The Small Queens

Postal History

This is a complete subject in itself, and this will be no more than an indication of the types of field that can be pursued.

Between 1870 and 1875, although it was necessary to prepay registration fees, it was neither required that postage be prepaid, nor, if prepaid, that postage stamps be used. On the question of stampless covers, certain individuals, M.P.’s for example, had the privilege of free postage within the Dominion. So one can find not only stampless covers there, but also covers sent outside Canada, where the free part was deducted. For example before January 1, 1875, the half ounce rate to the U.S.A. was 6 cents. Anyone with the free privilege need only pay 3 Cents – free in Canada – but not across the border. Such covers are pretty scarce.

In November 1875 Registered Letter Stamps were introduced for the prepayment of the fee on letters being sent either home or abroad; the registry system is a broad field, but there is much to look for even if one confines one’s interest to the Small Queens period.

1875 was also the year prepayment and the use of postage stamps for mail became compulsory, so here one can build up a collection showing the various domestic and foreign rates and how they changed – always downwards in those days, over the years.

And of course there are the postmarks. This period was particularly rich in its variety because the regulations required that postage stamps were to be cancelled with a killer, or failing that an ink cross, that the sending post office’s postmark – generally circular but there are several types – single ring, split ring, double split ring, skeleton, three ring are some of them – was to be applied to the envelope, not the stamp, and the receiving office was to backstamp it, as were all offices it passed through en route if any. It was not until 1894 that regulations were relaxed to allow the use of post offices’ date stamps on the stamp. And naturally the Post Office Department could not supply the rapidly increasing number of post offices with ‘killers’, so postmasters were allowed to make their own. Thus were born the Fancy Cancels of that and the Large Queen periods, often termed corks, and although indeed sheets of cork were sold to postmasters for the purpose, since rubber, wood, steel, and even signet rings were also employed as killers, to say nothing of misused officially issued devices such as mail-bag seals, rate markings and the like, I prefer the more generic term ‘Fancy Cancels’. Best on cover as this would give the office of origin, some are known only off, and so their origin remains unknown.

 

BHJ Cork Cancel
"BHJ" Cork Cancel

Mail-bag Seal
Mail-bag Seal

 

Duplex Cancel
Duplex Cancel

Of the official killers issued, these range from pre-confederation postmarks such as New Brunswick Grid Numerals, British Columbia Numerals (very scarce on Small Queens), Colonial 4-Ring and Confederation 2-Ring Numerals, to Bulls-Eye and Ring cancels to the expensive Duplexes given only to the more important offices. But to add to the fun some postmasters made up their own duplexes (which consist of a hammer bearing a circular date stamp and a killer so that only one strike was needed to service each cover), so there is a field of unofficial duplexes, and duplexes where the killer could revolve round the date stamp as at Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto.  At the beginning of the 1890’s experiments were started first with a short series known as the Barred Cancel which was a combined dater/killer, to be followed a year later – 1893 – by the well known Squared Circles. Does that cover it?  No, not quite.

Travelling Post Offices – mostly rail, but some steamer – is yet another field where the pants can be bored off anyone who isn’t interested – though if one’s collection is properly displayed with maps of the routes and perhaps a few words on the firm involved, who is going to be bored?

More? How about bisects which were strictly contrary to regulations, and yet the One Cent was bisected for use on a newspaper, the Two Cents to substitute for the One Cent Drop Letter rate for which Henry Hechler got the blame in spite of none of the known covers being in his handwriting, and the Six Cents where there may have been a temporary shortage of Three Cents stamps – more probably of the sender rather than the post office that accepted it. Or how about coloured postmarks when regulations were for black ink only to be employed. Or instructional markings e.g. ‘Missent’ ‘Too Late’ ‘Free’ ‘Paid’ ‘Registered’ ‘Returned for deficient postage’ and on and on.

In 1871 the first postcard was issued. Until 1895 private postcards were treated as ordinary mail. Only those officially issued by the Post Office Department were treated as cards, and then only within Canada until the formation of the U.P.U., apart from certain specific agreements reached, for example with the U.K. and with the U.S.A. prior to that event. Where there was no agreement, even officially produced cards sold at post offices were treated as letters and had to have the additional postage prepaid with postage stamps. Also issued as postal stationery were envelopes and wrappers – yet another field.

Or you may find a field of interest that hasn’t even been touched on. The possibilities are almost limitless and the issue has afforded the writer with absorbing interest since his first Canadian collection was sold in 1965, and he wondered what to pick up next. It was nearly Admirals, but looking at the Gibbons Catalogue, Small Queens, at least used, looked inexpensive.