Mw Dated Question

Going through a pile of California dated's I came across this two stamps. The top one shows a normal MW dated, but the 2 bottom ones show "WM". Is there, was there a company that used the intials WM or is this an error for MW dated's for Oakland, California?

MW is Montgomery Wards this is another form of precancel. Started in 1938. Wards was the largest used of this kind of precancel!

Thanks Warre- Was hoping someone would let me know if "WM" was an error. Dated precancels is an area in precanceldom that I haven't brought myself to delve into yet. Going crazy with just acquiring Town and Types and only on the 1922-26 definitive series.

You'r welcome Oregonian, It can be a trying yet fun direction to take with precancels!

Yep, Trying and yet fun....and you need another different catalog for these guys. I think precancels have more catalogs than any other branch in the Philately world.

I have most of them if you need help!

I wish someone would list the 5 or 10 most useful (or "best") precancel catalogs, by title and author, whether they are out of print or not. I'd like to buy one or two, but I want to avoid any publications that are seriously outdated or full of mistakes.

Hi Doug2222,
You might try going on to the Precancel Stamp Society website and look under dealers. You will see the name of Michael Hynes. He has by far the best selection of precancel catalogs that are still in print and some that are out of print. He is our go to guy in the precancel world to find precancel literature.
www.precancels.com

He can answer your question about what catalogs are relevant according to what you collect.

The WM errors are listed in the printed dated catalog - value 1 USD.

Thank you chasa! Much appreciated.

Precancel Literature - I second the recommendation of Mike Hynes as a source for obscure as well as common precancel literature. My list of useful books:
Title / Source
----- / ------
US Town & Type / PSS
Canada / Unitrade
US Bureaus / PSS
Any Non Canada/US / PSS Randall/International
State catalogs / PSS/Hynes
Classic pre-1921 / Hoover1940, altho the PSS is working on a replacement
1932Bicentennials / Gutman or Selengut
Pre1908 / PSS
Checklists / Selengut, available via PSS/Hynes or Arnold Selengut
There are some references that are counterproductive but I'd rather not list them,
although any of the old 'Noble' catalogs for bureaus are essentially useless.