US Postal Card Sent To England, With Add. 5c Handstamp Due

I can make a better scan, if some details are not clear enough...

I didn't came accross a lot of these 19th century USPS Postal Cards which have been sent from the USA overseas.

Doesn't that CDS cancel say Brooklyn? Which would have the card posted in the US. Or am I misreading your scan? Or should your topic title read "..sent to England" maybe?

Terry

Hi Terrence, yes, made a typing error. Of course, it was sent from Brooklyn TO England. Thanks.

Hi filipo,

Thought it was. I couldn't recall a Brooklyn in London N8, England. Nice item though.

Terry

Thanks, Terence.

It is a very interesting USPS Postal Card... canceled on the both sides.

Here are some better scans of the both sides...

Hi filipo,

That is some long distance order for a lamp and shade. No Amazon, ebay or air freight then. It must have been something special. Ovington Brothers New York store may have sold Tiffany's art deco lamps as his studio and factory were also in New York. Just a thought.

Terry

Thank you, Terrence. I didn't think about that ascpect at all. I found interesting 2 different machine cancels on 2 sides of the PC, and also "T + 5 centimes" handstamped due.

This was a domestic use postal card. Overseas was 2 cents. The postage due was probably double deficiency and there might have been a penalty because of the type of message as well. We need a postal card collector who knows the proper rates.

Amount due was 1 cent. Converted to centimes = 5 centimes as indicated. Recipient country then doubled the deficiency and converted to local currency. Postage due to Mr. Sidney Heap would have been 1 penny as at that time 10 centimes was equal to one penny.

The shipment was probably a wedding gift. The parties involved are Sydney Rankin Heap and his new bride (at the time), Francis Elizabeth (Heyworth) Heap. Both were high society people back in the day. Mr. Heap in Liverpool, England and Francis Elizabeth (Heyworth) Heap of Chicago.

Here's some pertinent information:



And (believe it or not) pictures of the married couple were recently for sale on ebay UK:

thanks revcollector & scotzm - I have heard for the first time about that conversion cents to centimes on the covers.

wt1 - thank you. girl seems to be very young on the photo - probably about 16-17 years old...

I previously wrote "Amount due was 1 cent. " but that is not quite correct as it is actually the DEFICIT that is indicated (up until 1907 when the total amount due in centimes was marked). So the markings record a deficiency of 1 cent which was converted to the internationally agreed currency of centimes.

More information on Sydney Rankin Heap and his family:

http://www.flinders.edu.au/library/...apfamily.cfm

...and a related ghost story about he and his family (starting at third paragraph):

http://www.mellingtonhallcaravanpar...and-estates/

I hope that this postcard is not haunted :E

Btw. seems they had a very nice and interesting life :)

filipo said "I have heard for the first time about that conversion cents to centimes on the covers."

This one shows all the markings. Since it was posted after 1907 it has the total postage due marked in centimes. This card was deficient by one US cent so the markings show double the deficit which was two US cents converted to 10 centimes. On arrival it was further marked with a 1d (one UK penny) which was the 10 centimes converted into local currency.

I forgot I had these. They are to the same address but different senders in different years but they show how the calculation for postage due markings changed from CENTIMES (1907-1966) to FRACTIONAL (1966 -??).



Both have the "binocular" New York markings (some call them "opera glass") with the first showing the postage due in centimes which would be later converted to British currency. The second shows that there was a deficiency of 7 cents doubled to 14. This fraction would, on arrival, be used to calculate the British currency postage due.