Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
The Auxiliary Markings Club defines auxiliary markings as a "postal marking applied to covers by handstamp, machine cancellation, a stick-on label, manuscript markings, or by mechanical or electronic methods such as addressograph or computer, indicating that the covers were given special attention due to some special circumstance. A broad definition would include accompanying postal service letters, and ambulance covers in which damaged or misdirected mail has at times been delivered, and markings placed on covers by institutions other than the postal service, such as the military, prisons, hotels, etc."
I have chosen US auxiliary markings as a speciality but I hope to feature some auxiliary markings from other countries as well. Also I welcome anyone wishing to share a cover they have with auxiliary markings from anywhere in the world. At this time there is no catalog of auxiliary markings generally or by country. The US Postal Service and other postal services are also regularly inventing new markings all the time (some more intentional than others).
I also know there are folks here at Stamporama (David for one) who are more knowledgeable than me especially when it comes to contemporary auxiliary markings and I welcome any input they may be inclined to share.
Lastly, I see this thread as a preamble to a permanent exhibit on Stamporama on auxiliary markings. The exhibit need not consist only of my covers. Therefore I will assume that pictures of covers you post are pictures you are willing to permit me to use in putting together an exhibit for display exclusively here on StampoRama.
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Adv 1
The "Adv" here stands for "advertised". This letter, mailed in the late 1850's or early 1860's was mailed to a person at a specific town. Personal delivery of mail was not available at this time in the US for most people, and so letters received were held at the post office for people to pick up. Mail items that were not picked up in a timely fashion were advertised in the local newspaper letting people know who had letters waiting for them at the post office. Each letter that had to be advertised at this time was charged a one cent surcharge hence the 1 following "Adv".
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REGISTERED
Dec 6 1889
WINONA, MINN.
I have talked about this before, but in the last two decades of the 19th century US post offices had privately made registered date stamps. I have only a few examples of these. Phil recently posted a cover with one as well. To me these are some of the more interesting ways to denote registered mail, in this case on an avis de recepcion card.
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DOMESTIC RATES . . .
I isolated the marking to make it easier to read.
This is a case of a letter being sent from the US to the Republic of Panama. Originally only the 29¢ rose stamp was affixed to the envelope and cancelled. The cover was returned to the sender for additional postage. The sender affixed the required additional postage and remailed it, at which time it was cancelled a second time and the auxiliary marking was scratched out as it no longer applied.
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REGISTERED No., RECEIPT REQUESTED
This cover boasts boast a registered marking and a receipt requested marking. When a receipt is requested it means that the post office receiving the registered letter will send an avis de recepcion card to the sender. Avis de recepcion is French for notice of receipt.
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01:35:00pm
Great cover and thanks for posting. I also like the fancy cancels even though they really obscure the stamp. I'm trying to build up a small collection of fancy cancels and those are great!!
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The Numismatic Bank of Texas? What an intriguing name for a business. I did a search, and came up blank.
In what year was the cover mailed, I wonder.
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The cover is from the early 1920's. The bank was founded by Benjamin Maximillian Mehl. It appears he was a coin dealer.
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Thanks Antonio!
That is an interesting story, and not exactly in the direction I expected. The word "Bank" in the company title threw me a curve ball......which I swung at....LOL.
My 2nd hobby is numismatics, also spurred on by the same Grandfather who started me on philately when I was a young whippersnapper.
Thanks again.
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I was introduced to numismatics at the same time as philately. I am not nearly invested in numismatics but still follow the hobby.
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MISSENT (in bubble)
This cover was missent to Paterson, NJ even though it is clearly adressed to Pittstown, NJ. During this time in the history of the US Post Office Department, a second cancel was required from the town a cover was missent to.
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Here are a couple of unusual markings that arrived this week.
This comes from "A Catalog of Philadelphia Postmarks 18th Century to the Present, Part lll", by Tom Clarke published 1992.
The “B.C.D.” circular marking seen on some Philadelphia covers with 1883 yeardates, has intrigued collectors, but its significance has not been completely explained. Some collectors thought it might be a carrier marking, but we now agree that “B.C.” means “Box Clerk” — the “D” could be either “Delivery” or “Division.” Some time ago Alton Gaumer wrote a small item in the PPHS (I do not have the date, but first class postage was 15c at the time). He stated that he had found a cover from Pittsburg with a circular cancel reading “BOX CLK NO. 3/PITTSBURG, PA./DEC/22/3AM/1898” and suggested that the “B.C.D.” might mean “Box Clerk Dispatch.” At a following meeting of the Delaware Valley Chapter of PaPHS, we discussed the “B.C.D.” marking, and compared notes. John Kay, who worked as an R.P.O. clerk for many years, said that the “D” could not mean “Dispatch,” as that had a completely different meaning within the Post Office Department. We noted that nearly all the available covers were addressed to center city Philadelphia addresses, or businesses that might probably have a P.O. Box, and that in nearly all cases, the “B.C.D.” marking showed a time just a little while after the Philadelphia postmark, or “PHILA REC'D” marking applied at Philadelphia Post Office upon receipt. The few cases where this was not true, could be explained by a clerk’s failure to update his handstamp at Midnight. Two covers bearing the “B.C.D.” marking and addressed to locations outside center city were readdressed to a Box Number. We therefore agreed that the Philadelphia Post Office had an employee (or employees) whose job it was to place mail in the boxes at the main Post Office, and that for some reason, during 1883, (not known at this time) he was instructed to place his identifying stamp “B.C.D.” on all mail he deposited in those boxes.
U.S. Cancellation Club Newsletter Issue #172 Spring 1982 pg. 30
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MISSENT & FORWARDED (in bubble)
This cover was sent to Salem, MA by mistake instead of Salem, CT. Apparently Salem, MA decided their auxiliary marking should be more verbose.
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"Here are a couple of unusual markings that arrived this week."
Those B.C.D. markings are new to me. Thanks for sharing them!
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BOX CLOSED . . .
RETURN TO WRITER
This cover sports an unusual marking related to a promotion that used a post office box for receiving replies. The marking not only notes that the box is closed but that the associated promotion has expired, and to return to sender. There is an additional machine cancel marking of return to writer. Some post offices did enough business that it was worth buying a machine canceller for these situations.
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PASSED AS CENSORED . . .
Censored markings, labels and tapes are also considered auxiliary markings, such as this marking from WWI.
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EXAMINED BY U.S. CUSTOMS . . .
This rather bedraggled cover has three Swiss auxiliary markings and at least four US auxiliary markings. The swiss markings are a stamp saying Raccomandata, a registration etiquette from Locarno and a customs marking saying Ausfuhr uber Zurich 1, which means, exported via Zurich.
The US markings start with a large boxed marking that says, "Examined by U.S. Customs . . . Collect duty and postal fees, Mail entry No. 51384". I can't quite make out what the second line says.
Then there is a smaller boxed marking that says, "Supposed liable to United States postal fees, customs duties."
There is a marking stating, "Collect 33 cents customs clearance and delivery fees." Attached is a meter on tape for the owed 33¢ postage due.
There is also a marking indicating notice given of the arrival of the letter and the date it was eventually returned to the sender. As there is no return address on the envelope it is likely at this point that the US Post Office Department needed to open the envelope to find a return address.
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FOREIGN LETTER PACKAGE . . .
My guess, given that only 2.5 d of postage was paid in the UK, that this letter package contained printed matter. This piece contains two customs markings, one from Chicago and one from Saint Paul. The one from Chicago is quite legible but the one from Saint Paul says, "Duty Free. Saint Paul, MINN, US Customs".
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U. S. CUSTOMS . . .
This piece sports a date stamp when the item passed through customs and a lovely diamond customs marking. I am guessing that the customs office that was once in San Francisco got moved to a bigger building in Oakland at some point.
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T . . .
I was trying to decide whether to bring up the topic of postage due markings or pointing hands today. This cover qualfies as "all of the above". First I want to note what some might find confusing is that while the cover was sent to Japan it features Chinese (known as Kanji) script. Japan did not change its script to it's current form until 1946.
The first markings are the red pen markings indicating a new address to forward the cover to Japan. This was applied in Cristobal, CZ. The big T marking in a circle was likely also applied at Cristobal. The letter T stands for taxe which is French for postage due. The postal worker in Cristobal knew that Japan would charge an additional fee for the forwarding service.
The next thing that happens is that this cover arrives in Japan and it is marked "Due 6 Sen" in Japanese and English. Once the cover arrives at the American Legation, they realize that Harry Stone is no longer there and they put an arrow to the return address and write "please return to". My guess is that the Japanese pencil notation after that may be a translation of what is written in English. I am not sure when the marking in pencil on the lower part of the cover is for.
My guess is that the purple marking in Kanji letters indicates that the letter is to be returned. When the item arrives in Seattle, it gets a pointing hand. Another pointing hand is added as well, likely at a southern US port where the mail left the US on it's way back to the Canal Zone.
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Name Duplicated . . .
The first thing I notice about this cover is the lovely Time-Cummins machine cancel. Mailed on June 7, 1911, this cover seems to have stalled for a few weeks at the Minneapolist post office. On July 31 an auxiliary marking was added indicating that the name was duplicated ni the directory. On August 1, it was given a pointing hand marking and returned to writer.
Of particular interest to me is that certain parts of the pointing hand marking have been filled in. First the words Return and Writer are filled in. The postal worker also decided to fill in the fingernails of the pointing hand, perhaps making this one of few, or perhaps the only pointing hand marking with painted fingernails.
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Directory Searched . . .
There are actually quite a wide variety of pointing hands, with a variety of features. Some include the date, or the name of the post office returning the letter. The first thing the Los Angeles post office did was to search their directory for this addressee, and the date of that directory search was added as well. The number under the "Directory Searched" identifies which postal worker did the directory search. This is used for tracking and quality assurance purposes.
Then a lovely, articulated pointing hand is added which says "Returned to Writer, Unclaimed, A". Again the A is used for tracking postal work.
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Directory Service . . .
Here we have a wealth of markings. The first is is the "Directory Service has been given, Chicago, Ill (39)." Then we get a "Not There T-805." I am not sure what the T-805 means. Because this was a printed envelope with a faulty address, the marking "Do Not Remail . . . " was added to it. Then we have another articulated pointing hand that boasts the date on the sleeve and the city where the cover is being returned from.
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Here is a cover mailed from and censored in Bermuda on the third day of WW II. It bears a CM23 censor's marking, number 4, in green ink. The numbers on these censor's markings go up to number 50, and come in blue, black, green, and magenta inks. Not all numbers are available in all colors. Some numbers are common, while others are extremely rare.
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PASSED BY NAVAL CENSOR
This cover from the Upham naval base in the Canal Zone features a naval censor marking.
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(Passed by Censor)
This Canal Zone post office opening day cover has censorship tape on the left side. In the US and Europe, a gummed paper seal is used. I wonder if cellophane tape was used in the tropics because of the high humidity which might have caused gummec paper seals to detach.
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OUVERT
Ouvert means "opened." This cover from Bernardville, NJ to Lyon, France bears a pelure paper label and censor markings.
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CENSURA
This cover possibly from Barcelona, Spain to Hamburg, Germany was censored by Spanish authorities. The cover was resealed with paper tape and a censored marking placed on it.
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I have accumulated these cards and cover from a auxilliary marking collector. They are post marked in the 1930s and one in 1956. It was an inexpensive hobby during the depression.
front
back
It looks like Frank Merritt had post cards printed with his address so accomadating postmasters could retun them.
front
back
front
back
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I think they are an excellent record of postal markings in use at that particular time. I only have one so far. I hope to find more from Minnesota, which is the state I specialize in.
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I'm glad you liked them, I'll keep my eyes open for any different material from Minnesota.
Here is a folded letter sheet from Barrang, Columbia dated 31 Oct 1879 to New York, NY with an "Received at N.Y. P.O. in Bad Order" and a "Due 5 Cents" marking.
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That is a lovely early example of a New York spyglass marking. I love the received in bad order marking as well.
Though I don't see where it marks the origin of this cover, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is not Barrang but Barranq, short for Barranquilla.
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I failed to mention the letter that shows where it was written. That is one of the earlist Spyglass marking I have come across. Here is the inside of the Folded Letter.
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Oh wow, you have an enclosure! I am more sure now it is Barranquilla. In Spanish there are no words that end in the letters "ng". "ng" will always have a vowel after it, like Durango, mango, etc.
Also you will notice a raised letter a after Barranq, suggesting that the town name is abbreviated and that it ends in an a. It is a strange way to shorten the name of something.
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Thanks for that information. When I googled Barrang before I posted the cover, Barranquilla was the only town that would pop up. I will add this to the cover so the next owner understands. Thanks
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Maybe one of our Spanish folks can translate the wording. I have adjusted the contrast a bit to bring out the words. Seems like the transaction was in GB pounds, so possibly from a government official or resident.
Edit. Lanman and Kemp were druggists.
https://findingaids.hagley.org/repositor ...
Second edit. Hernandez, S. Santa Marta and Barranquilla
https://findingaids.hagley.org/reposito ...
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The next to last paragraph is making reference to flowers of Manzanilla, this is what we call Camomile tea.
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I recently bought part of an exhibit on Salem, MA and this page has a cover with
LETTER RETURNED
BELL NOT ANSWERED
Please put up box
or have slot in door
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Ok... dumb question here but I'm going to throw it out... Did local postmasters just make up auxiliary markings as the need (or the need as they perceived it) arose or was there a standardized process where they were approved from afar and/or on high? We've all seen the "Return to Sender hand with the pointed finger but the "put up a box or cut a slot in the door" is a new one for me!
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Correct address is not in Salem, Mass., latest city directory.
To answer your question, Ernie, if someone went to the trouble of having a stamp made up for a particular marking, they likely had a need for it and got tired of writing out the marking by hand, plus postal workers were graded on efficiency so if they can find a way to do something faster, they will use it.
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Registered
Early registered mail made do with a manuscript marking. (Borrowed image, not my cover).
For much of it's history the US Post Office Department/US Postal Service used manuscript or hand stamp markings for registered mail. Here is another one of those privately made registered markings with the town name included.
A rather busy cover from the US to Germany with a commonly used registered boxed marking (not to mention several German auxiliary markings).
In some cases where the item will always be sent registered, the registered marking could be pre-printed on the item, such as this cash tag.
By the 1970's the US finally begins to make use of etiquettes as registered mail markings.
And as the USPS entered the digital age, barcodes were an important tool and incorporated in the registered etiquette.
While this was not done in the US, some countries issued postal stationary expressly for registered mail, such as this one from Great Britain . . .
. . . or this one from Panama.
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03:47:17pm
This is only slightly connected to this post but how many of you have older covers that have been used as grocery lists or scrap paper for arithmetic calculations? I know it probably reduces the value of the cover but I find it to be a very interesting addition (no pun intended). As an ex-math teacher it shows the different ways of expressing the calculations. I'm probably the only one crazy enough to like this stuff!! If anyone has this type of material, don't throw it out, give me an e-mail!!!
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i have a high percentage of covers with NON-postal scribbles, almost always after delivery, affixed by the recipient or one of the family members. I like my covers covered in stuff, but prefer only things with postal originations..... don't need to know if Mrs. Jefferson needed butter that week
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04:50:08pm
I guess the grocery lists only interest me if they are older and include prices - sort of a historical thing! The calculations interest me because of the changes in the way calculations are displayed - also a historical thing. I collect old math books and my prize is one from the the early 1700's. It's written in Latin so I can't read most of it but the way of showing calculations is very different and very interesting to me! We're all different in what interests us and that's good!!
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I've always appreciated any "personal" information that covers reveal. This cover, posted in 1895 by a turquoise mining company in Silver City, New Mexico (my home town) to an address in Mexico City, includes auxiliary markings on the back, made by rubber stamp, identifying both the company, the Azure Mining Company, and the specific postman/letter carrier selected to deliver the letter:
The recipient must have been well known since there is no street address, box number, etc. A "personalized" rubber-stamp impression reads "Cartero No. 7," which translates as Postman No. 7.
This Mexico 15-centavo stamp, issued in 1947, makes a nice collateral item to display with the cover.
In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the Silver City area produced huge amounts of turquoise, not to mention gold, silver, copper, and zinc, I have published a short web page based on this cover:The Azure Mining Company posts a letter.
Bob
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Large pointing hand, "Returned To Writer Unclaimed From Detroit, Mich."
"Fraudulent, Mail to this address returned order of Postmaster General"
I did a search for South American Service Bureau and came up with several Newspaper ads from 1928. Here is one of several and they are all similar.
Nyack Evening Journal, 31 January 1928
! FOREIGN POSITIONS" — Young 1 men interested going sunny South America write at once for information. South American Service Bureau, 14,600 Alma, Detroit, Mich.
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A cover from Germany with the mark "Ohne Marke beim Postamt Hamburg 76 Eingegangen". Translates to "Received at the post office Hamburg 76 without stamps". Could also be used to state Recieved without Contents if the word "Marken" was crossed out.
.....
another, from the Public prosecutor at the regional court in Nürnberg - Fürth to the Police department in Eichßtätt.
with the mark " Sendungen ohne Postfach-Nummer laufen Gefahr, verspätet eingefächert zu werden. Bitten Sie Ihren Briefpartner, er möchte Ihre
Nummer angeben. Vielen Dank im voraus". Translates to "Consignments without a PO box number run the risk of being deposited late. Ask your correspondent to add your number. Thanks in advance."
.....
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From 1870 till March 1920 most official German letters could use an auxiliary mark with the name Avers., State governments made a contract with the Post office
for Bulk postage, Flat rate I guess. Avers. meanig Aversum or Compensation.
.....
.....
.....
Here is a list if anyone is interested.
....
All other Numbers were either Hand written or stamped. Free cities were not allowed to use Avers. Numbers but could use the Mark
"Portopflichtige Dienstsache". Translates to Official letter subject to postage.
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I have a particular affinity for auxiliary markings.
The Auxiliary Markings Club defines auxiliary markings as a "postal marking applied to covers by handstamp, machine cancellation, a stick-on label, manuscript markings, or by mechanical or electronic methods such as addressograph or computer, indicating that the covers were given special attention due to some special circumstance. A broad definition would include accompanying postal service letters, and ambulance covers in which damaged or misdirected mail has at times been delivered, and markings placed on covers by institutions other than the postal service, such as the military, prisons, hotels, etc."
I have chosen US auxiliary markings as a speciality but I hope to feature some auxiliary markings from other countries as well. Also I welcome anyone wishing to share a cover they have with auxiliary markings from anywhere in the world. At this time there is no catalog of auxiliary markings generally or by country. The US Postal Service and other postal services are also regularly inventing new markings all the time (some more intentional than others).
I also know there are folks here at Stamporama (David for one) who are more knowledgeable than me especially when it comes to contemporary auxiliary markings and I welcome any input they may be inclined to share.
Lastly, I see this thread as a preamble to a permanent exhibit on Stamporama on auxiliary markings. The exhibit need not consist only of my covers. Therefore I will assume that pictures of covers you post are pictures you are willing to permit me to use in putting together an exhibit for display exclusively here on StampoRama.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Adv 1
The "Adv" here stands for "advertised". This letter, mailed in the late 1850's or early 1860's was mailed to a person at a specific town. Personal delivery of mail was not available at this time in the US for most people, and so letters received were held at the post office for people to pick up. Mail items that were not picked up in a timely fashion were advertised in the local newspaper letting people know who had letters waiting for them at the post office. Each letter that had to be advertised at this time was charged a one cent surcharge hence the 1 following "Adv".
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
REGISTERED
Dec 6 1889
WINONA, MINN.
I have talked about this before, but in the last two decades of the 19th century US post offices had privately made registered date stamps. I have only a few examples of these. Phil recently posted a cover with one as well. To me these are some of the more interesting ways to denote registered mail, in this case on an avis de recepcion card.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
DOMESTIC RATES . . .
I isolated the marking to make it easier to read.
This is a case of a letter being sent from the US to the Republic of Panama. Originally only the 29¢ rose stamp was affixed to the envelope and cancelled. The cover was returned to the sender for additional postage. The sender affixed the required additional postage and remailed it, at which time it was cancelled a second time and the auxiliary marking was scratched out as it no longer applied.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
REGISTERED No., RECEIPT REQUESTED
This cover boasts boast a registered marking and a receipt requested marking. When a receipt is requested it means that the post office receiving the registered letter will send an avis de recepcion card to the sender. Avis de recepcion is French for notice of receipt.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
11 Mar 2024
01:35:00pm
re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Great cover and thanks for posting. I also like the fancy cancels even though they really obscure the stamp. I'm trying to build up a small collection of fancy cancels and those are great!!
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02:19:21pm
re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
The Numismatic Bank of Texas? What an intriguing name for a business. I did a search, and came up blank.
In what year was the cover mailed, I wonder.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
The cover is from the early 1920's. The bank was founded by Benjamin Maximillian Mehl. It appears he was a coin dealer.
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03:38:52pm
re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Thanks Antonio!
That is an interesting story, and not exactly in the direction I expected. The word "Bank" in the company title threw me a curve ball......which I swung at....LOL.
My 2nd hobby is numismatics, also spurred on by the same Grandfather who started me on philately when I was a young whippersnapper.
Thanks again.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
I was introduced to numismatics at the same time as philately. I am not nearly invested in numismatics but still follow the hobby.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
MISSENT (in bubble)
This cover was missent to Paterson, NJ even though it is clearly adressed to Pittstown, NJ. During this time in the history of the US Post Office Department, a second cancel was required from the town a cover was missent to.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Here are a couple of unusual markings that arrived this week.
This comes from "A Catalog of Philadelphia Postmarks 18th Century to the Present, Part lll", by Tom Clarke published 1992.
The “B.C.D.” circular marking seen on some Philadelphia covers with 1883 yeardates, has intrigued collectors, but its significance has not been completely explained. Some collectors thought it might be a carrier marking, but we now agree that “B.C.” means “Box Clerk” — the “D” could be either “Delivery” or “Division.” Some time ago Alton Gaumer wrote a small item in the PPHS (I do not have the date, but first class postage was 15c at the time). He stated that he had found a cover from Pittsburg with a circular cancel reading “BOX CLK NO. 3/PITTSBURG, PA./DEC/22/3AM/1898” and suggested that the “B.C.D.” might mean “Box Clerk Dispatch.” At a following meeting of the Delaware Valley Chapter of PaPHS, we discussed the “B.C.D.” marking, and compared notes. John Kay, who worked as an R.P.O. clerk for many years, said that the “D” could not mean “Dispatch,” as that had a completely different meaning within the Post Office Department. We noted that nearly all the available covers were addressed to center city Philadelphia addresses, or businesses that might probably have a P.O. Box, and that in nearly all cases, the “B.C.D.” marking showed a time just a little while after the Philadelphia postmark, or “PHILA REC'D” marking applied at Philadelphia Post Office upon receipt. The few cases where this was not true, could be explained by a clerk’s failure to update his handstamp at Midnight. Two covers bearing the “B.C.D.” marking and addressed to locations outside center city were readdressed to a Box Number. We therefore agreed that the Philadelphia Post Office had an employee (or employees) whose job it was to place mail in the boxes at the main Post Office, and that for some reason, during 1883, (not known at this time) he was instructed to place his identifying stamp “B.C.D.” on all mail he deposited in those boxes.
U.S. Cancellation Club Newsletter Issue #172 Spring 1982 pg. 30
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
MISSENT & FORWARDED (in bubble)
This cover was sent to Salem, MA by mistake instead of Salem, CT. Apparently Salem, MA decided their auxiliary marking should be more verbose.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
"Here are a couple of unusual markings that arrived this week."
Those B.C.D. markings are new to me. Thanks for sharing them!
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
BOX CLOSED . . .
RETURN TO WRITER
This cover sports an unusual marking related to a promotion that used a post office box for receiving replies. The marking not only notes that the box is closed but that the associated promotion has expired, and to return to sender. There is an additional machine cancel marking of return to writer. Some post offices did enough business that it was worth buying a machine canceller for these situations.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
PASSED AS CENSORED . . .
Censored markings, labels and tapes are also considered auxiliary markings, such as this marking from WWI.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
EXAMINED BY U.S. CUSTOMS . . .
This rather bedraggled cover has three Swiss auxiliary markings and at least four US auxiliary markings. The swiss markings are a stamp saying Raccomandata, a registration etiquette from Locarno and a customs marking saying Ausfuhr uber Zurich 1, which means, exported via Zurich.
The US markings start with a large boxed marking that says, "Examined by U.S. Customs . . . Collect duty and postal fees, Mail entry No. 51384". I can't quite make out what the second line says.
Then there is a smaller boxed marking that says, "Supposed liable to United States postal fees, customs duties."
There is a marking stating, "Collect 33 cents customs clearance and delivery fees." Attached is a meter on tape for the owed 33¢ postage due.
There is also a marking indicating notice given of the arrival of the letter and the date it was eventually returned to the sender. As there is no return address on the envelope it is likely at this point that the US Post Office Department needed to open the envelope to find a return address.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
FOREIGN LETTER PACKAGE . . .
My guess, given that only 2.5 d of postage was paid in the UK, that this letter package contained printed matter. This piece contains two customs markings, one from Chicago and one from Saint Paul. The one from Chicago is quite legible but the one from Saint Paul says, "Duty Free. Saint Paul, MINN, US Customs".
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U. S. CUSTOMS . . .
This piece sports a date stamp when the item passed through customs and a lovely diamond customs marking. I am guessing that the customs office that was once in San Francisco got moved to a bigger building in Oakland at some point.
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T . . .
I was trying to decide whether to bring up the topic of postage due markings or pointing hands today. This cover qualfies as "all of the above". First I want to note what some might find confusing is that while the cover was sent to Japan it features Chinese (known as Kanji) script. Japan did not change its script to it's current form until 1946.
The first markings are the red pen markings indicating a new address to forward the cover to Japan. This was applied in Cristobal, CZ. The big T marking in a circle was likely also applied at Cristobal. The letter T stands for taxe which is French for postage due. The postal worker in Cristobal knew that Japan would charge an additional fee for the forwarding service.
The next thing that happens is that this cover arrives in Japan and it is marked "Due 6 Sen" in Japanese and English. Once the cover arrives at the American Legation, they realize that Harry Stone is no longer there and they put an arrow to the return address and write "please return to". My guess is that the Japanese pencil notation after that may be a translation of what is written in English. I am not sure when the marking in pencil on the lower part of the cover is for.
My guess is that the purple marking in Kanji letters indicates that the letter is to be returned. When the item arrives in Seattle, it gets a pointing hand. Another pointing hand is added as well, likely at a southern US port where the mail left the US on it's way back to the Canal Zone.
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Name Duplicated . . .
The first thing I notice about this cover is the lovely Time-Cummins machine cancel. Mailed on June 7, 1911, this cover seems to have stalled for a few weeks at the Minneapolist post office. On July 31 an auxiliary marking was added indicating that the name was duplicated ni the directory. On August 1, it was given a pointing hand marking and returned to writer.
Of particular interest to me is that certain parts of the pointing hand marking have been filled in. First the words Return and Writer are filled in. The postal worker also decided to fill in the fingernails of the pointing hand, perhaps making this one of few, or perhaps the only pointing hand marking with painted fingernails.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Directory Searched . . .
There are actually quite a wide variety of pointing hands, with a variety of features. Some include the date, or the name of the post office returning the letter. The first thing the Los Angeles post office did was to search their directory for this addressee, and the date of that directory search was added as well. The number under the "Directory Searched" identifies which postal worker did the directory search. This is used for tracking and quality assurance purposes.
Then a lovely, articulated pointing hand is added which says "Returned to Writer, Unclaimed, A". Again the A is used for tracking postal work.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Directory Service . . .
Here we have a wealth of markings. The first is is the "Directory Service has been given, Chicago, Ill (39)." Then we get a "Not There T-805." I am not sure what the T-805 means. Because this was a printed envelope with a faulty address, the marking "Do Not Remail . . . " was added to it. Then we have another articulated pointing hand that boasts the date on the sleeve and the city where the cover is being returned from.
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
Here is a cover mailed from and censored in Bermuda on the third day of WW II. It bears a CM23 censor's marking, number 4, in green ink. The numbers on these censor's markings go up to number 50, and come in blue, black, green, and magenta inks. Not all numbers are available in all colors. Some numbers are common, while others are extremely rare.
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PASSED BY NAVAL CENSOR
This cover from the Upham naval base in the Canal Zone features a naval censor marking.
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(Passed by Censor)
This Canal Zone post office opening day cover has censorship tape on the left side. In the US and Europe, a gummed paper seal is used. I wonder if cellophane tape was used in the tropics because of the high humidity which might have caused gummec paper seals to detach.
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OUVERT
Ouvert means "opened." This cover from Bernardville, NJ to Lyon, France bears a pelure paper label and censor markings.
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CENSURA
This cover possibly from Barcelona, Spain to Hamburg, Germany was censored by Spanish authorities. The cover was resealed with paper tape and a censored marking placed on it.
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I have accumulated these cards and cover from a auxilliary marking collector. They are post marked in the 1930s and one in 1956. It was an inexpensive hobby during the depression.
front
back
It looks like Frank Merritt had post cards printed with his address so accomadating postmasters could retun them.
front
back
front
back
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I think they are an excellent record of postal markings in use at that particular time. I only have one so far. I hope to find more from Minnesota, which is the state I specialize in.
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I'm glad you liked them, I'll keep my eyes open for any different material from Minnesota.
Here is a folded letter sheet from Barrang, Columbia dated 31 Oct 1879 to New York, NY with an "Received at N.Y. P.O. in Bad Order" and a "Due 5 Cents" marking.
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That is a lovely early example of a New York spyglass marking. I love the received in bad order marking as well.
Though I don't see where it marks the origin of this cover, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is not Barrang but Barranq, short for Barranquilla.
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I failed to mention the letter that shows where it was written. That is one of the earlist Spyglass marking I have come across. Here is the inside of the Folded Letter.
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Oh wow, you have an enclosure! I am more sure now it is Barranquilla. In Spanish there are no words that end in the letters "ng". "ng" will always have a vowel after it, like Durango, mango, etc.
Also you will notice a raised letter a after Barranq, suggesting that the town name is abbreviated and that it ends in an a. It is a strange way to shorten the name of something.
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Thanks for that information. When I googled Barrang before I posted the cover, Barranquilla was the only town that would pop up. I will add this to the cover so the next owner understands. Thanks
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Maybe one of our Spanish folks can translate the wording. I have adjusted the contrast a bit to bring out the words. Seems like the transaction was in GB pounds, so possibly from a government official or resident.
Edit. Lanman and Kemp were druggists.
https://findingaids.hagley.org/repositor ...
Second edit. Hernandez, S. Santa Marta and Barranquilla
https://findingaids.hagley.org/reposito ...
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The next to last paragraph is making reference to flowers of Manzanilla, this is what we call Camomile tea.
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I recently bought part of an exhibit on Salem, MA and this page has a cover with
LETTER RETURNED
BELL NOT ANSWERED
Please put up box
or have slot in door
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Ok... dumb question here but I'm going to throw it out... Did local postmasters just make up auxiliary markings as the need (or the need as they perceived it) arose or was there a standardized process where they were approved from afar and/or on high? We've all seen the "Return to Sender hand with the pointed finger but the "put up a box or cut a slot in the door" is a new one for me!
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Correct address is not in Salem, Mass., latest city directory.
To answer your question, Ernie, if someone went to the trouble of having a stamp made up for a particular marking, they likely had a need for it and got tired of writing out the marking by hand, plus postal workers were graded on efficiency so if they can find a way to do something faster, they will use it.
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Registered
Early registered mail made do with a manuscript marking. (Borrowed image, not my cover).
For much of it's history the US Post Office Department/US Postal Service used manuscript or hand stamp markings for registered mail. Here is another one of those privately made registered markings with the town name included.
A rather busy cover from the US to Germany with a commonly used registered boxed marking (not to mention several German auxiliary markings).
In some cases where the item will always be sent registered, the registered marking could be pre-printed on the item, such as this cash tag.
By the 1970's the US finally begins to make use of etiquettes as registered mail markings.
And as the USPS entered the digital age, barcodes were an important tool and incorporated in the registered etiquette.
While this was not done in the US, some countries issued postal stationary expressly for registered mail, such as this one from Great Britain . . .
. . . or this one from Panama.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
23 Mar 2024
03:47:17pm
re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
This is only slightly connected to this post but how many of you have older covers that have been used as grocery lists or scrap paper for arithmetic calculations? I know it probably reduces the value of the cover but I find it to be a very interesting addition (no pun intended). As an ex-math teacher it shows the different ways of expressing the calculations. I'm probably the only one crazy enough to like this stuff!! If anyone has this type of material, don't throw it out, give me an e-mail!!!
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i have a high percentage of covers with NON-postal scribbles, almost always after delivery, affixed by the recipient or one of the family members. I like my covers covered in stuff, but prefer only things with postal originations..... don't need to know if Mrs. Jefferson needed butter that week
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
23 Mar 2024
04:50:08pm
re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
I guess the grocery lists only interest me if they are older and include prices - sort of a historical thing! The calculations interest me because of the changes in the way calculations are displayed - also a historical thing. I collect old math books and my prize is one from the the early 1700's. It's written in Latin so I can't read most of it but the way of showing calculations is very different and very interesting to me! We're all different in what interests us and that's good!!
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I've always appreciated any "personal" information that covers reveal. This cover, posted in 1895 by a turquoise mining company in Silver City, New Mexico (my home town) to an address in Mexico City, includes auxiliary markings on the back, made by rubber stamp, identifying both the company, the Azure Mining Company, and the specific postman/letter carrier selected to deliver the letter:
The recipient must have been well known since there is no street address, box number, etc. A "personalized" rubber-stamp impression reads "Cartero No. 7," which translates as Postman No. 7.
This Mexico 15-centavo stamp, issued in 1947, makes a nice collateral item to display with the cover.
In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the Silver City area produced huge amounts of turquoise, not to mention gold, silver, copper, and zinc, I have published a short web page based on this cover:The Azure Mining Company posts a letter.
Bob
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Large pointing hand, "Returned To Writer Unclaimed From Detroit, Mich."
"Fraudulent, Mail to this address returned order of Postmaster General"
I did a search for South American Service Bureau and came up with several Newspaper ads from 1928. Here is one of several and they are all similar.
Nyack Evening Journal, 31 January 1928
! FOREIGN POSITIONS" — Young 1 men interested going sunny South America write at once for information. South American Service Bureau, 14,600 Alma, Detroit, Mich.
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A cover from Germany with the mark "Ohne Marke beim Postamt Hamburg 76 Eingegangen". Translates to "Received at the post office Hamburg 76 without stamps". Could also be used to state Recieved without Contents if the word "Marken" was crossed out.
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another, from the Public prosecutor at the regional court in Nürnberg - Fürth to the Police department in Eichßtätt.
with the mark " Sendungen ohne Postfach-Nummer laufen Gefahr, verspätet eingefächert zu werden. Bitten Sie Ihren Briefpartner, er möchte Ihre
Nummer angeben. Vielen Dank im voraus". Translates to "Consignments without a PO box number run the risk of being deposited late. Ask your correspondent to add your number. Thanks in advance."
.....
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re: Auxiliary Markings - A visual essay.
From 1870 till March 1920 most official German letters could use an auxiliary mark with the name Avers., State governments made a contract with the Post office
for Bulk postage, Flat rate I guess. Avers. meanig Aversum or Compensation.
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Here is a list if anyone is interested.
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All other Numbers were either Hand written or stamped. Free cities were not allowed to use Avers. Numbers but could use the Mark
"Portopflichtige Dienstsache". Translates to Official letter subject to postage.
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