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NEW JERSEY
POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Founded 1972

 

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THE NEW JERSEY POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY was established in 1972, to study and explore the many aspects of New Jersey postal history.

The society produces a quarterly award winning journal in electronic and hardcopy format, which publishes articles on a variety of subjects relating to this theme. Join the Society and receive NJPHS as a benefit!

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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 2013 Issue of the NJPH Journal UNOFFICIAL REGISTRATION OF NEW JERSEY STAMPLESS COVERS By James W. Milgram, M.D.

From November 1, 1845 to June 30, 1855 there was an unofficial type of Registration of
valuable letters at most post offices within the United States. The first marking is the large blue “R” applied on receipt at Philadelphia beginning in 1845. Later beginning in 1847 some post offices began to mark valuable mail at the post offices of mailing. There were other post offices which applied markings on receipt and a few which applied markings on transient mail that was registered. The author has written several articles and a book on this subject. 1

Among the covers that bear unusual postmarks with blue “R” markings are several covers
from New Jersey. The cover in Figure 1 is dated “TRENTON N.J. AUG 27” (1846) with a single
rate due “5” with hollow numeral. The “R” was used from November, 1845 to October, 1849.


august13

In 1846 the strikes were usually pretty clear, but in later years it became less well defined.
It is felt that the Trenton postmaster marked the waybill that traveled with every letter to indicate valuable contents. Thus the Philadelphia postmaster marked it with the blue “R”.

The cover in Figure 2 has the same address and was postmarked only two weeks before
the cover shown in Figure 1. This cover has a nice strike of the hollow “10” used at Trenton.
The letter is missing now, but it must have been two sheets because of the double rate.

aug13-2

The third cover shown in Figure 3 is quite unusual First it was sent PAID, not due, with
a post office box account charge marking “Paid Box 77”. There is the “TRENTON N.J. JAN 12” postmark, but the letter lacks contents so we can guess at early 1847 because of the condition of the handstamped “R” above “Peter”. However, it is the rate marking which is most unusual. There appears to be a “10” in octagonal box (unlisted in Coles) with “15” in circle struck heavily over it. Because of the large cover, one can surmise a heavy enclosure requiring a triple rate.


aug13-3a

aug13-3

A final cover shown in Figure 4 was also another paid usage with “Paid 61” indicating the
box account. The postmark is a red “NEWARK N.J. DEC 25” with red “PAID” and “10” in
double circle. Although the contents are missing, the excellent strike of the blue “R” makes 1845 the likely date. Note that the post office was open on Christmas Day.

aug13-4

I am sure there must be registered covers from other New Jersey towns and I would like to receive scans at j-milgram@northwestern.edu


END NOTES:
1 Milgram, James W. United States Registered Mail 1845-1870, David G. Phillips Co., N. Miami, Fla., 1999, & Milgram, James W. “Unofficial Registration of Mail in the U.S.: 1845-1855,” in The Chronicle of U.S. Classic Postal Issues, No. 221, 61: 9-24, 2009


Past Featured Covers

hf1

May 2013 Issue of the NJPH JournalSTAGE OPERATIONS AND THE MAILS IN NEW JERSEY© By Steven M. Roth (© 2013. Steven M. Roth)

 

Prior to the Revolutionary War, major travel in the American colonies was restricted
for the most part to the
Read more.....


hf1

February 2013 Issue of the NJPH Journal INTENDED FOR THE GRAF ZEPPELIN BUT CARRIED BY STEAMER? A 1929 Jersey City Transatlantic Airmail to Basel Switzerland by John Trosky

 

The first decades of the 20th century saw the dawn of a new age in mail transport, airmail. By the late 1920s Read more.....


hf1

November 2012 Issue of the NJPH Journal LEGISLATIVE FRANKS OF NEW JERSEY by Ed & Jean Siskin

The franking privilege is the right to send and or receive mail free from postage.
Read more.....


hf1

August 2012 Issue of the NJPH Journal HADLEY AIR FIELD, NEW BRUNSWICK. NEW JERSEY by Jim Walker

Early air mail service in the New York area used an assortment of air fields on Long Island. Hazlehurst Field was the one in use at the commencement of Transcontinental Air Mail
Service in 1924 and was deemed inadequate due to smoke from city industries and ocean fog.
Read more.....


february11cover

May 2012 Issue of the NJPH Journal FIVE CENT 1856 STAMP ON COVERS FROM NEW JERSEY by Robert G. Rose

Have you ever fantasized, as have I, of forming a collection of United States classic stamps used on covers from New Jersey? If so, the task to put such a collection together would be a real challenge....
Read more.....


february11cover

February 2012 Issue of the NJPH Journal A Wonderful Revolutionary Letter by Ed and Jean Sisken

In the Oct-Nov 1988 issue of La Posta, Tom Clarke wrote an article about a wonderful
Revolutionary War cover he had. Dated February 16, 1777, from New Brunswick, New Jersey...
Read more.....


february11cover

November 2011 Issue of the NJPH Journal New Jersey Civil War Covers -Wyman the Wizard!

If you were to conduct a detailed review of the 190 Civil War patriotic covers illustrated in NJPH whole nos. issues 100 and 117, or the online exhibit of covers shown at NOJEX, you can begin to see the emergence of some interesting patterns among the covers. An obvious pattern is that there are several different correspondences represented in the illustrated covers. Read more.....


february11cover

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 Elizabeth-town postmark. Read more.....

february11cover

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.....


february11cover

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.....


nov10cover

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.....


nov cover

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.....


nov cover

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.....


nov cover

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.....


RFDCover

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.....


RFDCover

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.....


RFDCover

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.....


RFDCover

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.....


RFDCover

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

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