In the US in the days of Stage Coaches and later Trains Money Packages were common. Several companies had stamps specifically for them. I have a few, but am not home to access them. So here is an example that I borrowed from the "Net."
These are listed in Catalog of Private Express Labels and Stamps, United States 1839-1918, Canada 1841-1926 by Bruce H. Mosher, 2002
I was about to write a post about how they used to mail money in Japan. The sender would use a special registered envelope that basically said "cash money envelope". The reason for pointing out that cash was inside was so that additional care would be taken in getting it to its recipient.
As I was looking it up to refresh my memory for this post, I found that it's still a service offered by Japan Post.
Relevant section is here:
"When sending cash by mail, please have it registered, using one of the cash registration envelopes( "Genkin kakitome futo")available at the post office for 20 yen. Those valuables which are designated by the Minister of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (gold, silver, diamonds, and the like. - ask the post office for details) should also be registered (not by Simplified Registered Mail) without fail."
Sending bags of cash via mail was not unusual in the US in the 50's and 60's. Here are a couple of examples:
Whether the same was true in Canada, I do not know. I really like the "Chinese Payroll" angle, though. There is likely a very interesting story behind that!
Lars
Bob - that's awesome - postmarked on my birthday 23 years before I was born and I'm a Canuck - if you ever want to pay with it - just say the word.
Thanks to everyone who responded. Just this morning I found further evidence of the postal use of money bags in a 1920 in the New York Times.
I've learned a bit more about the pulp mill at Woodfibre: in 1944, there were about 150 Chinese Canadian workers there; most apparently were hired subsequent to the internment of Japanese Canadian workers following the 1941 attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor.
Note to Poodle Mum, who said, "…if you ever want to pay with it - just say the word." The word is "Sorry." Ain't that Canuckian, though?
Bob
At the VANPEX 2013 bourse, I bought this shipping tag:
I am making these assumptions:
• The tag was attached to a bag of a money, a lot of money, intended for Chinese workers at the pulp mill at Woodfibre, on the west shore of Howe Sound northwest of Vancouver.
• Money was commonly sent by this method.
I have no more assumptions! It seems amazing from the perspective of 2014 that money could be sent safely through the mails in this way. I asked a friend who is quite knowledgeable about British Columbia history if he had any knowledge of the meaning of "Chinese Payroll". He speculated that Chinese workers were controlled in all ways by a Chinese boss who probably took a cut of the payroll for his "service". Makes sense to me, given my "mature" and pessimistic view of the world.
If you know anything about the postal transmission of bags of money, please let me know. I'm working on a web page about this shipping tag.
This postal usage of high-value "War Issue'" Canadian stamps is philatelic gold to me. I'm particularly fond of the 50-cent "Munitions" issue. It shows a 25 Pounder field artillery piece, which was the mainstay gun of the Canadian and British artillery units during the Second World War. The 25 Pounders were controlled by foreword observers who could bring the combined fire of dozens of guns on a single target, such as a German tank, with devastating effect. Want to read a great book, or more correctly, trilogy? Where the Hell are the Guns?, The Guns of Normandy, and The Guns of Victory, by George Blackburn (who was an artillery observer and journalist), are hands down the best war books I have ever read.
Bob
re: Mailing money
In the US in the days of Stage Coaches and later Trains Money Packages were common. Several companies had stamps specifically for them. I have a few, but am not home to access them. So here is an example that I borrowed from the "Net."
These are listed in Catalog of Private Express Labels and Stamps, United States 1839-1918, Canada 1841-1926 by Bruce H. Mosher, 2002
re: Mailing money
I was about to write a post about how they used to mail money in Japan. The sender would use a special registered envelope that basically said "cash money envelope". The reason for pointing out that cash was inside was so that additional care would be taken in getting it to its recipient.
As I was looking it up to refresh my memory for this post, I found that it's still a service offered by Japan Post.
Relevant section is here:
"When sending cash by mail, please have it registered, using one of the cash registration envelopes( "Genkin kakitome futo")available at the post office for 20 yen. Those valuables which are designated by the Minister of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (gold, silver, diamonds, and the like. - ask the post office for details) should also be registered (not by Simplified Registered Mail) without fail."
re: Mailing money
Sending bags of cash via mail was not unusual in the US in the 50's and 60's. Here are a couple of examples:
Whether the same was true in Canada, I do not know. I really like the "Chinese Payroll" angle, though. There is likely a very interesting story behind that!
Lars
re: Mailing money
Bob - that's awesome - postmarked on my birthday 23 years before I was born and I'm a Canuck - if you ever want to pay with it - just say the word.
re: Mailing money
Thanks to everyone who responded. Just this morning I found further evidence of the postal use of money bags in a 1920 in the New York Times.
I've learned a bit more about the pulp mill at Woodfibre: in 1944, there were about 150 Chinese Canadian workers there; most apparently were hired subsequent to the internment of Japanese Canadian workers following the 1941 attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor.
Note to Poodle Mum, who said, "…if you ever want to pay with it - just say the word." The word is "Sorry." Ain't that Canuckian, though?
Bob