기송관 우편 Pneumatic-tube postcard a new discovery

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U.S. Notes

Pneumatic-tube postcard a new discovery

By John M. Hotchner

   It pays to answer ads. A recent ad from a collector said he was disposing of his United States collection of stamps and covers and invited readers to send a stamped envelope
for a listing. I did.
   Eventually the list arrived and I found several lots I could use. But the star of the list was the postcard shown in Figure 1, which was described as the 1¢ stamp of the 1902-03 series on a 1906 postcard "with a printed notice affixed stating that the article was damaged in the pneumatic tube used to transport the mail."
   I am a collector of U.S. auxiliary markings showing mail delays, and this jumped out at me. Previously only one such label had been reported — and it was not attached to a cover but free standing. So I sent in a check and held my breath, hoping no one would beat me to the punch.
   Presently the card came, and it made my week. Canceled in August 1906 in North Dover, N.H., it was sent to Roxbury, Mass. Its label is similar to, but differs from, the original find, which carries the message: "Office of the Postmaster, Boston, Mass. The mutilation of this piece of mail matter was accidentally caused while being transmitted through the pneumatic tube and its damaged condition is greatly regretted."
   Mine says, with the same header, "The damage to this mail matter was caused by the accumulation of moisture and iron rust in the pneumatic tube, being forced by the high speed maintained into the cartridge which hold the mail while in transit. The company operating the tubes is using every means to prevent this damage and the soiled condition of this piece is greatly regretted."
   Pneumatic tube markings are scarce as hen’s teeth even though pneumatic tube services existed in six cities: Philadelphia, from 1893; New York and Boston, from 1898; and Brooklyn, Chicago and St. Louis, by 1908.
   The tube service in all cities was closed down in mid-1918 in favor of motor trucks and horse-drawn wagons. But for the same reasons as the 1893-1908 implementation period — slowing of the mails by increasing volumes of traffic — the service was restored in New York (1922) and Boston (1926). New York’s ended in 1953, and Boston’s did so in 1950.
   The tube systems were leased but operated by post office personnel. The longest system was in New York City, with 26.25 miles of tube lines as of 1915, servicing 24 stations. The shortest was the Brooklyn system, with 1.35 miles of tube lines, in 1915, serving two stations.
   The tube lines themselves were located 4 feet to 6 feet below ground, often under sidewalks. The cartridges moved at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, by force of compressed air. They could carry 8 pounds to 10 pounds of letter mail. Large volumes of mail were sent through these systems, but very little in the way of pneumatic tube markings or labels survive.
   Damage occurred when a cartridge got stuck or was improperly closed. Based on the surviving evidence, this probably didn’t happen often, but it happened enough to justify use of handstamps, as demonstrated by the postal card shown in Figure 2. Still these cards are rarities.
   So, my thanks to the U.S. collector who sold me the Boston card, to philatelic journalist Steven Rod who found the New York marking in Figure 2, and to Roger Brody, who researched U.S. pneumatic tube mail and wrote up his findings for the U.S. Specialist, monthly journal of the United States Stamp Society, in the issues of October 1997 and June 1998. 
   


   It’s amazing how many times one can look at an image and not see what is there. Several readers entering the April cartoon caption contest featuring the Minuteman on the 1925 5¢ Lexington-Concord commemorative were much more observant than I have been.
   They noticed what looks like a gas can to the left of the statue. In fact it is a plow draped with an abandoned coat, symbolizing what the Minuteman is leaving behind as he goes to fight. But the gas can image, given the principal product of the Middle East, gave rise to a number of excellent entries.
   My favorite is a clever bit by Ed Matukonis of Forty Fort, Pa.: "Tin can? Gas can? Who can? We can! Ameri-can Minuteman!"
   There were many other reflections on the parallels between then and now, chief among them thoughts on the nature of how war has changed. An excellent example is this line from Robert Philo of Kennewick, Wash., "Maybe we can get the enemy to wear a red coat, like they did for us."
   Surprisingly, only one person, Michael Warofsky of Bethpage, N.Y., came up with the Donald Trump line that has transfixed America in the latest round of reality television.
   Apparently, the Minuteman’s opponent missed. It made me laugh, and I’ve chosen it as the nonphilatelic-line winner, shown in Figure 3.
   On the philatelic side, David Vikan of Grafton, N.D., wins the prize with, "You know what would be truly revolutionary? If the USPS stocked all post offices with every commemorative!"
   Both winners will receive a a set of two books — The World’s Greatest Stamp Collectors and More of the World’s Greatest Stamp Collectors. The books were written by Stanley Bierman and published by Linn’s. They have a retail value of $29.95.
   Here are the best of the runners-up:
   "Careful now, don’t get any closer. I work for Homeland Security!" by Jack Rubin of San Diego, Calif.
   "Owww, too much Concord grape. Was it two if by land and one if by sea, or the other way around?" by Ken Lewetzow of Saratoga, Calif.
   "What’s a Humvee?" sent by Fred Pheulpin of Burlington, Vt.
   "Can someone tell me why this lady I met in the bar last night walked away when I told her I was a Minuteman?" by Jack Simon of Rego Park, N.Y.
   "Middle East? Is that near Philadelphia?" from Michael Moticha of Apple Valley, Calif.
   "Wait a minute, man. I think I have a plan." by Oliver Ogilvie of Ringwood, Hants, England.
   "Now if I can find 59 more soldiers, we can all appear on 60 Minutemen!" sent by Steve Kotler of San Francisco.
   Thanks and a tip of the hat to all who entered.
   The next U.S. Notes cartoon caption contest will be announced in the June 7 issue of Linn’s.

Figure 2. Damage in the pneumatic tube system of New York City is the genesis of the handstamp on this postal card sent from one part of the city to another in 1942.

Figure 1. Newly come to light is this postcard mailed in 1906, with damage from an "accumulation of moisture and iron rust," as the attached label reads. The card was in a pneumatic tube in the Boston, Mass., pneumatic tube system that existed from 1898 to 1950.

 

Figure 3. Michael Warofsky of Bethpage, N.Y., borrows this Donald Trump line for use by the Minuteman on the 1925 5¢ Lexington-Concord commemorative stamp. Presumably his opponent missed. Warofsky wins the nonphilatelic-line part of the April cartoon caption contest.