US Meter Query.

Could the good ladies and gentlemen, assist here please,
A colleague has an image of a US Pitney Bowes
Meter Impression, which to me, lacks date and time
Any ideas on its probable usage?
Any information welcomed. Thanks a lot.

Hi rod......


Could have been used anytime from the 1940's or as late as 1960's.

Now I'm curious. Why 1940s on and not 1920s on?

I don't collect meters, so I don't have the background. But since I don't see a stamp affixed alongside, I didn't know what rate 1c might have paid after 1940. Is there something about the meter design that tells us 1940s on?

k

Hi Kim.....


Before the 1940's meters were a different style.......I'll post some pictures in the morning.

Thanks, Tom! Great! Already set to learn something new tomorrow on SCF!

k

Thank you nr-notrare,
I still feel curious why no apparent time date,
I have a smattering of knowledge, esp Aussie meter frankings
but this has snookered me.
I am wondering if is somehow a bulk meter frank, if there exists such a thing.

Signed perplexed Australia :)

Hi Folks.....

I have found two meters that look similar to the one in question posted by rod222 that are from the early 1930's.......but they had a date and one had the NRA symbol (National Recovery Act) also, at that time there were only 667 cities that used these meters producing just over 2 million a year. Odds are that rods meter is not that early. In the 1940's & 50's there were approximately 50 - 75 million being produced yearly and they were still in use into the 1970's with 100's of millions produced yearly from the mid to late 50's on. Other similar meters in the 30's and 40's had a different central design.







More info to follow.......when I get pictures finished I'll post a link here.

Great! Thanks, Tom! Will check back again later for more!

k

Tom has started a new thread to continue the scans.

Please check out https://goscf.com/t/7076

Kim.....

beat me at my own link.........are you spying on me ???

Query solved care of some great research from Blair rcsd.
and I pass it on.

The Pitney Bowes meter identifies the section
of the Postal Legislation and Regulations that
applies to that particular sending.
(ie section 562)

(The section phrases used were:
1 - (Sec. 435 1/2 P.L. & R.) 5 - (39 C.F.R., 34.65(e)
2 - (Sec. 562 P.L. & R.) 6 - (39 C.F.R., 34.66)
3 - (Sec. 34.66 P.L. & R.) 7 - (Non-Profit Organization)
4 - (Sec. 34.65(3) P.L. & R.) 8 - (Bulk Rate)

The same notations are seen as part of
precancels on postal stationery envelopes.
http://www.precancels.com/envelopes/id_envs.htm

So, it could be said that this was a pre-cancelled meter franking.
(my words)

Sorry, I thought it might have slipped your mind while you were busy with the linked thread!

k

Ahhh, that would explain the 1c meter.

Very interesting topic -- between this thread and Tom's awesome "image dump" of postmarks ...

KirkS

KHJ, are you able to exoand at all please?
Everything makes sense, excepting the low precancel, at 1c
Are you able to suggest a use? perhaps a "make up" rate to existing
meter. I am a loss to explain 1c.
Thanks rod.

I don't know the rules back then. So I don't know if the following applies. My comment about it making sense is in today's usage.

Nowadays (at least up to 10 years ago -- I don't do mass mailings anymore), when something is submitted for bulk rate mailings, you can submit each mailing franked with a permit number and pay for the entire mailing separately, or you can submit each mailing with the exact postage, or you can submit each mailing with a token payment (e.g., 10c) and pay the balance of the bulk mailing costs separately.

For example, at one time, the bulk mailing rate was 10c. Hence, the eagle/shield non-denominated bulk rate stamp was 10c. Obviously, the amount didn't stay at 10c, and the actual charge depended in part on the number of pieces you submitted and the weight category of each piece. USPS didn't continue to issue more fractionals for each bulk rate range and price increase. Instead, you could affix the 10c eagle/shield to each piece, get credit for 10c payment, and then pay the balance of the shipment costs with one check. The bulk mailing goes through with just that single 10c bulk rate stamp, although you actually paid more than that. By not putting the amount on the stamp, the public didn't realize how cheaply you were mailing it compared to first class. Also, by putting a stamp, it looks more like real mail as opposed to just seeing a paid permit printed on.

Again, that doesn't mean that's how it worked back then. But I was thinking perhaps that 1c meter was being used similarly to the bulk rate stamp of the 1990s, since precancels are primarily used to facilitate large mailings.