhibitor doesn't feel are important!  On the other hand, topics that are further away from my experience can be more difficult for me to fully appreciate, but it is certainly unlikely that I'll have a strong opinion about details.

Speaking of connections with what you know and what you do not know.  Matt Kewriga's exhibit titled Danish West Indies Foreign Mail to UPU is an example where there is overlap with my own area of knowledge and yet, there is so much that is new for me to experience as a viewer.  Our time periods overlap and the connections we both have to ocean going vessels carrying the mail gives me a starting point towards understanding what Matt is doing here.  On the other hand, the routes and rates he explores are not the same as the ones I work with most of the time. 

(Matt received the Reserve Grand Award for his multiple frame exhibit, congratulations Matt!)

There were 70 to 80 exhibits at this show with all sorts of topics - lots of slices of the bigger pie.  I apologize that I could not show every single thing I enjoyed in this blog post.  I will admit that some of the limitation has to do with the quality of the photos I took - leaving me to exclude many I wanted to show.  For example, I spent time appreciating Jerry Miller's work on his Evolution of the German Post Office in China and with Emory Earl Toops' Provisional Issues of South Viet Nam - among many others - but the photos were unusable.   

The real issue is a combination of time and space.  We all do the best we can do.

With that said, thank you to all who exhibited at Chicagopex in 2021, I appreciate your efforts and I know we can all relate to the struggles and joys with the process.  To the judges and to the people who do all of the organizing for the show and the competition - thank you.  I recognize and honor your time and energy that provide us with the opportunity for us all to exhibit things we enjoy and share them with others.

Thanks for joining me for my "live" report at Chicagopex.  We'll get back to our more traditional material next week.  But, for now, I hope you have a great remainder of your weekend and a wonderful week to come.  

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Addendum

You might notice that I include some awards after some of these descriptions.  The awards were released just after I had completed this Postal History Sunday, so I went back in this morning to add some of the recognition.  In addition to these awards, I was surprised and honored to have been given the Grand Award for my exhibit, The Postal History of the 1861 United States 24-cent Adhesive.  This is the second time this exhibit has won a show "grand" award - and each time I was fairly certain that I would do well enough, but not THAT well.

One Design, Bigger Story - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to this week's Postal History Sunday, featured every Sunday (imagine that!), on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  This will be, much to my astonishment, the 65th entry of this series that I have offered up for public consumption.

As has been the case for each PHS prior to this one, everyone is welcome - whether you know anything about postal history or not.  I encourage you to put those troubles and worries into a place where they cannot be found.  Grab the fuzzy slippers and a drink and snack of your choice.  Always be aware that you should keep edibles and liquids away from the keyboard and the paper collectibles!  Let's see if we can all learn something new today while I share something I enjoy.

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Some of you might recall that I attended the Great American Stamp Show in Chicago back in August.  For those who are not familiar, there are stamp shows or conventions for persons who are philatelists (they collect stamps) and/or postal historians.  The Great American Stamp Show moves to a different location each year.  Coming up next week is Chicagopex, a philatelic exhibition (hence the "pex" part of the name), that occurs every year about this time in, of course, Chicago.

I am fortunate to be able to go to Chicagopex this year and I am looking forward to it.  Given our location and our vocations (education and farming) we have limitations on what we can manage to attend.  Chicago is one of the closest opportunities for us to participate and it comes at a time of year where we can manage to go - so there you have it.

This year, I will be showing an updated version of my postal history exhibit.  But, since many of you will not be there, I thought I would share a little bit of the story I tell.  So, without further ado and todo, I present...

The Postal History of the 24 Cent United States Stamp

The primary purpose of this particular denomination of postage stamp (24 cents) was to pay the simple letter mail rate between the United States and the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Channel Islands).  This particular design was issued in 1861 and the earliest documented use is August 20th of that year.  These stamps continued to be produced until early 1869, when they were replaced by a new design.

The 24 cent postal rate between the US and the UK was effective from February 1849 until December of 1867.  So, it would make sense that there might have been other designs for a 24 cent stamp before 1861.  But, it might surprise you that there was only ONE - and it wasn't issued until 1860.

To the untrained eye, the stamp on the cover shown above may not look all that different.  But, if you click on the images of each cover shown above and study them a bit, I think you'll see the changes in design.  The new stamp design came about because of the secession of the southern states from the Union.  Post offices that now resided in Confederate States still held stock of the old postage stamp designs and there was concern about the potential loss of revenue if no change was made.  

Once the new design was released, they demonetized all postage stamp designs that had been issued prior to August of 1861.  For those who do not know what it means to demonetize a postage stamp, it simply means they made them invalid to pay postage.  

Here is an attempt, in 1866, by a person to use some old 12 cent stamps that were issued in 1851.  I think some of us can recognize this scenario.  A person found an old envelope that already had the two 12 cent stamps on it or they found the two stamps in a back of a drawer somewhere.  They knew the letter they were sending was a bit heavier, so they slapped a newer 24 cent stamp on the envelope and they mailed it, thinking all was well.

The postal clerk recognized that the old 12 cent stamps were demonetized and could no longer be used for postage - so they wrote the words "not good" in blue pencil under those stamps.  Then, they wrote "short paid" to indicate that the lone 24 cent stamp, though valid, was not enough to pay for the postage due.  As a result, the recipient had to pay the full postage (2 shillings) to receive this letter.

Getting to the US Post Office

A US postage stamp pays for US postal services.  But, sometimes, there were travels just to get a piece of mail to a US post office.

The envelope shown above has a 24 cent stamp that pays the cost of mailing the item from New York City to Liverpool.  But, the blue 1 cent stamp actually pays for the service of having a New York City postal carrier take this letter to the post office.  In the early 1860s, carrier service to and from locations outside of a post office was not all that common.  Most people had to go to the post office to mail their letters and pick up any items they expected to receive unless they were willing to pay more for the extra service provided by a mail carrier.

Or maybe a letter actually originated OUTSIDE of the United States, just like this 1867 letter that got its start in Lima, Peru.  If you aren't paying attention to this one, you might just assume it is just a letter that went from New York City to London, with the 24 cent stamp paying that postage.  But, then you should notice the docket that reads "via New York" at the top left.  Once you notice that, you need to ask the question - "where did this letter get its start?"  

That's where the docketing on the inside of the folded letter sheet comes in handy.  It turns out Alsop and Company had branches of their company in Lima and New York.  So, it is likely this item was brought or mailed from Peru with a bundle of other letters that were to be sent on to their eventual destinations from New York.

At the Post Office

Once we get to a US Post Office, the clerk there would determine the amount of postage required for the item to get from here to there.  Sometimes, a letter might already have postage stamps and perhaps other times, the client would purchase the stamps at the point of mailing.

The envelope shown above originated in New York City and was sent to Middlebury, Vermont.  The postal rate for letters that did not leave the United States was 3 cents per one half ounce.  The clerk must have weighed this out and found it to be more than 3 1/2 ounces and no more than 4 ounces in weight, requiring 24 cents in postage.  The clerk then applied a postmark that included a city-date stamp which was paired with a canceling mark to prevent someone from re-using the postage stamp.

Once the clerk properly marked a piece of mail, it would be placed in a letter bag that would be prepared to take a scheduled mail conveyance - such as a train, coach, or boat.

Leaving the country

Most pieces of mail bearing a 24 cent postage stamp that still survive today were items that were mailed to destinations outside of the United States.  And, most of those crossed the Atlantic Ocean to destinations in Europe.  

So, the first order of business was for the US Postal Service to use railroads, coaches, steamboats and other means of conveyance to get the letter to one of the special post offices that had been identified as exchange offices for mail to the destination country.

Since I will be attending a show in Chicago, it only makes sense that I would show a cover that went to the Chicago exchange office.  Other exchange offices at this time for mail to England included New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Portland, Maine.  And, it was up to the exchange office clerks to place foreign mail into the proper mailbags and get those mailbags to the correct mail packet (steamship) to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

There were several shipping companies that carried mail from the United States.  The letter above is an uncommon example of a letter carried by the Galway Line, which was under contract with the British postal service.  The ship left Boston on November 3 and made stops at St John's, Newfoundland (Nov 7), Galway, Ireland (Nov 14) and finished the trip at Liverpool (Nov 16).  The letter itself was probably off-loaded at Galway and shipped by rail from there to the east side of Ireland, where it would cross the Irish Sea and again go by rail to London.

It can be interesting to try to find letters that traveled by different ships from the various shipping lines.  And sometimes, you will find a letter that was on a ship that ran aground or one that had to endure a hurricane.

So, now we're in the UK

Congratulations!  We've made it across the Atlantic and our letter is now in the hands of another postal service.  Well, actually, the MAILBAG is in the hands of another postal service.  And, that mailbag needs to get to one of the post offices that exchange mail with the United States.

Here's a letter that went to Scotland.  The exchange office for the United States was Detroit, where the letter was put into the mailbag.  The receiving exchange office was in Glasgow, where the letter was removed from the mailbag.  In this case, each exchange office put a marking on the cover that give us clues as to the travels this item took.  I suspect most people would not be surprised to learn that the most commonly found exchange office for mails with the UK is London, which is why I wanted to show you something different here!  You can find examples of London in the other pieces I show if you are interested.

If a letter was destined for an address in the United Kingdom, it would take the British Mails to their destination.  Oh.. look, a London exchange office marking at the bottom left!

It was not all that uncommon for the destination of a letter to be a financial or other institution that would either hold or forward mail for their clients, who were often traveling.  This letter was sent care of McCalmont Brothers & Company, a banking firm located in London.

The recipient, B.J. Lang, was a touring musician, sometimes teaching or performing in the UK.  We cannot be certain, but it seems fairly likely that the letters might be held at the bank for Lang to pick them up at his convenience.  But, it is possible that they were bundled up with other letters and sent to Lang at his current location.  It all depended on the agreement the recipient had with the McCalmont Bros - which probably had to do with how much money Lang wanted to spend on such a thing.

This letter is also very interesting because it shows an uncommon example of a "triple weight" letter.  Until the middle of 1866, this would have required one more 24 cent stamp.

And beyond...

The British Mail system provided an opportunity for persons in the United States to send mail to other destinations beyond the United Kingdom.  

As an example, here is a letter that was destined for Melbourne, Victoria (Australia).  The postal agreement between the US and the UK allowed the sender to prepay the postage to the UK AND beyond. With another 21 cents in postage, this letter could get all the way to Australia via the Suez (Egypt).

Or, maybe the destination is the Corisco Mission on the West Coast of Africa?  This one required 33 cents in postage to pay for its trip from the United States, to London, and then on by ship to what was once Fernando Po and is now Bioko.

It wasn't just the British mail

Most of the surviving mail pieces that bear a 24 cent postage stamp went to or through the British Mails, but there were certainly other options and other destinations.

And, you knew this was coming!  I'm going to give you a "for instance" or two!

Here is a letter that went via the Prussian Mails so that it could eventually find its way to St Petersburg, Russia.  

And a folded letter that traveled via the French Mails to Rome, Italy.  

The United States had agreements in the 1860s with the British, French, Prussian, Bremen, Hamburg, and Belgian postal services.  Later in the 1860s there were also agreements with the Italians and Swiss.  The point I am trying to make is that a person can have a great time finding items that show how mail traveled using these different agreements - all using the 24 cent stamp as payment for all or part of the required postage.

And that, my friends, is a summary of the exhibit I share at these stamp shows.  It may have been long for a blog post, but it is actually quite brief when you consider the complexity of the subject.  The exhibit itself consists of over 100 pages that show somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 examples of postal history.

The good news?  All of this complexity and detail provides me with plenty of fodder for more Postal History Sunday blogs.  If you enjoy them, that would be good news.  If you don't?  Well, I suspect if you don't, you didn't make it this far in today's post!

Thank you for joining me as I share something I truly enjoy.  I appreciate your patience and attention as I gave you the "nickel tour" of a subject I have been studying and working on since 1999 (more or less).  I hope you learned something new.  May you have a fine remainder of your day and a good week to come!

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Hungry for more?

This is the area of postal history where I have the most comfort.  So, it makes sense that I have written on items that bear the 24 cent US postage stamp more than any other type of item.  If you are a person who wanted a bit more depth, rather than breadth, in this week's post, you have several opportunities to review prior PHS entries that focus on particular aspects of this topic.

This link should take you to all of the PHS blogs that feature this stamp.  Read to your heart's content.  And, remember, I do not claim to be perfect and have all knowledge.  But, if you have questions, I will happily respond as best I can.  If you have corrections or additions, I will gratefully receive them.

And, to close, I provide you with one more folded letter.  This one to Belgium.  Perhaps, one day, this piece of postal history will show up on a Postal History Sunday with more description than I've just provided!

Poo d'Etat - Postal History Sunday

You have been traversing the virtual world of the internet and now you find yourself here, reading this week's Postal History Sunday that is hosted on the Genuine Faux Farm blog or the GFF Postal History blog.  Don't worry about wiping off your shoes for this one, but do take a moment to get yourself comfortable and grab a favorite beverage or snack.  This week's entry is going to take us to some different territory - maybe we'll all learn something new by the time it is all over with.

One thing I cannot escape is the reality that I am a farmer AND a postal historian.  Rather than run and hide from this, I do my best to embrace it.  So, today's PHS blog is going to take a turn towards the farm - and more specifically, towards fertilizer!  That encouraged me to name this one "Poo d'Etat."  Hang on and enjoy the ride!

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When I first noticed this envelope, I have to admit that I was not horribly impressed.  It's not the prettiest item out there and there is some staining and aging that made me pause.  There is not much for postal markings either - and the cancellation doesn't really give me a too much information.  

The addressee may have been a law professional (note the letters "Esq" after the name) who could be located at Nottoway Court House (about 65 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia).  As the name implies,  this settlement was the "business portion" of the county, which included the court house building, clerk's office and jail.  The Fitzgerald family were quite prominent in the early history of the county, with numerous members serving in the legal profession and others claiming to be doctors. 

If you would like to learn more, you can go to Old Homes and Families of Nottoway County by W.R. Turner in 1932.

The postage stamp is a 2 cent issue from the 1869 US issue and it pays the rate for items that were classified as a "circular."  The rate for this class of mail was effective from 1863 to 1872 and allowed the sender to put up to three copies of the circular into one cover (envelope or wrapper of some sort).  To qualify, the contents could only be printed matter (with no written personal messages placed in addition to the printed matter).  The envelope also needed to be left unsealed so the postal clerks could inspect the item to be sure it met regulations.

What attracted me to this item in particular was not the envelope itself.  It was not the addressee or even a possible connection to historical events.  It was not the stamp, or the rate of postage it paid.

It was the contents.

The envelope held a booklet that was still in excellent condition.  And the booklet extolled the value of the Powhaten Raw Bone Super-Phosphate to be used as fertilizer on a wide range of crops.

Before I get into that side of things, it makes sense for me to talk about WHY contents are often a valuable part of a postal history artifact.  Sometimes, the envelope or wrapper, by itself, leaves us with more questions than answers.  In fact, as we could see from last week's PHS post, there are times when we have to determine whether or not an item has been tampered with, or if it has suffered losses over time.  But, even if it is not a matter of authenticity, it IS a matter of determining an accurate story that includes when an item was mailed, how it went from place to place, the postage required to carry it, and if there were any special circumstances that made the travels of this piece of mail exceptional!

If you look at the envelope again - we don't know where it was mailed from.  We don't know when it was mailed (other than the fact that the 2 cent stamp wasn't in use until March of 1869).  We couldn''t even be certain that this was an example of the circular rate of postage.

But, the contents give us a confirming year date (1869).  The circular was printed in Richmond, for a Richmond firm - so it was likely mailed from Richmond.  And, of course, the envelope was unsealed and held... this... a circular!  Tadaaaaaaa!

Even better, the clues the contents give us match up with the limited clues the envelope provided.  When the content and the cover confirm each other like this, it makes the story you can tell with your postal history item that much stronger.

Now we can have a little bit more fun and do some searches to see if there are advertisements that confirm the existence of this business during the time period we're looking.  Sure enough, the Valley Virginian, published in Staunton, Virginia in November of 1869 includes an advertisement for the same Powhaten Rawbone Super Phosphate.

So, all of this has been fun.  But, that's not what initially got my attention.

What interested me is the farming history that came with the postal history.

One thing that stands out is how our language has changed over time.  If I were to use the word "manure" right now...

Ok... stop laughing.  This is supposed to be a serious blog post....  you too.  Yes, you!  No more laughing.  I warned you about the "poo thing" with the title of the blog post.  You should have known it would come to this!

Ahem.

So, if I were to use the word "manure," you would probably be thinking about animal manure.  But, apparently, in 1869, any sort of fertilizer could be construed as "manure."  For those of us who have done some gardening or growing, we might recognize the "raw bone super phosphate" as "bone meal," which is known to be an excellent slow-release source of phosphorous for growing plants.

I recognize that some people are a little squeamish with the idea of using ground up animal bones as a soil supplement, but you need to consider the relative resource efficiency of using bone meal versus other sources of phosphorous.  Most farms included animals in their operations, some of which were raised for meat.  Rather than simply discarding the bones, they could be used by being ground up and placed back into the soil so the cycle of life could continue.  The goal of companies like this was to make the bone meal "soluble" so it be more readily available for uptake by plant roots.

The other popular fertilizer that provided phosphorous in 1869 was "Peruvian guano" which was the harvested excrement from seabirds and bats.  This pamphlet compares their product by noting that what they produce is much more "favorably priced" than the more expensive guano that had to be shipped up from South America.

Currently, most of our phosphorous fertilizer is synthesized from mined phosphate rock, which is not a good thing since it is typically strip-mined and the process of creating the fertilizer results in a significant amount of hazardous waste by-product.  Maybe we need Powhaten to get their business running again?  But, then again, I can't say how they treated the raw bone to create their fertilizer either.

The second item I would like to show today is also an envelope that qualified as a printed circular.  However, this envelope was mailed in 1893 and simply qualified as a third-class mail item - printed circulars were now just included with everything else that fell into this class.  The postage rate was 1 cent for every 2 ounces in weight (1879-1925).

Before going into the farming side of things, the design at the top left on the envelope bears a little scrutiny.  For those who don't know, collectors often refer to this sort of design as a corner card which often served both as advertisement and a return address.

I found it interesting that a company, based in Rutland, Vermont, would choose Napoleon as a sort of "mascot" or "brand identification."  Other paper advertisements from them in the 1890s show similar designs.  Of course, they are trying to set themselves apart as leaders in their field and boldly say so with the words "I lead" next to Napoleon's head.

The words "Napoleon. Friedland. 1807" make it clear that they are referencing a key event in Napoleon's military history.  The Battle of Friedland was the event that persuaded the Tsar of Russia to enter into the Tilset peace agreement, which "split Europe into French and Russian spheres of influence and reduced Prussia territory significantly." (this last statement taken from the linked article)

I understand the idea of trying to establish that your company is a leader in the field, but I am not sure how appropriate it is to say that you are the Napoleon of Fertilizer...  look at us, we are the "Emperors of Poo!"

There were multiple copies of the same promotional circular in this envelope.  This is very interesting to me because that indicated that I was likely looking exactly at what the recipient saw when they opened this envelope.  It gives me a view into how one company sought to expand sales by mailing promotional material to people on their mailing list, hoping they, in turn would pass information on.  Given the contents of this envelope, I would say it didn't work in this particular case.

You can also notice that the contents are dated May 1, 1893 - which is a confirming date to go with the May 4, 1893 postmark from Rutland.

There are two points regarding the content of this document that strike me, as a grower of food.  The first is the concept that grass is undesirable and of little value.  After all, if someone decides to rely on perennial pasture, the Great Eastern Fertilizer Company might not have product for you.  So, it made sense for them to promote tillage and the application of their products for annual crops, such as corn and buckwheat.  But, even if the promotion made sense for the fertilizer company, we have learned over time that perhaps grass pasture has much more value than they portray here (in my opinion, grass pasture has more value, especially now that it is so scarce in states like Iowa - but that's for another day).

Second, the simple fact that buckwheat is listed on par with feed corn is telling.  In current times, buckwheat is touted by vegetable growers as an excellent short season cover crop.  The idea of growing buckwheat for flour production does not seem to hold much sway anymore, even though buckwheat is a quick grower that could be used even if a season started extremely wet and didn't allow entry into a field until later.

As a final note - the New York Agricultural Experiment Station regularly produced reports that outlined their own analysis of products offered by companies like this one.  The 1897 report linked in the prior sentence states that 193 manufacturers of fertilizer had registered with the station as required by law.  With these manufacturers there were 1900 different "brands" or products.  For claiming to be a leader, the Great Eastern Fertilizer Company was found to have levels of active fertilizer ingredients below their guaranteed levels in three of their twelve products being reviewed.

One could say they might have been a full of....  poo?

Here is one more that I wanted to share today, and it comes from Great Britain and is mailed to the United States. This item would also have qualified for discounted postage rates, but I have not had time to identify the particulars of this rate - but that's not what I wanted to show you!

This item is an open-ended paper wrapper that holds a pre-printed circular advertising publications put out by H(is) M(ajesty's) Stationery Office.  And, it feels to me that they were very, VERY interested in making sure you know that.

The address is pre-printed on the wrapper at bottom left (Shepherdess Walk in London).  There is a purple handstamp applied for the HMSO.  And, even the contents have "His Majesty's Stationery Office" printed and sticking out of the end at the left.  I think we get the point! 

The smudged purple handstamp reads "printed and published in Great Britain."  Once again, this seems a little redundant. But, if it seemed important to them and they wanted to pay someone in their office to stamp every copy being mailed out with this... it was their choice.  Right?

The other interesting sidelight for this piece of mail are the holes that you can see on the postage stamp.  Look closely and you might see that the holes punched into the stamp are the letters "H M S O."  That probably should not surprise us since HMSO is EVERYWHERE on this item.  But, these letters on the stamp actually served a different purpose.

Punched designs in stamps are called perfins and their purpose was to prevent the pilferage of stamps purchased for use by a company or government office.  If you think about it, the HMSO must have mailed a significant amount of material on a regular basis.  Rather than go to the post office every day and pay for postage stamps, they probably purchased them in bulk.  But, if there were a whole bunch of stamps lying around, it is possible an employee might decide no one would miss a sheet or two if they wanted to take some home and use them for themselves.

To prevent this, the HMSO effectively personalized the stamps by putting in these perfin designs.  If someone did take a few sheets it wouldn't be hard to identify where they came from if that person tried to use them on the mail.

If we look at the first page of the enclosure, we might conclude that this is something that was mailed out from the HMSO every month (this is the October 1951 edition) - so it was not a small undertaking. In a real way, it makes my writing a weekly postal history blog seem small by comparison.  At least I don't have to print out a bunch of copies, fold them, put them in wrappers and mail them all out!

The publications being summarized in this circular cover a wide range of subjects - but to keep to the topic at hand, you will find that there are even some publications on agriculture, including one dedicated to potatoes.

This is where I have to stretch a little to maintain a connection to the topic at hand... poo.  There is actually no direct mention of fertilizer, manure, bone phosphate or guano.  Instead, there is a quick mention that the potato brochure includes information on soil preparation.  

Well, sure!  Soil preparation often includes managing fertility!  Let's go with that!

What actually drew my attention to this particular item was the publications on insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.  In 1951, these tools were truly beginning to gain prominence - in large part because of industry's desire to sell product.  I find it interesting to read the description of this part of the circular:

Clearly, it is a new topic for them.  The simple mention of endorsement by the Ministry and the Government Chemist implies a feeling that they need to justify the validity and usefulness of this publication.  And, given what I know now, I wish they - and other agencies like them - had not been so successful in achieving general acceptance for these products.

Well, thank you for joining me this week!  I hope you were entertained and, perhaps, learned something new.  But, you'll have to excuse me.  I've got to grab my pitchfork and clean out the chicken coop.

Have a great remainder of your day and good week to come!