A Few World Picture Postcards - Sharing + Question

Hi all,

I went to the coast this weekend to fish in Galveston, TX - They have a nice historical area called The Strand and have quite a few antique shops. I stopped in and picked up a few post cards - It is becoming a little tradition for me to bring home postcards from little trips I take with the family :). GB, German and Italian. I was curious on the 1905 Italian one - the post mark that looks like the flag - is that a specific type of cancel? - also the crossing out on the card - why is that done? Thanks all - I thought they were lovely and felt like sharing. Nora.

Your Italy card went from Italy to Jefferson City, MO, stamped as received, then address corrected and re-postmarked at Jefferson City, then to Joplin where the flag added as a second receiving mark.

The Joplin flag was made by a machine of the American Postal Machines Co, which had several thousand installations in the US/territories making flags from 1894-1940, creating nearly 8000 different varieties. The best reference is Frederick Langford's "Standard Flag Cancel Encyclopedia" 4th ed, 2008. Your Joplin flag was the second of 3 different types used there. Worth maybe 50 cents for the cancel.

The intention was that cities would use the flag as an origin postmark then remove the flag portion and replace it with a "received" mark to mark incoming mail, but not all cities with flags had these extra die pieces, or chose not to use them. Receiving marks on standard first class mail were discontinued in 1912, although many larger towns had stopped several years eariler.


As an aside, Italy also had several towns using flag cancels (made by a different company):

Excellent John - Thank you so much. so many layers to postal history. Always a puzzle that is fun to figure out. Nora.

Nice postcards Nora. I think the Italian one shows Mount Vesuvius.

In central London, there also is "The Strand." Around it, you will find the Inns of Court and the High Court, as well as the Temple Church. For stamp collectors, there were a number of shops (Cameo, The Strand Stamp Centre), but most importantly, the famous 399 The Strand shop of Stanley Gibbons.

Just off the strand was the Trafalgar Square post office that once had a busy philatelic counter. I bought my first Machins that started my Great Britain collection there, buying some additional stamps from the Cameo shop.

Good morning/afternoon NSK.

Thank you. I certainly would rather explore the history of The Strand in London vs. Galveston :) ha - One day I will visit!

From Wiki:
The original plat of Galveston, drawn in the late 1830s, includes Avenue B. The name 'strand' for Ave. B was coined by a German immigrant named Michael William Shaw who opened a jewelry store on the corner of 23rd and Ave. B. Shaw, not liking the name "Ave. B", changed the name of the street on his stationery to "Strand", thinking that the name (named after a street in London) would have higher-class connotations for his jewelry store. He later convinced other owners on the street to change the names they used for the street as well, and the name stuck.[5]

Having 216 The Strand Twinings Tea shop and 399 The Strand Stanley Gibbons shop in one street, makes it the best shopping street in the wordl to me. You will also find the Somerset House there, a place where British stamps like your Edward VII half crown were printed and Irish "Saorstat" overprints like the composite one were done on Seahorse high value stamps.

Somerset House is also the home of the Courtauld Gallery

https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/col...on/paintings

and film shows in Summer and skating in Winter. And a lovely terrace overlooking the Thames.

A nice early postcard with Donegal Castle in Donegal, postmark from Gortahork in Ireland, population of 185 from last census.

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