British Air Post Stamps

The British Empire has been one of my favorite areas of collecting since I was in high school. One thing I think goes generally unnoticed about it is that it has never been big on air post stamps, unlike some Latin American countries that seem to issue more airs than regulars.

I'm not talking dominions such as Canada and Australia, though even there, it doesn't appear that Australia issued an airmail stamp since 1958 which was only a C8, and Canada's last, C9, goes back to 1946 -- 1950 if you count the officials -- but the one time colonies and now smaller countries such as the islands in the Caribbean: Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbuda, all the Saints, and the rest.

Though Britain originated the postage stamp in 1840, it didn't issue it's first air until 2003. That's 163 years!

The Airmail Stamps of the British Empire would make a pretty slim volume. And a collection would probably be relatively easy to complete, though some of those early Newfoundland overprints can get pricey.

As an aside, ever wonder why they call it Latin America when the folks there don't speak Latin, not even Italian, but Spanish, and of course Portuguese in Brazil?

Both Spanish & Portuguese are in fact Latin languages.

Yes, the so-called Romance Languages. (Give me a break!)

Ubi o ubi est meum sub ubi.

If I got that right, that's all I remember from Latin class besides one Brother Stan, the character who taught it.

Now isn't that romantic?

that goes along with the toga party mantra "Semper ubi sub ubi"

Richard

You will note that some of the stamps from the British Colonies that had flying flamingoes (Bahamas, if I recall) were the stamps that paid the air mail rate. But, this is somewhat inconsistent.

I'm not sure why there were few "airmail" stamps out of the smaller colonies.

I'd be interested in learning more, as I do collect the KGVI-reign.

David

Airmail did make sense for many of the Central and South American nations..an airplane was certainly faster going over mountain ranges and jungles than a mule train...of course now we all take air delivery for granted !

Canada has some interesting variances. In 1952, they issued a 7 cent stamp with a Canada Goose (Scott 320) when the standard rate was 4 cents. You would think it was an airmail. Then in 1963, they followed with a 15 cent stamp featuring Canada Geese (Scott 415) and in 1964, a 7 cent stamp with a flying jet and the Ottawa airport (Scott 414). Both were issued at the time the standard rate was 5 cents using "airmail" symbolism and probably paid the foreign and domestic air post rates.

Using Minkus albums at the time, which did not separate various types of issues as Scott does, I thought these were airmail stamps. Now my thinking is that they paid airmail rates and were used for that purpose, but by not saying airmail could also be used as regular postage.

During the same time period, when U.S. letter rates were at 4 cents and 5 cents, the domestic airmail rate was also 7 cents but airmail stamps had to be used on mail going by air while the Canadian 7 centers, not specifying "Air Mail," didn't.

This is getting soooo complicated

(Maybe because I've been bottling wine and beer all afternoon)

Dianne

Ubi seems to be the most versatile of Latin words!

Modern:




You are correct! Those stamps paid the international air mail rate. Previous to the early 1950's, domestic air mail was an added cost in Canada. Everything went surface unless you paid the air mail rate... thus the air mail stamps. By the early 1950's the Canadian Post office introduced first class "all up"; meaning that all domestic first class mail was to go air mail. This was because the country was (and still is) large and sparsley populated. Therefore, it only made sense to go air mail and therefore, there was not a need for the domestic air mail stamps.

David

David, but while Canada had the 7 cent rate stamps mentioned above, the commemorates still came out as 4 cent and 5 cent stamps so I'm not sure that's really the answer. Were these lower value stamps for inner city use?

Dianne, I just had a sip of some wine I made a couple of years age. I passed up picking black berries this year because the whole process takes too much time. Still considering the grapes. Easier to pick.

My father used to do home brew when we were kids. And of course, home-made root beer for us. Watch out for those exploding bottles!

The first Canadian Air Mail trip almost failed. The pilot had over loaded his airplane with a case of alcohol.

Bio-fuel, not doubt!

Here is a little more detail.

"For almost 45 years the reason why the plane had so much trouble carrying the mail was hidden from the public. In 1954, in his book, Canada's Flying Heritage, Frank Ellis told the story. Prior to his flight to Montreal, Peck was asked by a friend to bring back something for a wedding. It was a time when Prohibition was in place in Ontario. Peck had loaded his plane with cases of Mull Scotch."

Here is the full story.

http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Ca...l_flight.htm

Yes. During the 5¢ domestic letter-rate era, 4¢ paid the "drop letter rate". This was an unsealed letter (usually a card) mailed within a city. Thus, the address was usually in a form like this:

John Smith
21 Wellington St.,
City

There was also a reduced rate for greeting cards (especially Christmas cards) until the mid-1990's.

David