Modern American Spray Cancels... Thoughts?

I understand and can (sort of) appreciate the need for the spray on cancels. One would think that they could have used smaller ink jet nozzles which would create a crisper cancel.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the US Postal Service, and more specifically in the eyes of the manufacturers of the high speed mail processing machines the USPS buys, they don't care about collectors or cancels. Their goal is to produce high volume machines to handle the mail as expeditiously as possible at a given price point. As long as the postage is invalidated by a postmark ... spray-on ink jet or otherwise ... it accomplishes the goal of invalidating the re-use of postage stamps, so the manufacturer is satisfied and the USPS is satisfied.

Unfortunately, the collector interest in the postmarks never really enters into it.

Why do they bother even trying to produce the holiday, etc. "picture" cancels? Are they just trying to "throw us a bone"? I'd rather they spend the time figuring out how to stop hemorrhaging money than designing spray cancels.

...but won't there be a point where people collect decent examples of the different spray cancels?

Most of them are so smudged and awful looking, whenever I see a nice example (not very often) I toss it into my box of misc junk.

I'll coin the phrase right now...Sprayed on Nose (ha ha)

Hideous, plain and simple. Sorry if I offend.

I consider it a challenge to try to get the best example of a particular spray-cancel that I can (when I can). A CDS beats a spray cancel any day though.

A very good question. It has been mentioned on another stamp collector website (by someone who allegedly knows) that the electronic gizmo needed to create the specialty spray-on postmarks for holidays, etc., cost in excess of $1500 to $2000 for every piece of equipment adjusted for that use. I have no source for whether or not that's true and/or if the cost is justified in any way (i.e. underwritten by companies or groups having an interest in a slogan cancel) but it does make one wonder. I also understand that the USPS does not release to the public any information about the costs for such items and not even an announcement of the spray-on cancel changes, so unless you're part of the USPS organization in a need-to-know job, it's all speculation by collectors.

Frankly, I would be more concerned by the illegible dates on postmarks these days. There is no longer a way to confirm the date of mailing on any given piece of mail, whether it be a bill or personal correspondence, unless one specifically asks for a handstamp postmark at a post office window, as there's just no guarantee that the spray-on postmarked date will be legible.

Personally, I like the various spray-ons, but only if legible

What is the point of a postmark if the date is NOT LEGIBLE?! The USPS may as well not even bother with postmarks anymore if I can't get a date for evidence of when I sent mail!

Plus, aside from making legal issues a nightmare, I find the quality detestable and hate that there aren't regular cancels anymore. If mail volume is going down like they say, they probably shouldn't have a problem using real cancels.

... and as I have stated before, how come spray cancels from OTHER countries are legible, and even attractive at times? Why? Because the USPS probably went with cheap equipment from a low bidder. Sort of sounds like the MBTA (if you are into trains, you know what I mean!)

Follow the money... They will cancel stamps in the cheapest way possible. Unfortunately, for collectors the spray cancel looks terrible. The only advantage is that some used stamps may be less obliterated when cancelled.


-IBFS

Arrived yesterday... at least it has a coil number stamp on it!

I think the spray-on bar codes at the bottoms of the envelopes, both from the USA and Canada, are what the machines use to route the mails.

Bar Codes at bottom of an envelope: Canada upper, USA lower.
The nicely readable place-named, dated cancel at the top of our covers is for us humans somehow. Keep the customers happy like we used to perhaps?

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Here is a scan of two modern 2014 spray cancels, the upper from the United States, the lower from France.


I thought the way that France's La Poste does the wavey lines (undule cachet), using fine spaced out dots rather than the United State's USPS's more solid lines and numerous, makes the stamps or labels underneath much more readanle. Less ink too!

I found this piece interesting for 2 reasons:
1. the snowman apparently riding in the car, and
2. a Nash auto postmarked in Nashville.

I remember in the early 90's when I was just new on the auto parts counter and a fellow counterman asked me if I could look up a water pump for a '52 Nash for him.

That is a keeper, that one is.