Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal StationeryHowes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
History
Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery
Howes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
Postage stamps -- Canada; Postal stationery -- Canada
It will be noticed, if Mr. Helton's list is compared with the above,
that there are a few discrepancies. He assigns Toronto to No. 24, which
is manifestly out of place. Owen Sound is given to No. 26, while 28
should be its location; the latter must be reserved for Paris, however,
which is a first class office where Owen Sound is but second class.
Richmond is given as No. 42, but as St. Catherines, a first class
office, has been identified as No. 38, there seems no place for the
second class office of Richmond, which should precede it alphabetically.
Niagara has been assigned to No. 23, but in such case it would
necessitate two blanks preceding Ottawa, so it seems that the proper
number should be 25. With these few exceptions no further trouble was
experienced in working out the list, and since it was drawn up Numbers
2, 4, 8, 38 and 49 have been identified and tallied exactly with it!
Such proof has gone far toward confirming our propositions in regard to
it, and we hope for more.
A third cancellation, which was apparently used mainly for newspapers
and packages, consisted of nine somewhat thick diagonal bars, the whole
impression having a square outline. This was generally struck in black,
but occasionally in dull blue.
Postmarks were supposed to be used only on the cover, where they would
plainly exhibit the story they were to tell, while the cancellation
marks were intended to deface the stamp. But sometimes the postmarks are
found used for the latter purpose. They seem to be mostly of two
varieties, both circular in outline, a larger one having the town name
in a curve above, with U. C., L. C., C. W., or C. E., at the bottom, and
arcs of two concentric circles filling in the outline between; a second
being smaller with a single arc of a circle filling in the outline. The
first variety is plainly shown on the cover numbered 90 on Plate VI, and
the second on the cover numbered 130 on Plate XIV. The date in the
center seems always to be given in full--month, day and year. The
postmarks are generally in black, as usual, but sometimes in dull blue.
Penmarked specimens are sometimes met with, but not often.
With the issue of 1859 the duplex mark seems to have been adopted, with
the postmark (the ordinary complete circle with the usual arrangement of
name, abbreviation of province and date) and the cancellation mark (a
series of parallel lines with a circular outline) on the same instrument
so as to be struck on the letter together.
With the 1868 issue for the Dominion we of course find the cancellations
of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, then British Columbia and finally
Prince Edward Island, all of which introduce complications. A new
cancellation, which seems to have been for the Dominion as a whole,
consisted of two heavy concentric circles containing a number. It is one
of this kind that Mr. Nelton refers to in his article as having the
number 627. A notable cancellation is one in the shape of a large maple
leaf.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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