Horse Cancel???

Hi Folks! Please shed some light on this for me. (LOL) I just noticed how I spelled 'Horse' (hoarse) and had to correct it.

In Google, Prescott (Arizona) advertises itself as the home of the World's Oldest Rodeo (annually since 1888).

The cancellation appears to be a bucking bronco rider, especially on the UR stamp; not inconceivable that the local Postmaster permitted fancy hand cancels to promote tourism.

May we see the whole cover?

As far as the cancel, it's a Prescott, Arizona "horse and cowboy" fancy cancel, that I believe was philatelically contrived, as the internet shows others with similar cancels and with the same backstamped date of October 24, 1928:




The return address on the back of your cover is to (Dr.) A.W. Bork, who was a noted historian in Prescott, Arizona and has co-authored several articles and books about the famed Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and their women, most particularly Mary Cummings a/k/a "Big Nosed Kate Fisher", who he interviewed in 1935, while a graduate student at the University of Arizona at Tucson:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Nose_Kate

Ok., thanks for the reply. Is this 'cancel' listed anywhere? And if so, was it a standard type of cancel?

It's on a 'airmail' envelope. I have tried uploading the entire envelope but my scan is too large. I tried the image thing and though I was able to resize it, I can't figure out how to down load it to my post. I am NOT computer 'savy'!

There have been books dedicated to the subject, but most appear to be out of print and difficult to acquire. This write-up gives a good summary of how and why these cancels came to be (before the USPOD in Washington, DC put a stop to the practice after the 1930s):

http://www.ebay.com/gds/20th-centur...70528/g.html

Thanks wt1! Good read. I have a better understanding now. However., I would love to get ahold of one those fancy cancel cats. So., if anyone reading this has one., let me know (here) and (depending on the price) I would like to purchase one.

This website is based in the UK, but the bottom half of the page shows some of the US fancy cancels of cats, if that's your interest:

http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/philat...tmarks4.html

These are not exactly cat cancels, don't know how you would classify them (with the additional postal cancels) but the pair would go for $5 postpaid in the US.

Oh No! I abbreviated 'catalogue' with 'cats'. Sorry! I meant that I would have a interest in purchasing a 'Fancy Cancel Catalogue'. (LOL!) My mistake - I don't even like cats!

A sign of hard times -- never overlook a potential sale...