POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR · 2017-07-28 · Ecuador first issued postal stationery in the form of...

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POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR Volume 18 No 1: Issue No 69 May 2012

Transcript of POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR · 2017-07-28 · Ecuador first issued postal stationery in the form of...

POSTAL STATIONERY

COLLECTOR

Volume 18 No 1: Issue No 69 May 2012

THE POSTAL STATIONERY SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA The Postal Stationery Society of Australia has been established to encourage the collecting of postal stationery in Australia and New Zealand and to provide a forum for postal stationery collectors to maintain contact with other stationery collectors and to learn more about their hobby. The Society is not based in any particular city or state and plans to hold meetings at national and state level exhibitions. Subscription rate for 2011 has been set at $35 (Australia) and $50 (Overseas excluding New Zealand which is $40). For further information please contact the Convenor, Secretary or your State Coordinator. Membership enquiries should be addressed to the Secretary. OFFICE BEARERS: CONVENOR: Ian McMahon, PO Box 783, Civic Square ACT 2608 SECRETARY Judy Kennett, PO Box 16, Ulmarra NSW 2462. Email: [email protected] TREASURER John Crowsley, PO Box 2296 Keperra Qld 4054 . Email: [email protected] STATE COORDINATORS QLD Joan Orr, 7 Mizzen St, Manly West Qld 4179 SA Martin Walker, PO Box 247, Torrensville Plaza, SA 5031 WA Ray Todd, PO Box 158, Dunsborough, WA 6281 NSW Bernie Doherty, PO Box 18, Waratah NSW TAS Malcolm Groom, 225 Warwick Street, West Hobart Tas VIC John Sinfield, PO Box 548, Heathmont, Vic 3135. ACT Ian McMahon, PO Box 783, Civic Square ACT 2608 NZ Norman Banfield, 14 Rata Rd, Raumati Beach Wellington New Zealand Web page: http://www.postalstationeryaustralia.com/

Postal Stationery Collector Editor: Ian McMahon

Contributions to the Postal Stationery Collector should be sent to Ian McMahon, PO Box 783 Civic Square ACT 2608. Articles on any postal stationery topic are welcomed and, if possible should be submitted electronically. Email the Editor at [email protected] for instructions. Illustrations should be good quality scans. Book reviews, news items, information on new issues and members classifieds are also welcome. Letters to the Editor and comments on articles published are encouraged. COPYRIGHT: The copyright of the contents of the Postal Stationery Collector is held by the Postal Stationery Society of Australia. Items may be reproduced only with the written consent of the Editor.

ISSN 1324-2105

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POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR

Volume 18 No 1: Issue No 69 May 2012

CONTENTS From the Editor 2

Canberra Stampshow 2012 CPS Centennial Stamp & Postcard Exhibition Awards to Society Members

Ecuador Postal Stationery 3 Bernie Beston FRPSL, FAP

Australian Private Licence Airletters/Aerogrammes 1946 To 1969 6 Reported by David Collyer from material supplied by Nita Wilson and Brian Pope.

Auxiliary Postal Markings on Australian States & Commonwealth Post Office Wrappers John Courtis 12

PSSA Forum 18 Listing of Australian Non-Denominated Postal Stationery Ian McMahon 22 From the Secretary 23

Membership Resignation Meeting of the PSSA at Canberra Stampshow 2012 Meeting of the PSSA at 2012 PSWA Centennial Exhibition Auction results

Meeting at Canberra Stampshow 2012 23

Secretary’s Report April 2011 – March 2012 Treasurer’s report

Literature Judy Kennett and Ian McMahon 27

From our contemporaries Reviews

New Issues 30

POSTAL STATIONERY SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

Updated Online Listing of Australian non-denominated and flat rate postal stationery

The Society’s online catalogue is located on the PSSA website www.postalstationeryaustralia.com and brings together the listings from the various issues of the PSC and has now been updated covering issues until November 2010.

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FROM THE EDITOR

Canberra Stampshow 2012 Canberra Stampshow 2012 was a modified national exhibition held at the Hellenic Club in Woden on 16-18 March 2012. There were eight postal stationery exhibits including seven in the national class as part of the Australasian Challenge. Congratulations to Queensland on winning the 2012 Australasian Challenge.

National Exhibits Gerard Carlin New Zealand Wrappers 1878-1980 80 Large Vermeil F Malcolm D Groom Tasmanian Embossed Stationery 1883 to 1912, Commerce and Collectors 85 Gold John Panckridge Germany - The Postal Rider Stationery Cards 1921 - 1923 78 Vermeil Michel Roland Postal of Belgium 1871-1893 85 Gold John Sinfield Postal Cards of Victoria 1876-1917 92 Large Gold Raymond Todd The Postal Stationery of Bolivia 86 Gold John D Wilson Lettercards of New Zealand 83 Large Vermeil State Exhibit Tony Griffin Postal and Lettercard Development in the Austro-Hungarian Empire 72 Vermeil

CPS Centennial Stamp & Postcard Exhibition

The CPS Centennial Stamp & Postcard Exhibition was held on 14 -15 January 2012 at the Addington Raceway, Christchurch. The exhibition was organised by the Christchurch (NZ) Philatelic Society Inc as part of their centennial celebrations and Canpex Inc and was a national-level exhibition. The Exhibition was originally scheduled as a New Zealand National Exhibition for November 2011 but was deferred until January due to the devastating earthquakes in Christchurch in September 2010 and February 2011. Despite not formally being a national exhibition, CPS Centennial Stamp & Postcard Exhibition was however judged at national level and the results accepted as such by the NZPF and the APF. There were three very strong stationery exhibits:

New Zealand Postcards and Letter Cards 1976 to 1932

Len Jury Gold 85

The Postal Stationery of Queensland Bernie Beston Large Gold 95 New Zealand Printed to Private-Order Envelopes (One-frame)

Stephen Schumann Diamond 90 + SP

Awards to Society Members

Geoff Kellow has been awarded the 2011 J H Smyth Medal of the Royal Sydney Philatelic Club while Glen Stafford has been awarded the 2011 E M Hasluck Award.

POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR: SALE OF BACK ISSUES The Postal Stationery Society of Australia has been publishing its journal Postal Stationery Collector since May

1995. It is published four times each year, in February, May, August and November. The Society maintains a stock of back issues, which are for sale to both members and non-members.

Description Issues 1- 9 were produced as photocopies in A4 format, with corner staples, and are available only in that form. They are for sale at $4.00 each, which includes postage in Australia. Airmail postage to overseas countries is an

additional charge. Issues 10 - 45 are available as original copies, in A4 format and saddle stapled, at $5 each including postage in Australia (overseas postage extra). Current issues No 46 onwards, are available as original copies, in A4 format and saddle stapled, at $6 each. This includes postage in Australia, but airmail postage to

overseas destinations is extra. Reductions will be available on orders of five (5) copies or more. Payment

In Australia, payment can be made either by cheque (made payable to the PSSA) or by credit card (Visa or Mastercard). For overseas buyers, payment is by credit card. Where payment is by credit card, the transaction

will be processed by the Queensland Philatelic Council. Enquiries

Enquiries to the Secretary at PO Box 16, Ulmarra NSW 2462 AUSTRALIA Email [email protected]

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ECUADOR POSTAL STATIONERY

Bernie Beston FRPSL, FAP

Ecuador first issued postal stationery in the form of post cards and Reply post cards in 1884, just four years after it joined the Universal Postal Union. These were crudely produced by a Quito, Ecuador printer, La Novedad. There were 2 values, a 2 Centavos and 3 Centavos both printed on very porous card and having very primitive appearance. A second printing similar to the first [with a varied the border] was then printed later in the year by the successor to La Novedad, the printer V. Montoya of Quito. From January 1892 all cards, envelopes and letter sheets were produced and printed by the Hamilton Banknote Company of New York, USA. This was the printing company under the control of the notorious Nicholas Seebeck who supplied similar postal stationery and stamps to many Central American Republics during this period. These arrangements continued up to 1901. Then The American Banknote Company, New York and Skipper and East, London printed a series of letter cards up to 1919. No further stationery as issued until 1938 and 1939 when a series of promotional tourist cards were issued which were printed in Italy. Then nothing more came to wet the collector’s appetite until 1985 when a pair of aerogrammes were issued. Christmas postal stationery set was released in 1995. Now the Post offices is issuing regular numbered sets of postal cards, all tourist related and in full colour. They appear to be in sets of 1,000 only. Many of these cards are available on the internet thought Delcampe and EBay. The last set was issued in January 2012. I have yet to see any commercially used copies of any issue, except those I have received per favour from Ecuador collectors. Even today, postal stationery is not widely collected in Ecuador. Pre Paid Envelopes are also being issued. These are even more difficult to come by. Again the only used copies I have seen are addressed to the author. An interesting modern collectable if you can come by regular supplies. I am fortunate to have been in South America twice in the past 12 months but have yet to get the full information on these issues I need for a meaningful write-up. Plus more evidence of commercial use would be helpful. Some four years ago I wrote to the Philatelic Bureau enclosing $50 Western Union Money. No response and no returned money.

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One envelope was distributed free to schools. Another envelope seems to be a promotion for Coca Cola. I suspect that the post cards are being issued by the Philatelic Bureau in co-operation with the Tourist Bureau. But the envelopes are coming from the General Post Office Department in a business set up similar to that used by Australia Post.

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AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE LICENCE AIRLETTERS / AEROGRAMMES 1946 TO 1969

Reported by David Collyer from material supplied by Nita Wilson and Brian Pope. For the purposes of this article the term aerogramme will apply to an airmail letter sheet that is inscribed either with Air Letter, Airletter or Aerogramme. The accompanying list was composed by Nita Wilson of Sydney who had an extensive collection of both PMG’s Department aerogrammes and Private License aerogrammes. Brian Pope of Western Australia found the directions of the manufacture of privately licence aerogrammes in the Post Office Guide of 1950. Subsequent searching in the Philas Library has filled in the story from 1946 through to 1969. The Australian Post office issued aerogrammes from mid 1944 and continues to do so. Air Letters with the superscription in brackets ‘For letters to members of Forces Overseas’ were first issued in September 1944. Still in 1944 a version without the superscription was issued for civilian use. From December 1945 the term Airletter was used. The Post Office Guide of 1946, page 4, paragraph 4a stated that the Airletter service was available for communications: To members of Australian and other empire Forces overseas, excepting the New Guinea area and

New Zealand. To personnel of British merchant ships aboard. At the time of publication, 1946, the airletter service was available to civilians in the following countries: Aden, Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Ascension, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Belgian Cong, British Cameroons, British Somaliland, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Eire, Ethiopia, Fiji, French India, Gambia, Gibraltar, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macao, Malaya, Malta, Manchuria, Mauritius, Mozambique, Newfoundland, Nigeria, North Borneo, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Palestine, Persian Gulf ports, Portuguese India, St Helena, San Marino, Sarawak, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Sudan, Syria, Tanganyika, Thailand, Tibet, British Togo, Transjordan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zanzibar. It should be noted that in 1946 the Airletter service was based on bilateral accords between Australia and the listed countries. There were a number of important exceptions, such as most of Europe, United States of America and New Zealand. This would change in the years leading up to the acceptance of Aerogrammes as a mail category at the Brussels conference of the Universal Postal Union in 1952. From 1946 private companies could produced unstamped airmail letter sheets initially inscribed Airletter and after 1953 inscribed Aerogramme. The criteria for Private Licence Aerogrammes are first mentioned in the Post Office guide of 1950, page 5, paragraph 7 a-e:

Subject to the prior approval of the Department, Airletter forms may be privately manufactured for use by the public on compliance with the following conditions:- a) The Airletter must conform generally with the dimensions and arrangements of the Airletter

form currently sold at post offices in Australia. b) The weight of the Airletter shall not exceed 2.7 grams. c) The words “Approved by Postmaster-General for acceptance as Airletter, No…..” must be

printed on the lower left-hand corner of the address side. d) The words “Affix two postage stamps total value 7d.” must be printed in a frame in the upper

right hand corner of the address side.

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e) Eight proof copies of the proposed Airletter form should be submitted to the Department, with an application for authority to print.

Pope noted that for item b the weight was given in grams implying a UPU regulation as at the time Australia used Imperial weights and measures. It should also be noted that in 1950 there was no 7d denomination stamp so item d was correct in requiring at least two stamps. The entry in the 1952 edition of the Post Office Guide is the same, although it moved to page 6 with the same paragraph number and subsections. The next edition of the Post Office Guide was 1955. The page number and paragraph details are the same as for 1952. There were a number of changes. The service was renamed Aerogramme Service as a result of the Brussels UPU Conference. Paragraph 4a (1) now reads The Aerogramme Service is a special service of light weight “airletters” designed to conserve aircraft space and to provide a cheap and expeditious means of air communication to overseas countries.

Subject to the prior approval of the Department, Aerogramme forms may be privately manufactured for use by the public on compliance with the following conditions:- a) The Aerogramme must conform generally with the dimensions and arrangements of the

Aerogramme form currently sold at post offices in Australia. b) The weight of the Aerogramme shall not exceed 2.7 grams. c) The words “Approved by Postmaster-General for acceptance as Aerogramme, No…..” must

be printed on the lower left-hand corner of the address side. d) The words “Affix two postage stamps total value 10d.” must be printed in a frame in the

upper right hand corner of the address side. e) Eight proof copies of the proposed Aerogramme form should be submitted to the Department,

with an application for authority to print. The word Aerogramme replaced the term Airletter. This occurred on PMG aerogrammes from July 1952. The rate for Airletters/ Aerogrammes had increased from 7d to 10d in September 1952. Once again there was no 10d value stamp so the instruction required at least two stamps. In the 1961 edition of the Post Office Guide the entry for Aerogrammes had moved to Overseas Post, page 103. The language had been updated and paragraph numbers had been deleted. The entry for Private Licence Aerogrammes then read:

Use of Privately Manufactured Aerogramme Formes Subject to the prior approval by the Postal Department, Aerogramme forms may be privately manufactured for use by clients. The following conditions must be complied with in this connection: a) The Aerogramme must conform generally with the dimensions and set up of the Aerogramme

form supplied by the Post Office b) The weight of the forms must be such, that, with stamp affixed, there are at least 170 forms to

the Lb avoirdupois. c) The words “Approved by Postmaster-General for acceptance as Aerogramme, No…..” must

be indicated on the lower left-hand corner of the address side. d) The words “Affix one 10d postage stamp.” must be printed in a frame in the upper right hand

corner of the address side. e) Eight proof copies of the proposed Aerogramme form must be submitted to the Postal

Department, with an application for authority to print, before they are put into use. The entry also included a note: Clients desiring to print special aerogramme forms either for their own use of for the general public use, should get into touch with the Superintendent Mail Exchange Branch, General Post Office, in the capital of their state for details.

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No 27 Sands & McDougall Ltd, used by the Commonwealth Trading Bank

No 58 Commonwealth Trading Bank

The 14th February 1966 saw the introduction of decimal currency. There was a new edition of the Post Office Guide, Aerogrammes were now listed in the section on Air mail, pages 43-44, paragraphs 130 and 131.

Use of Privately Manufactured Aerogramme Forms Subject to the prior approval by the Postal Department, Aerogramme forms may be privately manufactured for use by clients. The following conditions must be complied with in this connection: a) The Aerogramme must conform generally with the dimensions and set up of the Aerogramme

form supplied by the Post Office b) The weight of the forms must be such, that, with stamp affixed, there are at least 170 forms to

the Lb avoirdupois. c) The words “Approved by Postmaster-General for acceptance as Aerogramme, No…..” must

be indicated on the lower left-hand corner of the address side. d) The words “Attach one 9c postage stamp.” must be printed in a frame in the upper right hand

corner of the address side. e) Eight proof copies of the proposed Aerogramme form must be submitted to the Postal

Department, with an application for authority to print, before they are put into use. Besides the note about applications being made at the General Post Office in each State there was an additional note concerning aerogrammes printed overseas: Unstamped aerogrammes printed overseas may also be approved for posting in Australia if they conform generally with the conditions described above. Approval must be obtained before use and the words “Approved by the Postmaster-General for acceptance as an aerogramme in Australia, No. OV ……” printed on the lower left corner of the address side. Paragraph 131 on the 1966 Post Office Guide contained three pointed regarding the Make-up of Aerogrammes:

As the economics of the aerogramme service are closely related to the weight of the aerogramme form itself, an aerogramme should not contain an enclosure or have an attachment

If an aerogramme has an enclosure or attachment, or otherwise does not comply with the above conditions it will be considered to be posted as an air mail letter and air mail fees at the letter rate must be paid on the article. In such case the endorsement “Aerogramme” should be cancelled and it is desirable that it be replaced by the usual “Air Mail” label to minimise the risk of the item being sent by surface mail. If the additional air mail fees are not paid at the time of posting, the article will be treated as if it were an insufficiently prepaid air mail letter

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Aerogrammes will be accepted for registration, but if clients desire to send them registered, and obtain an acknowledgement of delivery at destination, the whole article must be paid for at the air rate appropriate to letter mail.

In the 1969 edition of the Post Office Guide aerogrammes remained in the section on air mail, which is found on pages 95-96, paragraphs 318-319. The original version was the same as the 1966 edition but in the copy used there has a paste over for the sub-section dealing with Privately Manufactured Aerogramme forms. The alphabetised sub sections have been replaced by Roman numerals:

Use of Privately Manufactured Aerogramme Formes Subject to the prior approval by the Postal Department, Aerogramme forms may be privately manufactured for use by clients. The following conditions must be complied with in this connection: (i) The Aerogramme must conform generally with the set up of the Aerogramme form supplied by the Post Office. (ii) A smaller size and lighter weight form may be approved provided that, when folded, it falls within the dimensions for Post Office Preferred Envelopes (iii) The weight of the form, with stamp affixed, must not exceed the weight of the Post Office form. (iv) The words “Approved by the Australian Post Office as Aerogramme, No…..” must be indicated on the lower left-hand corner of the address side. (v) The words “Attach one 10c postage stamp.” must be printed in a frame in the upper right hand corner of the address side. (vi) Two proof copies of the proposed Aerogramme form must be submitted to the Superintendent Mail Exchange Branch, in the capital city of the applicants State of residence, with a written request for permission to print

The paragraph relating to private aerogrammes printed overseas was also changed: Unstamped aerogrammes printed overseas may be approved for use in Australia provided that they conform to the same conditions as for private aerogrammes manufactured in Australia. Approval must be obtained, before use, as described above

The accompanying list was composed by Nita Wilson of Sydney who had an extensive collection of both PMG’s Department aerogrammes and Private Licence aerogrammes. She conducted a survey of users in the late 1960’s but the results were never published. User information on her album pages was very general. The list gives user details but not production details or variations in printing or periods of use.

The Licensees included printing companies such as John S. Sands of Sydney, Specialty Press of North Clayton Victoria and William Brooks of Eagle Farm, Brisbane. There was also a range of private companies such as Ansett–ANA (Airlines), National Bank of Australasia, and Slazengers (Sports goods manufacturers).

Licence Number Licensee 1 J.M. Cook. 416 Chapel Street, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 2 Black and Hargreaves Pty Ltd. 72-78 Addison Road Marrickville, NSW 2204 3 John S. Sands Pty Ltd. GPO Box 164, Sydney NSW 2001 4 Vance and McKee Pty Ltd. GPO Box 3919, Sydney, NSW 2001 5 Jackson and O’Sullivan Pty Ltd. 304 Queens Street, Brisbane, Qld, 4000 6 Jenkin, Buxton & Co., 1 Abbotsford Street. North Melbourne, Victoria 3051 7 Roberston & Mullens Ltd. GPO Box 82A, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 8 McCarron, Bird & Co., 594 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000 9 Shipping Newspapers Ltd. GPO Box 120, North Sydney NSW 2060 10 Central Press Pty Ltd., 505 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 11 Co-operated Dried Fruits Sales Pty Ltd., GPO Box 4537 Melbourne, Victoria 3001 12 J. Batten Pty Ltd. 563 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 13 Slazengers (Australia) Pty Ltd. GPO Box 4001, Sydney NSW 2001 14 Qantas Empire Airways Ltd. GPO Box 489, Sydney, NSW 2001 15 Andrew Jack Dyson & Co. Pty Ltd. 22 Clayton Road, Notting Hill, Victoria 3168 16 Barclay and Sharland. 999 Hay Street. Perth, WA 6000 17 B.H. McKinney, 14a Hopetoun Avenue, Vaucluse, NSW 2030

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18 Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Forrest Place, Perth, WA 6000 19 William Brooks & Co Pty Ltd. 921-929 Kingsford-Smith Drive, Eagle Farm, QLD 4007 20 George Wills & Co Ltd. 33 Gilbert Place, Adelaide, SA 5000 21 Sands & McDougall Ltd. 357 Spencer Street, Victoria 3000 22 Asher & Co Pty Ltd. Ashburn Place, Blackburn, Victoria 3130 23 Verona Press Pty Ltd. 82-84 Ireland Street, West Melbourne, Victoria 3003 24 Commonwealth Investments Trust Pty Ltd. GPO Box 1290R, Perth, WA 6001 25 Mason, Firth & McCutcheon Pty Ltd. 114 Nepean Highway, Highett, Victoria 3190 26 Speciality Press Pty Ltd. 611 Blackburn Road, North Clayton Victoria 3168 27 Bloxham & Chambers Pty Ltd. Essex & Harrington Streets, Sydney NSW 2000 28 British High Commission, Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2600 29 University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052 30 John D. Harris & Co. 1-9 Gold Street, Collingwood, Victoria 3066 31 Ellis Printing & Office Supply Co. 103 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000 32 Angove’s Ltd. PO Box 12B Renmark. SA 5341 33 Lamson, Paragon Pty Ltd. The Boulevard, Richmond, Victoria, 3121 34 Dix Pty Ltd. 454 Murray Street, Perth, WA 6000 35 Addon Press, 240 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 36 A. Webb & Sons. 60 Baxter Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Qld 4000 37 Victorian printing Works Pty Ltd. 17-23 Wills Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 38 University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252C, Hobart, Tasmania 7000 39 Bell Press Pty Ltd. Garnet Street, Rockdale NSW 2216 40 Capalaba Printing Service. Old Cleveland Road, Capalaba, Qld 4157 41 Excelsior Printing Works Pty Ltd, 634-636 Burwood Road, Hawthorn East, Victoria 3123 42 Port Huon Fruit Growers Co-operative Association Ltd. GPO Box 366B, Hobart, Tas 7000 43 R.A. Mertens-Gemstamps. GPO Box 783H Hobart, Tasmania 7000 44 Tasman Empire Airways Ltd. GPO Box 489, Sydney NSW 2000 45 Scrymgrour & Sons. 104 King William Street, Kent Town, S Aust 5067 46 University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052 47 The Philatelic Exhibition Council of NSW 48 Kenny & Watson. GPO Box 3788, Sydney 2001 49 Melbourne University Press (Trade Department). 932 Swanston Street, Carlton, Vic 3053 50 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NSW Branch), Parliament House, Sydney,

NSW 2000 51 New Zealand DX Radio Association Inc. 78 District Road, Dunedin, New Zealand 52 B. Eastwood. PO Box 29 Terang, Victoria 3264 53 New Zealand Radio DX League. PO Box 1356, Christchurch, New Zealand 54 E.S.A. (English Scottish and Australian) Bank Ltd. GPO Box 89A, Melbourne Vic 3001 55 Ministry of Housing, 225-227 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 56 W.C. Penfold & Co Pty Ltd. 88 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 57 NSW Government Printer. GPO Box 4050, Sydney, NSW 2001 58 Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia. GPO Box 2719, Sydney, NSW 2001 59 Royal Australian Nursing Federation. 431 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 60 Cranbrook Press (Toowoomba) Pty Ltd. 625 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, Qld 4350 61 Alexander Bros Pty Ltd. 167-169 Nepean Highway, Mentone, Victoria 3194 62 Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Department of Primary Industry. Barton. ACT 2600 63 Wills, Gilchrist and Sanderson Pty Ltd. GPO Box 1396R,Brisbane, Qld 4001 64 J. Walch & Sons Pty Ltd. 130 Macquarie Street, Hobart, Tasmania 7000 65 Bank of New Zealand. 345-347 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 66 Ansett-ANA. GPO Box 2197T, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 67 W.J. Cryer & Co Ltd. 75 Union Street, Dulwich Hill NSW 2203 68 Harold Hall Australian Expedition (Bird Exploration Committee) British Museum,

Cromwell Road, London SW7, England 69 W, Haughton & Co Ltd. GPO Box 768G, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 70 Pilvin Printing Services Pty Ltd. 52 Victoria Crescent, Abbotsford, Victoria 3067 71 Besley & Pike Pty Ltd. Ipswich Road, Rocklea, Qld 4106 72 John Sands Pty Ltd. GPO Box 164, Sydney, NSW 2001 73 Cock & Heathcote Pty Ltd. 47 Thistlewaite Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 74 Mitchell and Casey. 49 Balmain Street, Richmond. Victoria 3121 75 A.H. Massina & Co. 121-131 Cardigan Street. Carlton Victoria 3053

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76 Colna Printing Co Pty Ltd. 8 Vernon Avenue. Heidelberg Victoria 3081 77 Color Patch Press Pty Ltd. 221 High Street, Preston, Victoria 3072 78 Wentworth press. 48 Cooper Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 79 Melbourne Printers Pty Ltd. 280-286 Macaulay Road North Melbourne, Victoria 3051 80 Department of Health, Canberra, ACT 2600 81 De Holden Stone Advertising Pty Ltd. 11 Sutherland Crescent, Darling Point. NSW 2027 82 A. Broadbent. 25 Port Arthur Street. Lyons. ACT 2606 83 Kralco printing Co Pty Ltd. Bank and Miller Streets, Pyrmont, NSW 2009 84 Radio Australia, GPO Box 428G, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001 85 Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Parliament House, Sydney, NSW 2000 86 Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, ACT 2600 87 Morphet Press Pty Ltd, Morley Offset Pty Ltd. 9 Brighton Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121 88 Celpac Products Pty Ltd, Brookvale, NSW 2100 89 National Bank of Australasia Ltd. 271 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 90 Westminister Press, 621 Wickham street, Fortitude Valley, Qld 4006 91 Brown, Prior Anderson Pty Ltd. 5 Evans Street, Burwood, Victoria 3125

No 61 Alexander Bros Pty Ltd, with colour panel view of the War Memorial Canberra (correspondence between two aerogramme collectors)

No 2 “Archer” Aerogramme, used by Perpetual Trustee Co Ltd

In July 1969 13 licences were current: 2, 8, 12, 20, 23, 30, 41, 54, 58, 64, 74, 90, 91. There were 91 Licences issued, of which 2 (51, 53) were to New Zealand addresses and 1 (68) to a United Kingdom address. The geographical spread for the remaining 88 licences in Australia is as follows:

Queensland: 8 (5, 19, 36, 40, 60, 63, 71, 90) New South Wales: 25 (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 27, 39, 44, 47, 48, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 67, 72, 78, 81, 83, 85, 88) Australian Capital Territory: 5 (28, 62, 80, 82, 86) Victoria: 39 (1, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 37, 41, 46, 49, 52, 54, 59, 61, 65, 66, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 84, 87, 89, 91) Tasmania: 4 (38, 42, 43, 64) South Australia: 3 (20, 32, 45) Western Australia: 4 (16, 18, 24, 34)

Most of the licences were taken out in Victoria. The largest number of licence-holder’s were printing and stationery companies. Those surviving examples of this type of postal stationery are mainly mint copies. Commercially used copies are exceptionally difficult to come by in Australia as most were addressed overseas. The 1953 Qantas Coronation Day airmail airletter, Licence No. 14 is probably the most frequently seen example of a private licence Aerogramme. This particular production does not comply with requirement ‘d’ The words “Affix two postage stamps total value 7d.” must be printed in a frame in the upper right hand corner of the address side. There is no admonition regarding the value of the franking and there is no frame around the admonition. Note: The illustrations have been provided by the Editor. Nita Wilson was a member of the PSSA and the publication of this listing acknowledges her contributions to the hobby and to our knowledge of Australian aerogrammes.

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AUXILIARY POSTAL MARKINGS ON AUSTRALIAN STATES & COMMONWEALTH POST OFFICE WRAPPERS

Professor John K. Courtis, [email protected]

Introduction Sometimes it is not always easy to draw a clear distinction between where the collecting of postal stationery leaves off and interest in postal history begins. I was told that while judging a postal stationery exhibit an experienced juror had made the comment that there was “too much postal history” in the write-up. Some help in this regard is given by Smith, Karman & McMahon (2007) in a critique of an Exponent exhibit on Czechoslovakian double postcards. However, in the absence of established guidelines, what is meant by ‘too much’ postal history is to some extent a matter of judgment by the exhibitor. For collectors and exhibitors who are writing up postally used post office wrappers it seems reasonable to include the auxiliary postal marking details as well as the basic postmark information. This would be the case especially if an auxiliary marking helped to identify the date of usage of a wrapper or that it was the only one known wrapper recorded with this marking. The feature of uniqueness is usually prized in write-up details and in competitive exhibiting. An auxiliary or instructional postal marking has been defined narrowly for this analysis as a handstamp marking that is additional to a postmark. It specifically excludes postmarks of all kinds, merchant handstamps, consular chops, blue crayon and coloured pencil marks, and manuscript marks including tax markings. The focus of this paper is on auxiliary or instructional markings that appear on post office wrappers of the Australian States and Australian Commonwealth. A total of 689 wrappers were examined comprising Australian Commonwealth (217), New South Wales (59), Queensland (84), South Australia (145), Tasmania (11), Victoria (172) and West Australia (1). Only 14 examples with auxiliary markings were identified from the scans of these 689 wrappers and these markings are illustrated and described in the Appendix attached. The first surprise is that only 2% of this sub-population of worldwide post office wrappers reveals evidence of auxiliary markings thereby singling them out as scarce. In every example found the auxiliary marking is either unique to that wrapper, or is the only one known recorded. This scarcity alone should make them highly sought after to both postal stationery and postal history collectors. Auxiliary Markings Of the 14 auxiliary markings observed, ten are varieties of postage due markings and four are especially distinctive one-of-a-kind items. Victoria has five wrappers with auxiliary markings, South Australia four, Queensland three, and New South Wales and the Australian Commonwealth have one apiece. No auxiliary markings have been noted on the few examples from Tasmania and West Australia. The following discussion parallels the appearance of items illustrated in the Appendix. All catalogue numbers used in the analysis are those of Higgins & Gage (H&G) Postal Stationery of the World (1969). New South Wales A cluster of four 1906 E11 New South Wales wrappers was listed on eBay as one Lot, all addressed to the same company in Berlin and probably all ex Sydney. Close inspection reveals that three of these wrappers show a purple or dark purple numeral within asterisks. Numbers 233, 65 and 41 are noted and while I am assuming these are transit markings I welcome correspondence to confirm or refute this interpretation. Queensland There are two wrappers showing postage due markings. Dealing with them chronologically, E2 shows two separate handstamp markings: a large bold sans-serif unboxed T and a second marking showing the taxed amount of 5 CTMS T in an unboxed serifed three-line handstamp. Both markings

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are in black. While not important to the discussion of auxiliary marks, close inspection reveals that the numeral duplex contains the numeral 76. This number 76 should identify the point of departure of the wrapper, but it is not known to what town or city this number was allocated and Campbell lists a question mark. The large tax T might have been applied in Ireland. There are two oval tax markings in black on an E6 wrapper with the tax due of 10 CTMS T. This mark was applied in Brisbane. In addition, and less easy to see on the wrapper is a tall thin 1d with I.S. (Inland Service) beneath. The Liverpool arrival cds of Dec 28 01 helps to pinpoint the date when this GB I.S. dues marking was applied. The third wrapper has a one-of-a-kind TOO LATE underlined marking. Campbell (1990) notes that under certain circumstances a TOO LATE marking was hand stamped on a piece of mail. He writes: “if put in at a post office after the normal closing time for the mail it would be detained until the next mail.” The marking was applied to explain what might be a delay of a week or more, especially if the article missed a particular sailing abroad. Campbell advises that these handstamps were provided to post offices for application to such mail, and yet notes “it is surprising how few examples are known”. If this TOO LATE unframed single-line marking was applied at Bundaberg, it is an addition to Campbell’s list of five places. South Australia All four auxiliary markings are types of postage due for underpaid E3 wrappers, three of which were either addressed to New York or would have been routed in-transit via New York, USA. The first intra South Australia posting is addressed to Largs Bay, a north-western suburb on the coast of Adelaide approximately 16 kilometers from the Adelaide CBD. The wrapper bears a large thick unframed numeral “1” tax marking. It is almost certainly type TN1 illustrated by Blake (1996, page 56) with the numeral’s base line turned up at the edges. It was applied at the G.P.O. Adelaide 17 September 1896. In researching this wrapper Allan Gory discovered that it was addressed to a medical doctor living on board a vessel SS Gera, berthed at Largs Bay. The wrapper is dated 17 September 1898 and the potential exists for a fascinating social history exposition of this doctor, the ship and the role of Largs Bay vis-à-vis Adelaide before the 20th century. Allan believes that the most likely explanation for the application of the tax marking of “1” is that newspapers or magazines sent to the doctor (by rail) exceeded the normal weight scale. A straight-line unboxed blue handstamp Due 2 is shown on the second of these South Australia wrappers. Neither this due nor the tax markings on the following wrappers are mentioned by Blake and the assumption is that they were applied in the USA, probably in New York. Allan Gory is not entirely convinced but corroborates the assumption in that US sources verify that wrappers two, three and four all bear US dues markings. Wrapper three shows a 2 Cents in black lower casing straight line, and a semi-circular black U.S. CHARGE with TO COLLECT within. The fourth wrapper shows the wording U.S. CURRENCY with a large 2 beneath in black upper-casing sans-serif. The circular Jamestown 14 September 1884 cds ties these auxiliary markings to a few days after this date. Victoria The five wrappers in this section show auxiliary markings on each of five different wrapper issues: E11, E14, E15, E24 and E25 (these numbers are equivalent to E10, E15, E16, E26 and E25 in Stieg 2001). The first wrapper (E11) shows two markings: in chronological order. The first is a black handstamp tax due T1d within an oval. The second is a unique boxed REFUSED ON ACCOUNT OF TAX in upper casing, sans-serif, on three lines. The wrapper was mailed from Prahran, an inner suburb of Melbourne and was addressed to W. Bretteschneider, Flinders Street, Melbourne, who presumably refused to accept a newspaper with postage due of 1d. That would be the straightforward story. However, the wrapper might have been philatelically inspired. There are three Victorian wrappers in my scan library addressed to this W. Bretteschneider, Flinders Street, Melbourne, notable in appearance because the number of the street address has been overprinted with a red handstamp. Mr. Bretteschneider was a well-known philatelist and these wrappers may have been prepared in order to obtain Melbourne or suburban postmarks.

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The second wrapper (E14) bears private printing. The scan sent to me by a collector is in black and white and only some of the printed wording can be read: Victoria Estate Company Limited at the top, and Bourke & William, Queen Street, Melbourne at the base. The wrapper was originally addressed to Caulfield, and sent to Yarra Glen in error. At that post office it acquired the unique boxed auxiliary two line sans-serif marking Unclaimed at Yarraglen (one word), all in upper casing. This wrapper must be considered to be a gem for its combination of private printing and unique auxiliary marking. The third wrapper (E15) also bears a unique auxiliary marking: a boxed two line serif: Found in W.C.D.O. without contents. According to the Melbourne cds it was mailed to a London address on 12 January 1891. W.C.D.O. means West Central District Office and at the time was the London branch that dealt with incoming foreign mail. The remaining Victorian wrappers (E24 and E25) both show typical Victorian outgoing centime octagonal tax markings. The E24 wrapper shows a purple octagonal T10c applied in Brisbane, the second marking shows a 2d above F.B. (Foreign Branch) applied in England. This wrapper was addressed to Peterborough, England. The E25 wrapper shows two markings: an octagonal T15c in black applied in Melbourne, and a three line 3d over I.S. over L. applied in London. I.S. means Inland Section and L beneath identifies the marking as applied at the London PO. The wrapper was addressed to Essex, England and bears a Victoria ½d green QV “bantam”. Australian Commonwealth Another surprise of this analysis was to find that only one wrapper of 217 scans examined revealed an auxiliary marking. The analysis included stamped-to-order and official OHMS wrappers. This instructional mark was a tax due marking: a large seriffed unboxed T COLLECT ….. CENTS in a two line black handstamp (with a blue crayon 2 inserted). While the blue crayon T10 would likely have been annotated at Broken Hill, the black T COLLECT handstamp is almost certainly American and applied probably at New York while en route to Illinois, USA. Conclusion The number of Australian States and Australian Commonwealth wrappers bearing auxiliary markings is very low, being about 2% of the 689 wrappers examined. Of the 14 examples observed, ten are varieties of postage due T markings, while four are unique and exotic auxiliary markings. Given that more than 80 million wrappers were used (Courtis 2008) over about 100 years of Australian history, it is a reasonable expectation that a diverse collection of auxiliary marks would be found. Not only would one expect to find postage due markings for underpaid wrappers, but also for a variety of other issues such as missent, returned, undeliverable, gone away, censor marks, registered, named vessels and routes, and so forth. The richness of postal history instructions that might reasonably be expected to appear on letter mail is not apparent on newspaper wrappers. Nevertheless, for the eagle-eyed and patient collector there are still some exciting auxiliary markings to be found.

References Blake Michael (1996), South Australia: Postal Markings for Underpaid mail, The Shilling Violet,

December, pp. 50-66. Campbell, Hugh M. (1990), Queensland Postal History, The Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria,

Melbourne, Chapter XI, pp. 103-110. Courtis John K. (2008), Australian Commonwealth Post Office Newspaper Wrappers, Philately from

Australia, September, pp. 53-64. Higgins & Gage (1969), Priced Catalogue of Postal Stationery of the World, Higgins & Gage

Limited, California Smith Dingle, Karman Hans & McMahon Ian (2007), Czechoslovakia Double Postcards in Postal Use

from 1918 to 1939, The Asia Pacific Exhibitor, Vol. 20 No. 4, Whole Number 74, November, pp. 199-209.

Stieg Carl L. (2001), Victoria Postal Stationery 1869-1917, Triad Publications, Weston, pp. 219.

My thanks to Allan Gory for reading and commenting on an earlier draft.

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PSSA FORUM

Ian McMahon (with assistance from other PSSA members)

International Pack and Track Satchels

In February 2012, Australia Post released three new international express post satchels. The satchels are branded as ‘Pack and Track International’ and are available for use to New Zealand, USA and the UK. The satchels themselves do not prepay a postage service but the post office staff I have dealt with will not let you take the satchels away to pack. Rather they have required me to pay for the

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satchel, show identification and in one case to produce the contents to weigh before I have packed the satchel in the post office. They have then placed a post office counter label on the satchel and specified that I needed to return the packed satchel to them and not to post the satchel in an external post box. The satchels were on sale in Canberra on 22 February 2012. The satchels are intended for up to 1 kg and the cost of postage are $25.90 for New Zealand, $36.10 for the US and $44.10 for the UK.

Reverse of UK satchel with counter label paying postage attached. Parcel Post Plus Satchels Also appearing in late February were a range of Parcel Post Plus satchels available in 500g, 3 kg and 5 kg sizes. Australia Post information suggests that the ‘official’ issue date was 5 March 2012. The satchels are expected to replace the current range of Parcel Post satchels.

Prepaid Parcel Post Plus satchels (effective 5 March 2012) 500g Satchel (each) $7.20 - 1-9 packs (per pack of 10) $68.40 - 10+ packs (per pack of 10) $64.80 3kg Satchel (each) $11.40 - 1-9 packs (per pack of 10) $108.30 - 10+ packs (per pack of 10) $102.60 5kg Satchel (each) $14.50 - 1-9 packs (per pack of 10) $137.75 - 10+ packs (per pack of 10) $130.50

Mailplus Co-branded Express Post Platinum Satchel Pilot

Australia Post has reported that it conducted an eight week pilot program with 14 Mailplus franchisees in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane who offered their customers co-branded product platinum express satchels (500g and 3kg satchels). Mailplus is a private Australian company that

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offers mail pick-up and delivery. The Mailplus co-branded satchels were available from 3 October 2011 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane through Mailplus drivers only. Has anyone seen these satchels?

Year of the Dragon

Australia issued three stationery items for the Chinese Year of the Dragon on 10 January 2012, a domestic envelope, an international envelope and a postcard. Christmas Island adhesives were issued on the same day and designed by Dani Poon.

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International Year of Cooperatives PSE

A PSE was issued on 14 February 2012 for the International Year of Cooperatives. Christopher de Haer advises that Australia Post has told him that the Cooperatives envelope was printed by A&G Envelopes in Melbourne who are also printing the upcoming Botanic Gardens envelopes. Australia Post now appears to be using two printers for its envelopes - GEON (which has been used for the last 30+ years) and A&G.

Vanuatu Aerogrammes

Steve Zirinsky has supplied used copies of these recent Vanuatu aerogrammes.

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LISTING OF AUSTRALIAN NON-DENOMINATED POSTAL STATIONERY

Ian McMahon Postcards

10 January 2012 Year of the Dragon ($1.50) Year of the Dragon

17 January 2012 Precious Moments Maximum cards (-) Cupcake (-) Teddy (-) Balloons (-) Love (-) Love birds (-) Rose (Set price: $8.70)

20 January 2012 Legends of Australian Football Maximum cards (-) Ron Barassi (-) John Raper (-) David Campese (-) Joe Marston (-) Gary Ablett (-) Billy Slater (-) David Pocock (-) Mark Schwarzer (Set price: $10.80)

7 February 2012 Technology – Then and Now Maximum cards (-) Telephone (-) Television (-) Refrigerator (-) Music (-) Navigation (Set price: $6.75) 21 February 2012 Capital City Transport Maximum cards (-) Adelaide O-Bahn Bus (-) Perth Train (-) Melbourne Tram (-) Sydney Ferry (-) Sydney Double-Decker Train (Set price: $6.75) 6 March 2012 Australian Waterbirds Maximum cards (-) Radjah Shelduck (-) Pink-eared Duck (-) Australian Shelduck (-) Plumed Whistling Duck (Set price: $8.20) 6 March 2012 Philip Law Maximum cards (-) Philip Law (-) Law at Arthurson Bluff (-) Opening of Mawson Station (Set price: $5.85)

20 March 2012 Farming Australia Maximum cards (-) Diary (-) Pineapples (-) Wine (-) Sunflowers (-) Apples (Set price: $13.05)

27 March 2012 Centenary of Compulsory Enrolment to Vote ($1.35) Enrolment to Vote

3 April 2012 Diamond Jubilee Maximum cards (-) Queen Elizabeth II at accession (-) Queen Elizabeth II today (Set price: $4.45)

10 April 2012 Medical Doctors Maximum cards (-) Chris O’Brien (-) Fred Hollows (-) Victor Chang (-) Dame Kate Campbell (-) Jane Stocks Greig (Set price: $6.75)

20 March 2012 Rising Sun Badge Maximum cards (-) 1902-04 (-) 1904-49 (-) 1954-69 (-) 1969-91 (-) From 1991 (Set price: $6.75)

Envelopes 10 January 2012 Year of the Dragon ($0.70) Domestic envelope ($2.65) Domestic envelope

14 February 2012 International Year of Cooperatives ($0.70) Cooperatives Australia

Express Post February 2012 International Pack and Track Satchels (No value) New Zealand (No value) USA No value) UK Note: These “formular” satchels had to have a counter label affixed indicating payment of postage. NZ $25.90, USA $36.10, UK $44.10

Parcel Post February 2012 Parcel Post Plus Satchels ($7.20) New Zealand ($11.40) USA ($14.50) UK

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FROM THE SECRETARY Membership At this date, ten members have not yet paid their subscriptions for 2012. To renew, please contact the Treasurer John Crowsley as soon as possible, either by email on [email protected] or by mail at PO Box 2296, Keperra Qld 4054. If you have decided not to renew, please contact either John or myself (Judy Kennett) at either [email protected] or by mail at PO Box 16, Ulmarra NSW 2462 to let us know. We can then remove your name from the mailing list for the journal. Resignation Dale Ansell (Qld) has resigned. Meeting of the PSSA at Canberra Stampshow 2012 Canberra Stampshow 2012 was held at the Hellenic Club on 16-18 March 2012. The PSSA met there on Sunday 18 March, and a report on the meeting appears elsewhere in this issue. It was a very busy occasion, well attended by members, and many other members attended the show on the three days. Meeting of the PSSA at 2012 PSWA Centennial Exhibition 2012 Philatelic Society of Western Australia (PSWA) Centennial Exhibition will be held at the Claremont Showgrounds, Claremont WA on 17-20 May 2012. It will include a seven country challenge at National level, including Postal Stationery. The PSSA will be meeting there, at 4.30pm on Saturday 19 May. An email reminder will be sent out to members later. Auction results Further material from the estate of the late Nita Wilson was to be offered at the Philas Auction held on Saturday 10 March 2012. There was a large selection of Australian early airletters, definitive and commemorative and official aerogrammes, which are presumed to be her material. Some results that stand out are: Lot 1224 Group of 1940s airletters (15), estimated $100, realised $320 Lot 1243 1952 10d on 7d aerogrammes, incl 1 Specimen (14), est $100, realised $260 Lot 1250 10d commemorative aerogrammes 1956 (Olympic) & 1960s (21), m, u, + 2 Specimens, estimated $150, realised $400 Lot 1254 1960-61 aerogramme 10d essay, Stockman & plane design,’ Believed to be the only one in private hands’, estimated $1500, realised $1800 Lot 1257 1960s group of Christmas aerogrammes (22), estimated $200, realised $460 Lot 1284 1960 Official aerogramme to USA, typed correction ‘Her’ and ‘Aerogramme’ with large ‘Postage Paid’, ‘fewer than four recorded’, estimated $500, realised $650. The next Philas auction will be held on Saturday 14 July 2012. It is expected that more of Mrs Wilson’s estate will be offered there. Readers may not be aware that funds from the sales of this material will benefit philately in NSW. Judy Kennett

MEETING AT CANBERRA STAMPSHOW 2012 18 March 2012 12 noon – 1.30pm

Present: Ian McMahon in the chair, 15 members and four visitors Apologies: B Bartsch, G Bradley, J Crowsley, L Lee, J Orr, R Todd, P Xavier Reports: Reports from the Secretary and the Treasurer were circulated to the meeting. Both will appear elsewhere in this issue of the journal. Australian Colonies Postal Stationery Catalogue Project We began with a tribute to the life and work of the late John Bell of Goulburn by Ian McMahon. He spoke of John’s meticulous research and the quality of his published work on the postal stationery of

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New South Wales, which appeared mainly in Sydney Views, the journal of the Royal Philatelic Club of Sydney. Bill Gammage, a philatelist, and friend of John’s for many years, was present. The meeting observed a minute’s silence in John’s memory. New South Wales. Ian reported that David (Dingle) Smith has agreed to edit the catalogue for New South Wales. He will be assisted by Bernie Doherty, who has been gathering illustrations and has produced a template for the catalogue. Dingle is working with John Bell’s research material, which has been made available to him. Tasmania. Malcolm Groom reported that the state of the catalogue was unchanged – his present priority is the International Exhibition of Melbourne 2013. He would not be able to move on the catalogue until at the earliest June 2013. South Australia. Martin Walker said that the task next in line was his book on Australian postal orders. Following that, he would begin work on the catalogue, where he already has the illustrations and information, including some that is new. Queensland. Bernie Beston reported that he had received an offer of help with work for the Queensland catalogue from Derek Brennan, who would assist with preparing scans for insertion in the catalogue. Victoria. Malcolm Groom reported that there had been an offer of assistance with the catalogue project from Derek Brennan, and that he had agreed to work at extracting from Col Stieg’s publication information for a simplified catalogue. Advice from other collectors of the material would be sought. An agenda item from Ray Todd about delays in the production of the various volumes of the catalogues of the postal stationery of the colonies was noted.

Brusden-White Catalogue of Australian Commonwealth Postal Stationery Geoff Kellow reported that the catalogue was virtually unchanged since he last reported, but a couple of discoveries have been incorporated. The pricing has still to be done, and it is expected that Gary Watson will do it. Geoff has been working with Mark Diserio and Wayne Menuz, and expects to send the text to them both again for any further comments. It seems likely that the catalogue will be in colour, and that publication will be at the end of the year. Postal Stationery Collector A change in the journal to publication in full colour was discussed. Ian McMahon said that information from the Treasurer, using the cost of the issue in full colour published in May 2011 indicated that the present subscription of $35 per annum for Australian members would need to rise to $45, and to $50 pa to be certain. Bernie Beston moved, seconded by Gary Brown, that the journal be published in colour. The motion was carried. Ian announced that subscriptions for Australian members would rise to $50 from the beginning of 2013, and that the journal would be published in full colour in hard copy with pdf copies available for anyone that wanted them. The next issue (May 2012) would be the first in full colour. The change to volume numbering of Postal Stationery Collector to coincide with the calendar year was approved. The arrangement will begin with the last issue for 2012, which will be numbered Vol 17 Nos 3 and 4, Issues 70 and 71. Draft Index for Postal Stationery Collector Copies of the draft index were put out on tables for members to inspect. Derek Brennan, the compiler of the index, gave an introduction and explained how it is structured. The index will have the usual sections, eg. an author listing, an article title listing, and chronologically organised listings of various types of postal stationery. There are separate listings for Australian and for foreign postal stationery. Also listings of, for example, there are listings for Literature, Forums, Awards to Members, Displays,

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and Reports by Society officers. He stated that there is still work to be done on the draft version, with proof reading of various sections to be done by contributors to the journal. When this work is complete decisions can be made on the ways in which the index is to be published, such as print on paper, or CDs, or online in whole or part.

Displays These were kindly provided by Martin Walker and Glen Stafford.

Martin said that this display was the basis for his book on Australian postal notes. He commented that there had been little research done on the subject, and much of the writing on it was inaccurate. He had found that ideas about producing and selling fixed denomination postal notes first appeared in the 1870s. The first postal notes in the British Empire were issued in Queensland in 1880, England followed in 1881. Later all the Australian colonies issued postal notes in fixed denominations, with 1887 the date for South Australia.

Martin showed early versions of postal notes, and dealt with the changes in papers and wording which took place over the years. Most of these were practical measures, dictated by deficiencies that had become apparent with usage.

Glen Stafford showed his exhibit of Siam’s (Thailand’s) first postal card, with emphasis on the Bangkok overprints, which were necessitated by the need to have postal cards for external use when Siam entered the UPU on 1 July 1885. Although his time was short, he was pleased with the useful comments made by viewers. Other business Bernie Beston suggested that the PSSA offer a prize for the Postal Stationery class at the coming exhibition Indonesia 2012, to be held in Jakarta on 18-24 June 2012. It was agreed that a prize would be given in the form of an object easily carried by a Jury member.

Thank you for displays Ian McMahon briefly thanked Martin and Glen for their displays, and closed the meeting at 1.30pm.

Judy Kennett Secretary

SECRETARY’S REPORT April 2011 – March 2012

Meeting The Society last met at Sydney Stamp Expo 2011 on 3 April 2011. A report on this meeting appeared in Postal Stationery Collector November 2011, pages 88-89.

Membership This currently stands at 62 in Australia and 28 overseas. Resignation Jack Harwood (USA) and Dale Ansell (Qld) have resigned.

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Postal Stationery Collector The journal continues to appear regularly, thanks to the efforts of Editor Ian McMahon and his contributors. A special issue in full colour was produced in May 2011 to mark the centenary of the issue of the first Australian Commonwealth postal stationery in April 1911. Please continue to support the journal with your contributions on any aspect of postal stationery.

Index for Postal Stationery Collector For some time now, Derek Brennan, a former member of the Society, has been working on the compilation of an index to the journal. It will cover issues to the end of Volume 17. He considers that the work is now sufficiently advanced for sending sections to contributors for proof reading. It is intended that copies of the draft index will be available for inspection by members at the PSSA meeting at Canberra Stampshow 2012.

Postal Stationery results from Sydney Stamp Expo 2011 Congratulations to John Sinfield on winning the Grand Prize National with his exhibit of Australia’s Pre-decimal Post cards, which was awarded a Large Gold with Felicitations. The PSSA Prize was awarded to Bernie Beston for his exhibit of postal stationery of Ecuador, which was awarded Gold.

PSSA website Jeff and Yvette Trinidad continue with the work of updating and maintaining the website. The Online Listing of Australian Non-denominated and Flat Rate Postal Stationery, version November 2010, is available there. Covers and contents pages from current issues of the journal are also featured. At last count, the number of visits recorded on the counter at the foot of the home page was more than 10500.

Australian Colonies / States Postal Stationery Catalogue Project Work continues on the catalogues for Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. John Bell, a lead researcher for the New South Wales catalogue, passed away on 12 September 2011. David (Dingle) Smith has now taken up the task of compiling the NSW catalogue. He will be drawing on the published works of John Bell, and has access to John’s research material. John’s contribution will, of course, be referenced in the catalogue. Dingle will be working with Bernie Doherty, who has collected illustrations, and has prepared a template for the catalogue.

Publicity for the Society The PSSA was featured in the series ‘Postal Stationery Societies around the World’ in the January 2012 issue of the Newsletter of the FIP Postal Stationery Commission. This illustrated article has also appeared in The Asia Pacific Exhibitor, Vol 25 No 1, February 2012.

Judy Kennett Secretary March 2012

TREASURER’S REPORT

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LITERATURE Judy Kennett and Ian McMahon From our contemporaries There was an omission in the information supplied in the Literature section of Postal Stationery Collector Issue No 68 February 2012, page 12. The full reference for the journal The Informer is Vol 76 No 1 January 2012. The three articles mentioned are all by members of the PSSA; ‘New Zealand’s early PTPO envelopes – Part 2’ is by Stephen Schumann, ‘Solomon Island postpaid envelopes’ is by Steven Zirinsky, and ‘Postal orders and postal notes of Australasia’ is by Jack Harwood, a member at that time. The Postal Stationery Society Journal [UK] Vol 20 No 1 February 2012

The H Edgar Weston saga continues (philatelic creations with postal stationery)

Aerogrammes [of Sierra Leone] – their size and shape

Illustrated and advertising postal stationery in the period up to the First World War – QV postcards Part 4

The 1943-46 provisional printings of the King George VI 5½ d brown registration envelopes

GB postal stationery news – stamped to order envelopes and postcards, and forgeries and bogus postal stationery

L’Entier Postale [France] double No 88-89 Decembre 2011 Our friends in France are now publishing their journal in A4 size, and in full colour. This is a beautiful publication, devoted entirely to postal stationery with ‘autographs’ from French writers or writers who had lived in France. Congratulations, ACEP members! The Asia Pacific Exhibitor Vol 25 No 1Feb 2012

Postal Stationery Societies around the world – Australia: The Postal Stationery Society of Australia, by Judy Kennett and Ian McMahon

Current and suggested guidelines [for postal stationery] Both these articles previously appeared in the online version of the Newsletter of the Postal Stationery Commission January 2012 The Informer Vol 76 No 2 April 2012

New Zealand World War I internment camps and their stationery Postal Stationery Notes December 2011

Santa Claus Parade Cards

Advertising on Postal Stationery Cards

New Official Envelope

Private Order Envelope on Basket Weave Paper

Private Order Envelopes with Illustrations

Private Order Envelopes from Chesley Ontario Ganzsachensammler December 2011

An amazing POW postcard from WW2 Postcards and postal stationery of Switzerland A Swiss Carrier Pigeon flies the wrong way Foreign Philately with reference to Switzerland The cantonal post and the postal service 1803 -1848, as reflected in receipts

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New proofs and specimen postcards from Switzerland Postal Stationery January - February 2012

USA Envelopes -The World of Errors - Double Trouble

Bogus Abu Dhabi Aerograms

Weed Sewing Machine Co. and other Things

19th Century Envelopes, 1890 Annual Report

Postal Cards, Common Terns Press Sheets

20th & 21 st Century Envelopes, FDC - Part 3

2011 USA Postal Card Issues

Syria O.M.F. Envelope

Cilicia Registration Envelope

USA Wrappers

Australian Stationery with Views

More Jewish New Year Cards

Storage of Postal Stationery

South Australian OHMS Wrappers

Cameroons Aerogram with Double Overprint

International Reply Coupons in Exhibitions

Literature Reviews: Malaysia and the Federation of Malaya - Their Stamps and Postal Stationery, Vol 3; Die Bildpostkarten Osterreichs; Die Bildpostkarten des Deutschen Reiches Bohmen und Mahrens, sowie der Freien Stadt Danzigs; Costa Rica, Targetas Postales de 1923, Tarjetas de Propaganda al Cafe. Vistas de Limon

Market Report, USA Possessions sale

Asia Pacifc Exhibitor Nov 2011

Jamaica The Study of the First Postcards Is This Transpromo Mail (ING Direct envelope)

Black Swan March 2012

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Private Aerogramme Stanley Gibbons Stamp Monthly March 2012

The Mulready Envelopes and Letter Sheets Postal Stationery Matters: Patent Envelopes, Newfoundland

Website If you are interested in wrappers you should look at the website http://www.stampdomain.com/newswrapper/ by Jan Kosniowski for information and interesting links. Reviews London Philatelist Vol 121 No 1392 January –February 2012 Afghanistan: 1901-1933: a specialised catalogue, stamps, postal stationery, postcards, postmarks and postal rates, by Robert Jack, published 2011 by the author / publisher, York UK, spiral bound, 98p, colour ill, price UK pounds 29.50 + p&p. Enquiries: email [email protected] or website www.afghanphilately.co.uk . This is volume 2 of a planned series of five volumes. The reviewer notes that it contains much more information than just a catalogue, and states that ‘it is a most impressive piece of work which collectors will find very illuminating’. London Philatelist Vol 121 No 1393 March 2012, page 80 Handbook and catalogue of the picture postcards of the German Reich, Bohemia and Moravia and the Free City of Danzig [translation] by Michael Bockisch, published 2011 by the author / publisher, Jesteburg, Germany, hard bound, approx 870 pages in numbered sections, colour ill, inc DVD, price

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Euros 96.90 + p&p. Enquiries: email [email protected] or website www.bpk-kataloge.de . In German. Postal stationery cards for tourist publicity were issued in many European countries. This volume is on the more than 2000 cards issued in Germany before 1945, with small sections on Bohemia & Moravia and Danzig. There is a catalogue section where current prices for these cards are mentioned. The early chapters look at all aspects of the purpose, distribution and development of the cards. The book is accompanied by a DVD on which every card is illustrated. The reviewer notes that the book is well illustrated; it is in German but this should not be a problem except in the early chapters on the history behind the cards. In the same issue another book by Michael Bockisch is surveyed by a different reviewer. It is Handbook and catalogue of the picture postcards of Austria [translation], published 2009 by the author / publisher, hard bound, approx 680 pages in numbered sections, colour ill, inc DVD, price Euros 89.90 + p&p. Enquiries: email [email protected] or [email protected] or website www.bpk-kataloge.de . In German. The Austrian Postal Administration issued its first set of postal stationery cards of Austrian scenery in 1927, and it was a huge success. Further sets followed, with a break for the Second World War, and were resumed in 1950, continuing until 1994. Overall some 7000 cards of this type were produced. Once again the book is in German. The reviewer comments that the author is solely concerned with the postal administration issues, with full details of the philatelic aspects, and that it is a complex production that will repay careful study. King George VI New Zealand – The Half Penny Issues and Postal Rates: A Study Paper Authors: Stephen F Prest & Patrick J Skinner; Pub. Prest & Skinner, P.O. Box 18354, Glen Innes, Auckland, New Zealand 1743. ISBN 978-0-473-16602-1. pp. 79, Spiral Bound. Fully illustrated in Colour, Price NZ$40 + P&P. The Study Paper looks at the changes that occurred in half penny postal rates during the George VI Period which, for New Zealand, is defined as commencing December 11, 1936 (Accession to the Throne) ending February 28, 1954 (last day prior to issue of QEII Definitives on March 1, 1954). The effect these changes had on production and supply requirements for half penny adhesive stamps and half penny denominated postal stationery is examined through the liberal use of postal history examples. The Study Paper examines the use of the 1935 Half Penny Fantail adhesive stamp and postal stationery in the early years of the George VI Period and briefly touches on the use of half penny postage due and Government Life Insurance stamps. Timelines are presented in chart form showing the periods of issue of half penny stamps, half penny postal stationery and periods of selected half penny postal rates. Detailed information on the changes in half penny rates and the dates they occurred for different classes of mail and fees is presented in Appendix 1 of the Study Paper. Appendix 2 describes the changes the New Zealand Post & Telegraph Dept. made to its list of “British Countries” as the Period evolved. Previously unpublished information on postal stationery varieties is presented in the Study Paper. The study also discusses at some length, the heretofore underappreciated scarcity of some classes of uprated postal stationery items during the reign. This aspect makes for some of the most interesting reading for New Zealand postal historians who are interested in the George VI Period or postal stationery generally. The authors have posted the contents of the Study Paper on their King George VI New Zealand website ( www.kgvi.co.nz ) thus making its contents generally available to philatelists interested in the New Zealand George VI Period.

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NEW ISSUES

Canada

Canada Post continues to issue postcards with its recent adhesive issues. Illustrated are cards for Miss Supertest III and Year of the Dragon, Fafard and Day Lilies. Canada Post has also introduced a new range of size #10 envelopes sold in packs with animal and bird designs and another depicting flowers.

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USA

Following an increase in postage rates the USA post office has issued new envelopes (showing the purple martin, in various sizes and including a range of window envelopes), single and reply postcards nad a priority mail envelope.

Portugal and China

Illustrated above and below are stamped envelopes from Portugal and Greece and a specimen postcard from China.

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Belgium

Illustrated below is another registered postcard posted in Belgium in 1950. The postcard contains details of military service and was presumably registered to ensure that there was a record of receipt.

POSTAL STATIONERY COLLECTOR: SALE OF BACK ISSUES

The Postal Stationery Society of Australia has been publishing its journal Postal Stationery Collector since May 1995. It is distributed to financial members four times each year, in February, May, August and November. The Society has always maintained a stock of back issues, which are for sale to both

members and non-members.

Description

Issues 1- 9 were produced as photocopies in A4 format, with corner staples, and are available only in that form. They are for sale at $4.00 each, which includes postage in Australia. Airmail postage to

overseas countries is an additional charge. Issues 10 - 45 are available as original copies, in A4 format and saddle stapled, at $5 each. This

includes postage in Australia, but airmail postage to overseas destinations is extra. Current issues No 46 onwards, are available as original copies, in A4 format and saddle stapled, at $6 each. This

includes postage in Australia, but airmail postage to overseas destinations is extra. Reductions will be available on orders of five (5) copies or more.

Payment

Payment is to be made to the Postal Stationery Society of Australia. In Australia, payment can be

made either by cheque (made payable to the PSSA) or by credit card (Visa or Mastercard accepted). For overseas buyers, payment is by credit card. Where payment is by credit card, the transaction will

be processed by the Queensland Philatelic Council.

Enquiries Enquiries re price and availability are to be made either by mail to the Secretary at PO Box 16,

Ulmarra NSW 2462 AUSTRALIA or enquire by email to [email protected]