Some 19th Century Mail That Took it on the Chin
by John Burnett (EPH3)
Originally published in Linns Stamp News
Up through the 19th century, letters often were treated pretty badly.
In fact, in the early part of the 19th century it was not uncommon to have three or four copies of the same letter written and sent in hopes that at least one of them would arrive in readable condition.
On many Canadian packet boats to Great Britain it was possible to pay extra to have the letter carried in the captain's sea chest, thereby guaranteeing its safe arrival. The captain, for his trouble, received an extra fee.
Figure 1 shows the front and back of a Canadian cover to England that received some bad treatment enroute.
 
Figure 1 - Held together by Official post office seals, the front and back of this badly battered 1890 cover bears testament to the hard handling it endured, though it never got to its intended recipient in Liverpool.
The cover was addressed to someone in care of the "general Post Office, (Li)verpool, England," with the underlined note "To be left until called for", in the bottom left corner of the envelope front.
You can see that this cover is very heavily worn and roughly opened, and was resealed by the post office in England. It has been closed by the attachment around its edges of seven crown "VR/FOUND OPEN AND/OFFICIALLY SEALED" labels.
The back of the cover at the bottom of figure 1, shows a water-stained manuscript notation "Edges frayed in Poste Restante" (as the department in charge of mail addressed to be called for in this way is known), and is signed or initialed by some postal clerk or administrator.
The unusual boxed marking on the front of the cover "NOT CALLED FOR/466" shows that the intended recipient never called for this letter.
Instead, on September 8, 1890, the cover went to the Liverpool Returned Letter Office. Markings on the back indicate that it went to the London RLO and finally returned to Canada, although the date is not readable.
As a collectible this cover is important to me because it fits into two of my Canada collections. It is a very nice 5¢ small queen cover for that collection but, it is also a very nice addition to my collection of damaged mail. Having something that fits more than one collection is kind of neat as it allows the owner to fill more than one space in various exhibits if he or she is an exhibitor.
Figure 2 and 3 show the front and back, respectively, of another transatlantic cover bearing a 5¢ small queen stamp.
The 5¢ small queen paid the prevailing Universal Postal Union rate from Canada to Europe. In the case of our second example the mailer truly got his nickel's worth.
The letter was mailed in March 1895 at Montreal, Quebec, addressed to "Wein" (Vienna), Austria. It was forwarded to Florence, Italy, via New York, NY, USA, and was sent on to Washington, D.C., arriving at the General Delivery office in May.
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| Figure 2 - The puzzling potpourri of addresses on this 1895 cover from Montreal to Vienna is typical of many well traveled transatlantic covers that gamely chased (but never caught up to) to those to whom they were addressed. |
Figure 3 - Though some are hard to see, handstamps from the back of figure 2 trace its four-and-a-half month trip from Montreal to Vienna, Florence, London, New York City, Washington, and back home to Montreal. |
From there it went to the Dead letter Office in June, finally arriving at the Dead Letter Office in Montreal - where it had begun its journey - July 5.
With covers like the examples shown here, you might have to sit for hours trying to decipher the route they took and the way they were treated.
Start by writing down every date, location and marking you can read. Once you have put that information in chronological order, the story will often tell itself.
Covers such as these are often found in "junk" boxes because of their condition and difficulty of interpreting. These types of postal history are fun to work with and offer great satisfaction once their mystery is solved.
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