EDITOR : Robert T . Clarke, 1338 Naples Drive, Dallas, Texas 75232 American Philatelic Society Affiliate No . 52 Vol . 2, no. 4 (whole no. 15) April, 1976 page 61 From the President's desk We have April, May and June to go before the vacations start again, and our hobby will be put aside for awhile . These three months will still be a very busy time for our circuit director, Bob Zeigler . After that . . . . boom, no more circuit director . Regretfully, Bob has informed me that due to family, business and school commitments, he will not be able to continue his work as circuit director . This did not come out of the clear blue sky since Bob told us that when he took over from Dr . Ganz . All of us who sold and bought material to and from the circuit will back me up when I say that Bob did a splendid professional job . It will be hard to find a replacement as good and as dedicated as Dr . Ganz and Bob Zeigler. An urgent appeal goes out to our members to make themselves available to replace Bob, starting in September of this year . The job requires much time and a great deal of knowledge of the Swiss and Liechtenstein philately . The satisfaction of helping your fellow collector will however be greater than the sacrifice of time, spent on the job . If you feel inclined to tackle the work of circuit director and want to become a staff member of the A .H .P.S ., please contact me. After receiving the March "Tell," I read articles, semi-articles and bits of information from Sob Zeigler, Fred Lesser, Bob Clarke and five times from Dr . Ganz. These are all familiar names in the "Tell ." In order to expand the contents of the "Tell" with different views on whatever subject about our common hobby : the Swiss and Liechtenstein philately and also subject matter on these countries, other than philately, I urge all of you to send some copy to the editor for placement in the "Tell ." Also, for those who never "showed" their collections at exhibitions, I would like to have your thoughts go in that direction . Until two years ago, I had never issued anything into exhibitions but promised a friend of mine to get some material together for a show he sponsored . It was not the bronze medal I earned for this first showing what turned me on . It was the satisfaction of seeing my own material, representing very few dollars but a lot of time, amongst collections made by others. It also gives you new and fresh ideas in how to set up your collections with more imagination . Any suggestions from experienced "showers" and your own adventures in shows should be mentioned in the "Tell" so that in the near future the A .H .P .S. will be represented in more shows by more members . The "Bepex" in New Jersey was an excellent start.
Vol . 2 No . 4 rage 62 Date : April, 1976
Table of Contents
From the President's Desk 61 AHPS Welcome to new members 62 AHPS Sales Circuit Report # 7 63 New England Chapter News 64 The Marketplace 64 AHPS Writer's Award to Felix Ganz 64 BEPEX Show a Success 65 Swiss Cancellations, Part 48 66 G eneva After 1830 69 It Pays to look for Cancellations 73 Old Swiss Letters 74 Amateur Collector to visit INTERPHIL 76 Vol . 2 No . 4 Page 63 Date : April, 1976
AHPS Sales Circuit Report # 7 The switching incident reported last month has not been resolved. All of the people on the circuit declared their innocence, and none of them could supply enough information to determine where the switch occurred . We have suspicions, but without positive proof the case must be closed . However, this may mean a change in the character of future circuits. It is now time to begin looking for a replacement for the present sales manager, who will resign with regret on July 15 . While I am sorry to place this burden again on AHPS after only one year, the pressure of my work will be very great next year, and there is no way that I can run the circuit as I think it should be run. Whoever replaces me should have a lot of time available-- at least an hour or two a day, and several more hours on weekends . I also recommend a pocket calculator and an occasional aspirin! With nearly 70 circuits dispatched as of March 15, sales have reached almost $5000 . Some time in April they should surpass last year's total . One circuit so far has definitely been lost by the USPS, and a claim has been filed, processed, and the proceeds refunded to the owners . Another may be lost, but with the incredible delays in the mail (35 days between two points in Texas, for example), nothing is certain. Remember that all sales books for this year must reach me by May 1. LATE BOOKS WILL BE RETURNED .
Vol . 2 No . 4 Page 64 Date : April, 1976
New England Chapter News Our next meeting will be held on April 14 at the house of Mr . Georges Peter in Beverly, Mass . Invitations will be sent out to all our "faithfuls ." The March "Tell" made mention of a Boston show, to be held April 30-May 2, 1976 . On Saturday afternoon, May 2, a time slot from 2 PM till 5 PM is set aside for the A .H.P .S. We will have speakers and also a slide program . Members from the A .H .P.S . are invited to send in material for the show . Contact Dave Beaber . Your president, Jan Donker, will be at the show from 12 noon till 6 PM and hopes to meet all New England Chapter members, members from out of state and friends with interest in Swiss philately . Come one, come all and, please, bring a friend.
AHPS Writer's Award to Felix Ganz Felix Ganz has been named winner of the Writer's Award by the American Helvetia Philatelic Society for his lengthy, illustrated article on "Postal Cancellations and Markings in Switzerland and Liechtenstein ." The award, worth $100, was donated anonymously two years ago for the best article to appear during the year 1974-75 in the AHPS monthly journal "Tell" or one of its predecessors, the "Helvetia Alphorn ."
Dr . Ganz's article, which has appeared in 48 installments so far, is the basis for a definitive handbook that would supplement two famous studies of earlier Swiss postal markings, "Handbook of Swiss Pre-Philately" by Jean Winkler and "Handbook of Swiss Cancellations 1843-1882" by Andres and Emmenegger. In dealing primarily with 20th century markings, Dr . Ganz has covered mobile, emergency, military, propaganda, special event and other markings that he has classified in almost 20 different groupings .
Vol . 2 No . 4 Page 65 Date : April, 1976
BEPEX Show a Success An eye-opening 11 Swiss exhibits, sponsored by AHPS, highlighted the 1976 BEPEX in New Jersey Feb . 27-29, with top honors going to Harlan Stone over Felix Ganz in a close judges' decision . Together the displays made up probably the strongest showing of Swiss material in the U.S . in at least the last decade . They included particular strength in Rayons, Strubels, perforated Sitting Helvetias on covers, essays and proofs, and military mail. For his exhibit of the Federal imperforate stamps of 1850-62, Harlan Stone won the BEPEX best-in-show trophy . Helvetia gold medal, APS award for best exhibit by one of its members, and Jacobson Memorial Award for best exhibit by a member of a BEPEX club . The display in- cluded complete platings of the Rayon II (40 types) and large l5rp. Rayon III (10 types).
Felix Ganz won a BEPEX best-in-section award and the Helvetia silver medal for his display of the perforated Sitting Helvetia stamps . It included virtually all combinations on domestic and international mail except the 40c . gray stamp on granite paper . For a second exhibit show- ing World War I military covers with and without "soldier stamps," he received a BEPEX silver medal with felicitations of the jury and the Helvetia bronze medal. Bob Ross, exhibiting World War II military stationery, won a BEPEX silver medal and the SPA award for the exhibit containing the best re- search.
Pete Thorsell received a BEPEX silver medal for a selection of essays and proofs, including a full sheet of a Girardet essay of the 25c. Standing Helvetia stamp . He also won a BEPEX bronze medal for a display of Fournier forgeries of early stamps and postmarks.
Bill Weitzmann won a BEPEX silver medal with felicitations for his ex- hibit of the Strubels . Other winners were Jan Donker and Gerry Diamond, who won BEPEX bronze medals for their respective displays of the Wil- liam Tell stamps and flight vignettes on covers of 1924-27.
Other exhibitors of Swiss material were Harlan Stone, who showed Campione d'Italia stamps on and off cover, and Gordon Sprague, who displayed a cross-section of stamps on printed pages. The Northern New Jersey Chapter of AHPS won the Reggio-Skinner trophy for the highest point total by a participating BEPEX club, based on the individual awards won by its members . Contributing to the total were Harlan Stone, Bob Ross, Bill Weitzmann, Gerry Diamond, and other chapter members who showed non-Swiss material.
The BEPEX judges, all members of the Collectors Club of New York, were Ernest Kehr, Abbot Lutz and Robert Odenweiler . Ernest Kehr, recently elected an honorary member of AHPS, served as chairman . Even though BEPEX is a regional exhibition, the judges used national show criteria in evaluating_ the Swiss exhibits . (H.F.S.)
No. 4 Page 66 Vol . 2 Date April, 1976
POSTAL MARKINGS AND CANCELLATIONS IN SWITZERLAND & LIECHTENSTEIN; PART 48. By Felix Ganz THE FAHRPOST (PARCEL AND DECLARED VALUE) CANCELS
Boxed cancellations with a date have existed in Switzerland since about 1845, and the rectangular AARAU strike is quite often seen on letters from pre-stamp times . But these early boxed date strikes, until about 1875, were simply one of a multitude of town cancellations then in use in Switzerland, and both the Winkler and the Andres and Emmenegger cancellation catalogues will yield quite a number of these rectangles ' pictures. The items up for discussion today, however, are very special cancel- lations, used from about 1873 for items carried by the so-called FAHRPOST, or that branch of the postal service responsible for the delivery of items to addressees by horse-drawn conveyance . Such a mode of service immediately suggests heavy items, to wit, parcels, and the reader ' s assumptions for once are correct . That is generally not known, though, is the fact that another "heavy" type of mail, that concerning value articles as well as often C .O .D. items according to Swiss tradition were transported and delivered together with the parcels from about the mid-1370's to the end of the 1920 's, and the very distinct, dated, rectangular box strikes with lettering in block type were those belonging to clerks accepting items for that service branch. Since most parcel post strikes on inland parcels were lost to col- lectors either because of illegibility or because of no one saving entire parcel wrappings for his stamp collection ( :), one must resort, for entire pieces onto which these cancellations are struck, either to parcel cards ac- companyingforeign parcels to countries ((Fig .1 ; excerpt from a parcel card to Germany (1873) with thirteen 1 Fr. theSeated Helvetias, gold, canceled by three-line BASEL FAHRPOSTAUFGABE marking)), or to wrappers, envelopes, or even cards trans- ported by the delivery-by-car- riage service because of their declared value, or their need to he delivered only upon payment of the requested cash . The entires shown below , or the major portions thereof, clearly demonstrate their specific nature as postal matters and also show the two principal types of these can- collations (two-line, or three-line) as well as one of the few existing ex- ceptions . Fig .2 and 3 are examples of value-declared letters, one from Lu- zern, from a bank, for the ridiculous sum of 30 centimes mailed in a tiny envelope ; the other a letter of 1895, from Yverdon to Thun, that contained 2000 Francs, a v Ty large sum in those days. Both envelopes are of yellow, heavy stock -- apparently a postal requirement -- & both also have at- tached a numbered sticker, for control and tracing purposes. Vol . 2 No. 4 Page 67 Date : April, 1976
The three items shown at left, in part only, all are C .O .D . items, and the word NACHNAHME (with similar !terms in French or in Italian, s imply means that. One is on a 5 cts . postal card (from Zürich with a two-line strike and added frank- ing ; the one from Romanshorn, with three lines is a collection card for a magazine subscription ; and the third, with a singularly lar g e and horizontally divided cancel known only from Bern (here 1890) isbill a monthly from a newspaper to an advertiser, payable as C .O .D. These items do notnumber bear a because nothing of value is enclosed, but the money will be collected from the recipient (if he accepts the charge) .
Vol . 2 No. 4 Page 68 Date : April, 1976
By no means all Swiss post offices owned such rectangular cancellers. it seems that only first-class offices, plus some important branches in larger cities were using them, or cantonal capitals such as Glarus or Altdorf -- then and still now rather small towns. Maybe all the above-named places DID have a separate parcel/Fahrpost window, and that might be the solution to this sli g ht nuzzle. Figure 5 simply shows a few of the two-line markings -- all alike but `for their actual length which depended on the length of the town ' s name.
And Figure 6 shows a few three-line items where the third line either indicates the canton (Reinach AARGAU), the branch (Fribourg SUCC .ursale), or the service (CHAUX FONDS DE FONDS .).
Related to the three-line types is the item shown as Fig .7, from the Swiss post office abroad, in Chiavenna (Italy) which must have handl e d many annoy transactions and parcels because it is the only swiss post office abroad known to have had such a rectangular, dated device. and Fig .3 shows a much more modern version of these cancellations, probably used experimentally in Bern only . This strike is definitely a money branch item ; but the frame is absolutely rectangular (while the other, earlier strikes all had mildly rounded corners ; and furthermore the Bern item features the date at top and the town below. By about 1910 most of these rectangles disappeared,fter a having served in most instances for from fifty to sixty nears and thus being found on all issues from the seated Hel- vetia of the 1870's to the high values of 1914 and 1924 -- and anything in between . . .except that you quite likely will have great trouble find in them an Pro Juventute stamps, or on;postage airmailsbut on due stamps they do occur. Not all of these rectangles were retired, however, and some may be in use to this day . Thus the dated rectangle from Glarus, For about forty years now, has been used at the Glarus railway station to obliterate mail deposited in the station mailbox after closing hours of the post office or nn weekends . At least this strike LOOPS as if at one time it had been the "fahrpost" item . -- And in Bulle this same canceler also was used, at least until 1955, at the railway station. should readers have proof of other rises of these special oblitera - tions, then please advise your correspondent at once -- preferably with an accompanying xerox of the entire piece of mail . Vol . 2 No . 4 Page 69 Date : April, 1976
Geneva after 1830 - by Chuck LaBlonde
In 1830 the contract between the Fischer Postal System and the Canton of Geneva was not renewed. Instead the Canton decided to have a go at running its own postal affairs and a five man commission was appointed to carry out this task commencing 1 January 1831. In this segment we will examine postal activities during the period 1830 to 1860 omitting events surrounding issuance and use of the first stamps in 1843 which is really a separate story.
The changeover in management of the postal system had little immediate effect on the postal markings used on letters originating in Geneva . A wide variety of two line departure postmarks continued in use until 1840 ; the Winkler Handbook lists 12 different cancels of this type, the differences being quite minor and .. usually involving the day and year (either straight or slanted) . One important change occurred in the mark required by the postal treaty with France . The former F.F.4 was changed to G.F.4 beginning 1 January 1831 and continuing for at least 6 months as shown by the cover below dated 17 June 1831.
Folded letter Geneva to Lyon, 17 June 1831. Winkler cancel 262d. Arrived 18 June 1831. Nine decimes postage.
Note that the French exchange office at Ferney applied the usual mark, "Suisse par Ferney" and the numeral "2" indicating the amount due to the Swiss for carrying the letter to the border . All of these marks are applied in black ink.
As reported in the previous segment the mail was delivered in 1830 in Geneva by 4 ladies. A fifth letter carrier was employed in 1834. Until 1835 letters could only be mailed at the main post office which was located at 63 and 64 Rue du Rhone. Two mailboxes were installed in Geneva during 1835, one in the Rive district and the other in the Place 3t . Gervais . These boxes were emptied three times each day . To provide mail service outside of the city itself a rural postal system was organized in 1832 . Initially employing 10 letter carriers, the purposes of this "Landpost" were to deliver letters, collect postage due on these letters and to empty rural mailboxes. By 1835 the Landpost was handling more than 80000 letters each year .
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Sometime around the middle of 1831 the treaty marking G .F.4 was replaced by the letters L G in a rectangular box . An example is shown below. Winkler lists a total of three such marks, the differences being size and color . Until 1840 it was applied in black, after that in red . One may interpret this marking as "Lettre Genevoise" or a letter from Geneva.
Small folded letter Geneva to Lons-le-Saunier (Jura), 21 July 1833 . Winkler cancel 2629. Arrived 22 July 1833 . Five decimes postage.
During the 1830-1840 decade the number of prepaid letters began to show a slight increase . To indicate a prepaid letter Geneva employed a P .P in a circle . This was applied in black until 1840 and after that in red . An interesting example is shown below. If one believes the departure cancel the letter is very old as the year reads 837 . Of course it is really 1837 with a 1 missing . The French transit mark Suisse par Ferney is in red as is the French mark A .E.D. which means Affranchi Etranger Destination or foreign postage paid to destination .
Postpaid folded letter Geneva to Paris, 4 January (1)837 . Winkler cancel 2634. Arrived 7 January 1837 . Diagonal line indicates postage paid.
In 1838 the 5 man postal commission was abolished and operation of the postal system was given to the Ministry of Finance . During this year the Geneva PO handled 816020 pieces of mail( not counting local letters) and the Landpost handled another 107980 pieces . Sixteen letter carriers were employed by the Landpost in 1839 . Geneva suggested to the French that a direct Geneva to Paris mail route be established but this did not come to pass due to objections of some French districts. Postage for a local letter was reduced from 10 centimes to 5 centimes and a sixth mailman was employed in 1840. Supplement to the April, 1976 TELL --AHPS AuctionNo. 12
Dear Members, Since there will now be an overlap in the bidding especially during the be ginning of the month, please don't forget to put the Auction number on your bid sheet . This will avoid any mixups that might occur. Best of luck to all in this April Auction.
Regards,
RESULTS OF AUCTION:: #10, FEBRUARY 1976 . Vol 2 No . 4 Page 71 Date : April, 1976
The post office was moved in 1843 to the Place Bel-Air where it remained until 1865 ; a Credit Lyonnais Bank now stands on this spot . Mister Guillaume Pasteur, Postmaster of Geneva, made treaties with 11 other cantons and the Kingdom of Sardinia to simplify postage rates and speed the delivery of mail. The government decreed that the 5 new mailboxes located at Hotel-de-Ville, Bourg-de-Four, Longmalle, Molard, and Coutance should be emptied 6 times each day ; two new employees were hired to do this. The 1846 revolution and subsequent provisional government had little effect on postal matters . Finally in 1849 the entire postal system was taken over by the Federal Government and Geneva became part of District 1.
Beginning with 1841 Geneva used double circle postmarks with the name of the city at the top and various designs at the bottom including a shield, cross, rosette and finally the time of day . An example is shown below . All of these postmarks were applied with red (or reddish-brown) ink . Note that the french exchange office mark was also redesigned to a double circle . The P .P . has also been changed . All marks on this letter are in red.
Prepaid folded letter Geneva to Dijon (Cote d'Or), 26 April 1845. Winkler cancel 2639. Arrived 27 April 1845. Diagonal line indicates postage paid.
In 1849 the double circle postmark was replaced with a single circle mark which showed, besides the name of the city, the date and time ( M= matin or morning and S= soir or afternoon) . This type of cancel can be found in red, blue and black until 1858. The P .P . indicating postage paid in advance was replaced by a PD in a circle . Many varieties of this were in use from 1845 to as late as 1870 . Some examples are shown on the next page. It is interesting to note the very slow acceptance of postage stamps . As late as 1862 when the perforated Sitting helvetias were issued less than 50» of the letters originating in Geneva were prepaid. And many of the letters that were prepaid still did not bear stamps . Dut more about this another time .
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Prepaid folded letter Geneva to Thonon, 4 July 1851. Winkler cancel 2644 (red) . Arrived 5 July 1851
Folded letter Geneva to Villeneuve, 5 January1858. Winkler cancel 2644 (black). Arrived 6 January 1858. Forty centimes postage.
Bibliography Bühler, "Altschweiz- was nicht im Katalog steht" Fulpius, "La Poste à Geneve de l'Origine à 1ö51", Volumes I and II SSV, "Wer die Frankaturen der Sitzenden Helvetia gezähnt" VSPhV, "Grosses Handbuch der Abstemplungen auf Schweizer Marken 1843-1907" Winkler, "Handbuch der Schweizer Vorphilatelie 1695-1850"
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It pays to look for cancellations -Felix Ganz At a recent. stamp show in Chicago pickings for Swiss collectors were indeed pretty slim -- with the exception of one dealer . who had just acquired a big, early collection, with many covers, for which he wanted the small sum of $ 25 ' 000 Snooping through a variety of "new" dealers ' assortments of "stuff" an early item, canceled in a dirty brown, but very clearly by NEUCHATEL, was espied in a group of covers marked "Early France" . It cost $5 . which seemed a bit steep ; but since it had a clear strike it was acquired. At home, the Winkler catalogue/handbook (which many collectors re- fused to buy because it is in the $20 range) was consulted and showed that this strike, catalogued as #3061, is recorded only for ONE SINGLE DATE, December 13, 1804 . The item acquired had the handwritten date of December 16, 1804 and thus probably received the cancellation the next day, because it was written in Le Locle, by a watchmaker, to a country- man and owner of a watch store in Napoleonic Paris . Winkler lists the rarity of this strike as "12" which according to a careful study of auc- tion catalogues and results of the past three years translates into a net sales price of between Swiss Francs 650 . to 850 . -- not a bad investment indeed: On the back of the letter -- by the way a charming document written in lousy French and dealing with the watch business -- is a Republican French arrival mark, with the date of Ns e 2, an 13, which translates into December 23, 1804 (Nivôse was the fourth month of the Republican calen- dar year which, according to comparative tables, started in late Septem- ber) . And thus a mislabeled "French" cover turned out to be a delightful addition to a Swiss collection of "earlies". As an historic note it might be added that Neuchatel, from 1797-1806, was a Prussian duchy, inherited by Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III from Marie d"Orléans, Duchess of Némours. The postal affairs of the duchy were, however, farmed out to the Bernese patricians and postal organizers (von) Fischer whose network of postal routes was very far-reaching. The treaty of Schönbrunn, of late 1805/06, provided that the king of Prussia would relinquish Neu- châtel, as well as the duchy of Cleves, to France receiving instead the throne of Hannover. In March of 1806 Neuchâtel was occupied by troops under General (later Field marshal)' Oudinot, and Napoleon officially took charge on March 22. Subsequently the Fischer family was stripped of their rights to conduct the postal affairs of the duchy (which to then had had only straightline markings for Neuchâtel City and by 1807 the "Régie des postes et messageries de Neuchâtel", under the direction of the local Jeanrenaud family, took over. Late in 1813 the French left, and in 1815 Neuchâtel became Swiss .
Vol . 2 Page 74 No . 4 April,Date : 1976 Deciphering addresses and messages on old Swiss letters - Felix Ganz Many of us want to know -- if we have progressed to the collecting of covers and postal stationery -- where a letter originated (beyond identify- ing the postmark) and where it went to exactly . since writing up collections entails clear and brief identification, it is of course necessary to try and decipher the hand writings on such items. As long as we concern ourselves only with covers and cards, etc . from Switzerland's French and Italian regions, there should be little trouble reading all words because in those parts of the country "normal " lettering was used for transmitting a postal message. It is the Alemannic part (this term is preferable to "German ") of the country that presents difficulties because until about 1912 most handwriting conformed to the German script regulations -- or if an address was printed, or typed, to what printers call Gothic type . At left is shown (compliments of Mr . Webster) the printed form of a Gothic, German alphabet, minus one additions the double ss which in printed form looks like a B ((3), but has nothing to do with a B : Sometimes we find such wrong transpositions by being told that the little town under the Santis mountain in Eastern Switzerland is called WaBerauen instead of WASSERAUEN, etc ., or that Switzerland ' s earliest dictator was a Mr . Gebler rather than (correctly so:) Gessler. Germans call this printing type "Fraktur " . The Gothic alphabet In printed form can usually be dug out in reference sources, though ; but its handwritten version generally is absent from most places where one hopes to find it : Below you will find an excerpt from the German Pictorial den Lexicon (1935) that shows, again with the exception of the double ss, the lower case German script. This is called, by the German name, Sütterlin-Schrift or Kurrentschrift . . .seemingly depending on its being ho- rizontal/vertical, or else slanted . Differences between these two lower case writing types also have to do with the thin and thick strokes versus equal strokes in the modern (?) Sütterlin type. The cruncher usually is presented by the CAPS of the written German script, and below is a table with those odd looking characters :
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