On the Verso - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).

This is the place where I like to share something I enjoy - postal history - with anyone who is interested.  It does not matter if you are a long time member of the hobby or if you were just passing by and wondered what was going on here.  It is my hope and intention that my writing is accessible to all levels of interest and that you will find enjoyment in the reading.  Perhaps, we might also all learn something new while we are at it!

Put on those fuzzy slippers, grab a favorite beverage, and lock those troubles in the shed for at least a little while. Join me as I see where some old postal items take us.

Traveling Europe

This week, I thought I would focus on what we can learn on the BACK of a piece of mail.  Some people would call this side of an envelope or folded letter "the verso," hence the title of this Postal History Sunday.  And, since that is our focus this week, I took the liberty of doing things backwards with our first item and showing you the verso first.

This one has a whole lot of things going on - which is why I selected it to go first.  I am hoping to make the point that the back side of a piece of letter mail can be just as valuable (and sometimes more valuable) in our quest to read the history that surrounds a particular item.  We can trace a significant amount of the travels for this letter by reading the multiple postal markings shown here.  We can learn that the representative for the United States in Florence had something to do with this item. And, we can even see some evidence of prior collectors of this particular piece of postal history.

The postal markings we can see here are:

• London May 15
• Susa Modane May 19(?) 1865
• Firenze May 19
• Pontelagoscuro Ferrara May 20
• Venezia May 21
• Distributione I

That's quite a bit of information on the travels of this particular letter.  It was in London, then it went through France and entered Italy via the tunnel at Modane (Susa Modane).  It went to Florence (Firenze) in Italy, then it went East to Ferrara on its way to Venice (Venezia).  The last marking tells us that the first delivery of the mail by the postal carriers in Venice took the letter to its destination.

There is another circular marking that is not a postal marking - it was applied at the U.S. Consulate General's office in Florence.  The Consulate General was (and still is) "responsible for the welfare and whereabouts of US citizens traveling and residing abroad."  The existence of this marking gives us a clue that the letter was probably to a traveling US citizen who was in Italy in May of 1865.

The last piece of information has nothing to do with the postal history of this envelope.  Instead, it tells us a couple of things about the ownership history of this particular item.  Henry C. Gibson was an individual who had a significant collection of United States postal history that was sold in a sale offered by Philip Ward in 1944.  This particular envelope was sold in that sale.  

But, if you look at the pencil markings at the right, you will see the name "Hyzen" and some other letters.  Leon Hyzen was an individual who collected postal history with the 24 cent postage stamp I also enjoy.  So, it appears this letter was also in his collection.

So, what does the front look like?

The verso actually told us a great deal, but the front shows us that this is an even more complex story.  This letter was initially mailed in Boston to London, England.  A 24-cent US stamp was applied to pay the postage required to get it from Boston to London.  Our traveler, Mrs. Abbot Lawrence was apparently not in London.  But, since the letter had been sent to the Baring Brothers (a company that supported travelers with banking and communications services), they knew to forward the letter to Florence, Italy.  To do that, they paid the British postage to go from London to Italy (6 pence).

Baring Brothers knew to send that letter to Florence.  Since the Consulate General's job was to know the whereabouts of US citizens in Italy, the Consulate sent the letter on to the "Hotel de l'Europe" in Venezia (Venice)

It all ends up to a be an interesting "merry chase" cover.

Hey, you!  Look on the back!

 

Sometimes, the front of a piece of postal history holds a clue that it is important for a clerk or postal customer to look on the back for an explanation. The item shown above was mailed in Chambery, France to a local address.  There is a small notation at the lower right that reads "au dos," which essentially means "on the back."

And, so, our curiosity peaked, we look on the verso to see what is there that needs to be known.

On the back is the word "Inconnu," which indicates that the individual is "unknown."  In other words, this person could not be found by the postal service and there was apparently no way to know where to forward it.  So, this item was returned to the sender and the combination of "au dos" on the front and "inconnu" on the back gave them the reason for that return.

The contents of this official notice from the tribunal in Chambery is a summons for an appearance in court.  The bottom letter informs the recipient that they may assign a substitute to appear and that failure to appear would incur a fine.  Apparently, the addressee was not located, so I find it likely a fine was levied...and I also guess they didn't see this person again without a little additional searching.

 Postage on the back might mean something different

Two weeks ago, we showed an item that had postage stamps on the back that indicated that the postage had not been paid and needed to be paid by the recipient.  This time around, we're going to look at a case where postage on the back meant something different.

The 1889 envelope shown above was mailed from England to France.  Two and a half pence in postage stamps paid for the cost of letter mail between the two countries.  However, the envelope has a big, blue "R" at the top left and the words "Registered Letter" on the top.  Registration of the mail provided additional tracking services and better security for valuable items.  This service required more postage beyond the 2 1/2 pence.

And here is proof of payment for the registration of this letter on the verso.  In this case, special envelopes were created for registered letters with the postage amount pre-printed on the envelope. Sometimes in some postal systems,  regular postage stamps were placed on the verso to show payment of registration.  Just another reason to look on the back to figure out the rest of the story.

Sealed with a kiss... or maybe just wax

Here is another registered letter, but this time the postage for letter mail and registration was placed on the front.  But, the back shows us some other things of interest.

Registered letters often held valuable contents, so it was important to make sure the letter was well-sealed and that there was evidence that the seal had not been broken prior to its arrival at the destination.  In the mid-1800s it was common to use black or red wax to provide that seal.  If you look closely, you will see that each of the wax seals are applied at points where the flaps of the envelope meet.

And sometimes, there was evidence that tells us a little something about the sender of a given letter.  Perhaps, with a little bit of time, I could track down who Cesare de Antoni in Milano was in 1869, when this registered letter was mailed.  

But, as you know, time has a way to making us all look a bit foolish and I was unable to complete that task prior to the Sunday launch.

And sometimes the back is just where the postage goes

Just because one country opted to have the postage shown on the same side as the address panel, doesn't mean another country must follow suit.  In India and Southeast Asia, there was a period of time where it was typical to place the evidence of postage paid on the verso.  

Shown above is a letter mailed in 1914 from Singapore to Devakota in India.  Address information is provided in multiple languages, including the suggestion that this item be sent via Colombo.  There is also a Singapore postmark at the top right.  What isn't visible here is evidence of postage paid or postage owed.  

So, we look to the verso.

Ahhh!  There it is.  Postage paid and a Singapore postmark on the stamp to prevent it from being re-used.  There are even postmarks showing that the letter was received in Devakota.

And now you all know why I flip each piece of postal history over to view the verso.  While it is not always the case, the back often provides more to the story.

Thank you again for joining me this week with Postal History Sunday.  Have a great remainder of your day and a fine week to come!