Items included on this page:
The NWT Hammer
As explained on the first page, postal authorities produced a steel hammer for use at BRANDON N.W.T. On December 23rd, 1881, the boundaries of Manitoba were moved westward, so that Brandon became BRANDON MAN. The decision for this was in May, so that the event was well known in advance. On August 1, 1881, the first Brandon post office was opened, as Brandon, Man. The first hammer used there was the NWT hammer modified to show MAN. Thus, the NWT hammer was no more.
How then is it that there are two examples of its use? The image below was generously loaned for this exhibit by Gray Scrimgeour of Victoria. The other example is in a collection in Winnipeg.
Both of the reported examples are addressed to C. Stewart at Brandon (East), N.W.T. and both are dated FE 5, 1881, well before the Brandon post office opened. Stuart's book, "The Prairie W.A.S.P." tells of Charles Stewart, who vigorously promoted the development of land near his property found near the Brandon Hills, using the name "Sigma". He called the area "East Brandon". A spirited correspondence in the Brandon Sun and in Winnipeg press debated the merits of the scheme.
The back of the card contains a message from a Winnipeg newspaper and it also shows a faint postmark from Rapid City N.W.T., a transit point in the cards travel from Winnipeg.
A conclusion can be reached that both of the BRANDON N.W.T. examples were processed at Brandon Hill post office, using the new BRANDON N.W.T. hammer - perhaps even as a joke?
Brandon Postmasters/Postmistresses
from 1881 to April, 1966; main post office only; courtesy of the Canadian Postal Archives
J.C. Kavanagh from 1881-08-01 to 1900-12-24
Kenneth Campbell from 1901-01-11 to 1912-05
T.M. Percival from 1912-05-01 to 1924-07-01
William J. Munn from 1925-02-01 to 1936-06-28
Robert Kincaid Forbes from 1936-07-01 to 1951-11-04
J.A. Cressey from 1951-09-16 to 1955-03-20
J.A.E. Williams from 1955-03-21 to 1955-04-06
J.L.T. Simmons from 1955-04-07 to 1957-12-31
T.A.E. Williams from 1958-01-01 to 1962-04-30
J.L.T. Simmons from 1962-05-01 to 1965-12-11
Jack M. Barker from 1965-12-12 to 1966-04-04
Brandon Post Offices
Martin Kavanaugh's book "The Assiniboine Basin" contains a nice summary of the history of the first post office in Brandon, and its various temporary locations. There were two substantial dedicated buildings that followed.
The next and present location is on Princess Avenue, between the same two streets:
Go to Page 5 (postmarks). See the menu below for other aspects of the postal history of Brandon.
Return To Page 1 of this exhibit | 1882 | business mail | early history | postmasters | post offices | postmarks | railway post offices |