NJFSC Chapter #44S..........PHS Affiliate #1A..........APS Affiliate #95 |
Society & Member's Galleries....
As we continue to add more galleries, some will be for public display while many will be reserved for members access only.
Featured Covers Gallery
August 2011 Issue of the NJPH Journal New Elizabeth, NJ Marking -
ELIZABETHTOWN STAMPLESS POSTMARK ALTERED TO READ “ELIZABETH”!
This newly-discovered Elizabeth postmark falls at the time the name was changed from
Elizabethtown to Elizabeth, and a new handstamp was created from an existing Elizabethtown
postmark.
On May 23, 1855, the name of the post office in what was then Elizabethtown, was shortened
to “Elizabeth.” Prior to that date, and throughout the stampless period, the Elizabethtown post office
used a variety of handstamped postmarks, including a large circle with the shortened “Elizabeth”
town name which the Coles Book records with an 1853-55 period of use.
Whether this handstamp was available for use at the time of the official name change on
May 23, 1855 is not known. The author has not seen any covers with the type E2 postmark after
the May 23 date. However, following the official date of the name change it appears that a new
postmark was needed. It may be further surmised that the postmaster did not have sufficient
time or perhaps the inclination to order a new handstamp. Instead, an existing Elizabethtown
postmark was altered to read “Elizabeth” as shown in Figure 2. This is the discovery copy of
this postmark. It is not listed in The Coles Book. 2
This altered postmark is dated June 22 and its 1855 usage is confirmed by the dateline on
the enclosed letter, just a month after the post office’s renaming. As of April 1, 1855, the law
required, for the first time, the compulsory prepayment of all domestic mail, with three cents
paying the half ounce rate under 3,000 miles, as reflected in the handstamped rate marking.
The question then arises: which of the existing Elizabethtown handstamps was altered to
read “Elizabeth?” The Coles Book includes two possibilities. The first is a 29 millimeter circle
in blue (E10) with reported uses from 1840 to 1857, as shown in Figure 3.3 Five cents paid the
half ounce rate under 300 miles, effective on July 1, 1845, on this 1846 cover.
The second Elizabethtown postmark is a 31 millimeter circle in black (E11) with reported
uses from 1853 to 1855 as shown in Figure 44 on the following page. Three cents paid the
compulsory prepaid rate for one-half ounce domestic mail under 3,000 miles that became
effective on April 4, 1855, just four days before the posting of this cover.
The altered postmark shown in Figure 2 measures 29 millimeter and the spacing of the
letters also matches up with those in Figure 3, Coles type E10. It appears then, that the type E10
handstamp was altered with the removal of the letters “town” to read as “Elizabeth.” The “PAID
3” rate marking is identical to that shown on the 1855 cover in Figure 4 and is the proper rating
effective on April 1, 1855.
ENDNOTES:
1 William C. Coles, Jr., The Postal Markings of New Jersey Stampless Covers (The Collectors Club of Chicago,
1983), p. 168, with Coles type E2.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid, p. 170. Coles also reports this postmark in green from 1845 to 1857 and in black without a year date. Coles
type E10.
4 Ibid. Coles type E11.
Past Featured Covers
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May 2011 Issue of the NJPH Journal Civil War Patriotic Covers from New Jersey.
The cover below is dated Mar. 10 from Bloomsbury, NJ to West Liberty, Ohio, with the imprint of S.C. Rickards, Stationers, 102 Nassau Street, N.Y., and shows one of the rare New Jersey Civil War patriotic images.
Read more..... |
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February 2011 Issue of the NJPH Journal A Folded Letter in art - was it from New Jersey?
This painting by Jacques-Louis David, painted in 1821, shows two Bonaparte princesses reading a stampless folded letter from their father, Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. Was it written to them from New Jersey?
Read more..... |
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November 2010 Issue of the NJPH Journal REVOLUTIONARY WAR COVER
The cover of our most recent journal features this Revolutionary item, from Don Chafetz’s prize-winning exhibit of Morris County Mail Service, 1760 to 1850.
Read more..... |
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August 2010 Issue of the NJPH Journal NEW JERSEY ILLUSTRATED LETTER SHEETS
These items were made popular by the nice ones that exist from the California Gold Rush days, and those used during the Civil War, where they depicted contemporary scenes at the top of the letter sheet, the rest of which was then used to write a letter.
Earliest examples usually included an attached sheet and were used as stampless folded letters.
Later ones were more like letterheads, and were sent enclosed in envelopes.
Read more..... |
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May 2010 Issue of the NJPH Journal Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America!
Treasure Island Scout Camp occupies a fifty-seven acre island in the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The camp is operated by the Cradle of Liberty Council (formerly the Philadelphia Council), Boy Scouts of America. Read more..... |
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February 2010 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a 1995 cover of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, the last of the conventionally-powered US aircraft carriers, decommissioned in 2009.
This great ship served almost 50 years in service of her country.
Read more..... |
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November 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a Holiday Greetings from Viet Nam
Just before Christmas of 1971, a GI-produced Christmas card was distributed to the troops of the 101st Airborne for them to send home. A hand-made envelope served to carry it home to New Jersey.
As it was late in December, member Jim Walker used a U.S. air mail stamp instead of the usual free frank available to soldiers in combat,
Read more..... |
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August 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a a Graf Zeppelin cover.
L127 First Trip to the USA in 1928. Special credit to John Trosky for this nice article!
WEB-SITE SPECIAL: an addendum to this article with additional information on an originating 1928 LZ-127 cover from Len Peck!
Read more..... |
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May 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a DPO cover from Maurer, New Jersey.
A pretty little letter sheet invitation from a local hotel in Maurer (now part of Perth Amboy, Middlesex County), NJ turned up at the Garfield-Perry Show in Cleveland, in JWF (Jim Faber’s) stock. Used in 1905, it is from a community that literally does not exist anymore. The location is now the site of a large “tank farm” belonging to Chevron.Read more..... |
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February 2009 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a cameo campaign cover.
A December 15, Hoboken, NJ postmarked Embossed Cameo Campaign Envelope produced by William Eaves was offered this March by Robert A. Siegel Auctions featuring a beardless Abe Lincoln. Only a few examples are known. This Hoboken, New Jersey cover hammered on March 25, 2009 for $2600.00 before the 15% buyers premium! Read more..... |
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November 2008 Issue of the NJPH Journal featuring a cover of seasonal greeting.
A RFD ”Season’s Greetings” post card, cancelled December 24, 1915 with a Pittstown, NJ postmark, sent by the carrier on Route 2 out of Pittstown to the people along his route. Special thanks to Member Jim Walker for sharing this cover. Read more..... |
Members: One of the benefits of membership is sharing your interests and collections! If you would like to share an interesting single item from your collection, or have multiple items to share - the NJPHS Galleries offer you the opportunity to put your collectibles on center stage. Please e-mail your webmaster about contributing to our on-line Galleries. We can even help you if you do not have a scanner or digital images. Just ask. Remember, we are always looking for articles of interest for the NJPH Journal, and would welcome your contribution whether it's a single page or five page article.
If you are not yet a member, please consider the benefits of joining and the satisfaction you'll get by sharing with your fellow collectors: Become a Member |
