4 August 1871 - Schaffhausen to Lahr, Baden.
From October 1870 until December 31 1871 postal cards could only be sent at the 25 centimes letter rate to Germany and Austria. On January 1, 1872 the rate was reduced to 10 centimes. There are only 4 known cards to Baden from the original rate period!
Double digits! We're at day 10 of sharing a cover a day.
Today, I thought I would share this 1861 cover that originated in Boston and went to Calcutta, India via England and Marseilles, France. Only 5 cents of postage was paid to cover the US postage to get it to the British contract steamship that would cross the Atlantic Ocean. This item was mailed using the British "open mail" agreement. That meant the US postage required was paid and then it was treated as unpaid from the point it left the US mail (when it boarded the British ship).
Postcard mailed aboard the Martigny-Chatelard train, which typically was a single coach divided into three sections - passenger, freight and post, and engineer's compartment. All electric! 5 centimes as printed matter, only has name and date of sender.
Johannesburg, South Africa to Breslau, Germany, July 20, 1938
For Day 11 of the Cover A Day Challenge, I've got something from Italy.
After the war in 1859, Lombardy was ceded by Austria to the newly forming Kingdom of Italy. But, they refused to give up highly fortified Mantova (Mantua), which was part of Lombardy. As a result, mail from Milan to Mantua required postage to a foreign destination - which is shown properly paid with this cover. The big "X" was applied in Mantua to acknowledge payment of postage.
EL NUJSTI VOLCANO AT AREQUIUA, PERU PIC PC CANCELLED AT ANTOFAGSTA CHILE SENT TO
NEW LONDON CONN. USA MARKED T FOR POSTAGE TAX DUE WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR THE 1c
DUE AFFIXED TO THE CARD THAT WAS CANCELLED AUG 11 1911 VOLCANO IS ALSO CALLED EL MISTI
Pernambuca, Brazil to Dresden, Germany thru Eisenach-Frankfurt am Main. South America to Europe in 14 days. That's pretty fast. I wonder if it is any quicker now.
6 August 1900
A simple wrapper from Basel to Berlin. Basel canceller is the"razor cancel" type because it looks like an old fashioned razor blade.
I have a 10 frame exhibit which won the Reserve Grand at Westpex recently and can be viewed here. It explains the history and different types of razor cancellers:
http://www.pipexstampshow.org/PIPEX2021/Exhibits2021/Exh%202a%20Heath%20Razor/exframe01.html
Nice, registered airmail diplomatic correspondence from Buenos Aires to the German embassy in Santiago Chile...
I'm having trouble sleeping, so I'll just get a head start on Day 12's Cover A Day item from me.
This one is featured in today's Postal History Sunday for those who might want to read more about it. For those who just want a quick description, this is an item that was sent at the cheaper printed matter rate in Switzerland. The contents are reports on commodities in the United States in late 1860. I will include an image of the wrapper front here. If you want to see the content, it's in the blog. Here's hoping for a few zz's yet tonight for me.
7 August 1900
Domestic Brazilian 50 reis postal card uprated with a 50 reis stamp for international use to Switzerland, via Lisbon (3 August). Mailed 20 July from Para (docketed on message side), travelled aboard the ship "Obidense". Arrived Neuchatel 7 August (lower left) forwarded (razor cancel upper center) to Ponts de Martel received 4pm same day.
From German-occupied Sorenbohm, now Sarbinowo, Poland to Dresden, Germany with Durtch Eilboten (Express Delivery). 1000 Eintausend Mark Inflation stamps.
