Target Cancels After 1890

According to the Cole "Cancellations of the Banknote Era..." at the bottom of page 48 reads, in regards to the target cancel, "..The standard government issue was widely used in the 1860's, but by the 1890's, they were relatively unusual."

I've more than a few target cancels, from 1887-1900. I noticed they did seem to taper off, in the collection, as different cancels came into use. I do have some target cancels on Scott #246 and #247. I even have a #247 that has both a target cancel, and a flag cancel over the target cancel, on one stamp. Are they something any of you would put somewhere, other than the stockbook?

I had thought they were so common, I haven't placed them in the main collection book. Only the ones that were really well centered 'sock on the nose', clear, and looked better than decent, on a decent stamp.

The #247 with the target AND flag cancel on the stamp I only just now noticed. It's one of the few 'double cancel's' I have.

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thank you.

OK...so they were used less...it would not be uncommon to see after 1900.
Of the top of my head....I have seen target cancels used as late as the 1940 National Park Series.

I've seen them into the late 30's. If they are what you have a liking for, display them where you like. That's what collecting is really all about. Why just the best "smack ons" but the not so perfect too. Enjoy collecting!

Originally target cancels were cork cancels, but target killers were integrated into early duplex cancels as well. The only reason, I suspect, that they went out of use was because of the advent of the machine cancel, such as the flag cancel that you mention. Of course machine cancels started out in the 1870's and 1880's in Boston and a few large towns. As time went on the use of machine cancels slowly spread from larger towns to smaller towns. In the 1920's and 30's American Flag machine cancels became to slow to use in the big cities and were then sold to smaller towns for which the capacity was sufficient. That is why you see some small-town flag cancels in the 1930's perhaps even to the 1950's. So as the machine cancel came to stay in even the smallest towns, the target killer stopped being used. Now, not all target killers are the same, and perhaps some fancier versions are more collectible but the standard taget killer that was incorporated into the thousands of duplex cancellers used accross the country, I doubt there will ever be a late-use premium for those.

kevin504, thank you for your time in giving me input. I'll keep my eyes peeled, when I get to that time frame of the collection. A quick glance through what I have organized, up to then, shows I don't have any targets past 1898.

TheStampnut, thank you, also, for your opinion. I have taken it into consideration, and you are right. Why not display what is there, not just the best ones? I don't have mint stamps, in this era, and of the goods ones, not even enough to call a series. They are monetary wise, of little, to no value.

What I do have is an overabundance of cancels. From another thread, and seeing some pages with cancel organization, (orstampman and SavStamp, about the #65) I have combined ideas from their suggestions, and yours, and came up with this... (got three or four more pages to go, of just targets)






Not sure what, if anything I'm going to 'fill in the blank space' there, next to the #212. I've half a mind to put a photo of Gramps with a sock on the nose, for leaving me with all these 'red George's' and 'blue Ben's' in boxes fer cryin' out loud.

smauggie, I appreciate that information. I did do some research, on cancels, back in June/July, when my mother first handed me the collection. She did a wonderful job, getting alot of the stamps in chronological order, so I had a jumping off place to start. The cancels weren't really a consideration, at the time, and the sheer volume was overwhelming.

I can't help myself, but keep coming back to this time period, of the collection, to get it best in order, and the history of it is a major draw. What you mentioned, about the innovations, inventions, and reasons why cancels look different, and the fact I'm seeing the ideas then, on the stamps now, has me leaving the future century of stamps I have wanting.

Since the stockbook is bigger than the 'best of the collection', itself, and I now have a better idea of the stamps themselves, I'll be busy making the stockbook the collection, as opposed to vice versa. I know have an idea how to do that, thanks to everyone.

What really eliminated the "target" was a change in government standard issue postmarks. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century the standard issue steel handstamp became one with a barred oval or ovoid killer; starting in 1903 smaller towns started receiving rubber "doane" devices and then the 4-bar rubber handstamps.

Almost everytime I get an 8c Columbian, it has a target cancel for some reason. Seems to be the only Columbian I see them consistently on