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Help Understanding A Return To Sender Tokelau Islands FDC

 
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Valued Member

United States
70 Posts
Posted 04/07/2025   5:54 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this topic Add dgwhite87 to your friends list Get a Link to this Message
Hi, I collect First Issues of each country. Tokelau Islands is rather easy and boring to collect, there's tons of these souvenir covers for $5 online... but when I saw a return to sender I had to buy it, if nothing else because it is interesting to me.

But I am struggling to understand it. This Souvenier cover has no return address, so where would the post office return this to? I see it was originally postmarked in Tokelau Islands on June 22nd, 1948, it was then postmarked by Clyde Engineering in Wellington, New Zealand November 8th, 1948. This appears to be a return office.

I would have assumed it would be sent back to Tokelau Islands at this point, but the final postmark is in Marrakech, Morocco on November 10th or 18th, 1948..

The front of this cover has Marrakech North Africa printed as the intended address, but its crossed off and to the right is an address in France..

My thought is that this was sent to Morocco, and there somebody crossed out the printed address and added the French address in pen to the side. But then that doesn't explain why the New Zealand post office stamped it prior to entering Morocco with a "return letter office" ..

I'd love it if anyone more knowledgeable than me would take a stab at deciphering this cover. Thanks all

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Valued Member
Sweden
82 Posts
Posted 04/07/2025   9:16 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add aolsson to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
If you open up the upper back flap you will probably find a return address inside the violet circle. Also note that the NZ mark is from November so it is struck after the Morocco mark
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Edited by aolsson - 04/07/2025 9:19 pm
Pillar Of The Community
United States
3352 Posts
Posted 04/08/2025   12:33 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Parcelpostguy to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
I agree that the flap marking is a return address, not a postmark. So, sent from NZ to Tokelau for FDC processing, then to West Africa as first addressed, forwarded to France then returned to NZ on the basis of the flap's return address, a PO. Box.
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts
Posted 04/08/2025   6:01 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add dgwhite87 to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
You all are truly philately wizards. Thank you for the explanations, I hope I can sponge off of your knowledge and look at covers differently now.
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