US Slogan Cancels

Here's one from an exposition I hadn't heard of.

VISIT POST OFFICE EXHIBIT
PALACE OF PROGRESS
MAY 14-26
COMMERCIAL MUSEUM

A short-life slogan from Philadelphia, 1926.

This slogan identified by Payne as Die B, showing T of POST nearly aligned with left leg of H in EXHIBIT.
He lists only one date recorded so far (at time of publishing) of May 25 1926. This dated Apr 30.
Other examples have surely come to light.

Ran across this thread while looking at some "Let's Go/Citizen's Military Training Camps" slogan cancels I bumped into and was curious about. Thought I might contribute (in a couple spread-out posts) the few slogan cancels I have that seem not to have been shown before in this thread.

Here's a local Philadelphia PA "Middle City Station" cancel of 1920.



And from Chicago, an "Englewood Station" of 1906, which seems the earliest I have.



From Boston MA, "South Postal Station" from 1924



And last for this installment, from Chicago's Century of Progress Station. It is different from one Century of Progess cancel I saw earlier in the thread, although I may well have missed a prior appearance of this particular one.

I think this would be worth some discussion: Should station cancels be regarded as slogan cancels? In my mind they are different animals, as station cancels could be used indefinitely, while slogans typically had a promotional goal and a limited lifespan.

Edit: That would not apply to the Century of Progress and other expo station cancels, which did have limited lifespans. But these, I think, are also something outside of slogan cancels.

I really like that C of P station cancel, by the way!

Thanks for clarifying the scope of the term.

Here is a 1955 "Fight Your Insect Enemies" slogan cancel applied in Berkeley CA. The "Insect" portion of the slogan is atop the fairly dark stamp and virtually illegible.




There is an article about this particular slogan cancel and the "pray for peace" one in the journal Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol 65, issue 3, pp. 255-278 (2020) which is open-access at https://amst.winter-verlag.de/artic...st/2020/3/4. Deals with the slogans as manifestations of government and industry propaganda/advertising, but goes into background of approval and production... illustrated by items from one of the authors' collection.

The Los Angeles Historical revue exposition of 1923

Can someone enlighten me about this style of postmark please? The killer slogan appears in the style of an International machine die while the CDS portion resembles a hand cancel.

Mills College: The literature is somewhat contradictory on these over the years. Some will swear they are handstamps. Some will swear they are from the Columbia "Baby" model machine. Most of these are struck parallel (or close to parallel) to the top of the mail piece, which adds to the confusion among scholars.

Morris, Payne & Holmes cover the topic in "The Columbia Story", vol IV, pages 125-132, which concludes those with plain horizontal bars are from the Baby model and more than likely the "Address Your Mail ..." slogans are handstamps. Concluding on page 132: "While there are characteristics suggesting the [slogan style] markings were made by Baby machines, the authors believe currently [1998] the markings are handstamps designed to resemble machine cancels; so-called pseudo-machine cancels."

Overall, they are quite uncommon as they were used in very small offices.

Add: An early draft copy (c2000) of "Slogan Cancels 1899-1940" attributes these ambiguously to "hand stamp and/or Columbia" and lists just over 80 towns using the slogan including Mills College known then from Sept 13, 1921 to Sept 22, 1922, yours being slightly earlier.

Back on page 5 GregAlex posted a 2nd liberty bond cancel. Here is a 1918 3rd liberty loan applied in Boston.

Below it is a "food will win the war" which we've already seen, but I thought I'd post since it is well struck over a wartime uprating.... Also Boston 1918

John Becker - thank you for your prompt reply to my question. I am attaching a scan of the three I have in my collection. Note that the slogan dies, while worded the same, are in 3 distinct styles - the one I posted earlier, one similar but with smaller text and one with the text vertically spaced farther.

No question with this, just posting for the record. Jeff




I just noted your edit to your previous response:

"Add: An early draft copy (c2000) of "Slogan Cancels 1899-1940" attributes these ambiguously to "hand stamp and/or Columbia" and lists just over 80 towns using the slogan including Mills College known then from Sept 13, 1921 to Sept 22, 1922, yours being slightly earlier."

Of the "80 towns" you mention, is this strictly the ADDRESS YOUR MAIL slogan, or ALL slogans?

The second strike on the Mont Clare is excellent evidence for a handstamp. The lower cancel on the Hale stamps just can't be done with a machine. All are quite desirable.

Add: here is another ratty example of East Amherst hand stamp from 1925. Also a Marion Center, PA showing the horizontal bar set-up of the true Columbia Baby machine, non-slogan, parallel to the top, and about 1/4" from the top.

John Becker - Of the "80 towns" you mention, is this strictly the ADDRESS YOUR MAIL slogan, or ALL slogans?

"Address your mail.." is the only slogan, which is ironic since all would have been too small to have city delivery!

Add: From the July 1922 Postal Guide, there is a section near the back titled "Post Offices of the First, Second, and Third Classes with Salaries of Postmasters", which also notes which of these had city or village delivery.
Mills College, CA - 3rd class office, no delivery
East Amherst, NY - unlisted, thus a 4th class office
Mont Clare, PA - unlisted, thus a 4th class office

And Marion Center, PA with the Baby Columbia machine - 3rd class, no delivery

Small towns and villages wanting to run with the big dogs!

What an insightful observation!