Neat Cover

Hi All

Just thought I would show this cover. I bought this for a real bargain for only about three or four dollars. it is addressed to Sweden and has 'single usage' of the eight cents rate for overseas instead of smaller values to make up the postage. I also like the 'slogan' cancellation too and it is a clear strike.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Nice cover.

On a related matter, does anyone have any historical information on the use of the "OBSERVE/SUNDAY" slogan cancel? I see several variations of it (on ebay) that were used by several Provinces of Canada during the 1930s (they show examples from 1929 to 1938) but I had not realized it existed before now or exactly how long it was in use.

wt1

The Postal History Society of Canada website has a comprehensive date base for slogan cancellations available to members. You will find a complete listing of offices which used the Observe Sunday slogan.

On-line membership is a modest $15.

http://www.postalhistorycanada.net/php/

Apparently, different variations were used from 1929 to 1965. My
Coates Catalogue lists it at $7.00. Maybe it has gone up in value?

Chimo

Bujutsu

Thanks for the info. I was just curious as to how the quotation got started, but then one has to put yourself into the 1920s or 1930s era thinking, as such a quote would be too controversial today.

In fact, I picked this example off of an ebay listing from 1929. A bit different in style, but still the same slogan. It seems this would have been one of the earlier examples:



Also, this slogan seems to have gone beyond just Canada, as I found an example on-line of a similar one used in Australia in the same approximate time period (1932):

Here's mine, from 1962

Bujutsu: might I suggest that a wonderful slogan cancel like that begs for a new title other than "neat cover"?

OK - How about a 'neat slogan'? <G>

Was the only title I could think of at the time, sorry lol.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Although the "Observe Sunday" slogan cancel is obsolete now, apparently there were those protesting the use of the slogan back in the day. The following excerpt is from the "Canadian Union Messenger" a newsletter of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in College Heights, Alberta, dated July 10, 1934:



I assume the letter was prompted due to the fact that the Seventh Day Adventist Church observes Saturday as their Sabbath. In any case, it doesn't appear as if the letter of protest did any good, since the postmark continued in use for some 30 years thereafter.

That's what makes post history fun!

Interesting wt1

It is amazing how you find and dig up these pieces of information.

I appreciated all this news, and, yes, this is what makes this hobby so interesting.

Chimo

Bujutsu

My first reaction upon seeing this was "Observe Sunday what?"

Does anyone know the story behind Canada Post using this as a cancel? Seems pretty presumptuous of them to assume that everyone would agree with this statement.

It would be, if it weren't the case that Canada's monarch wasn't also the head of a Christian Church (the Church of England in this case).

I think I lost track of my double-negatives, but you get the idea.

The Queen was head of the Church of England. Therefore, there was a state religion that observed Sunday as holy day of rest.

smauggie




Nonsense!

From the Monarchist League of Canada's website:

http://www.monarchist.ca/faqs-en


The Queen has no religious role in Canada, as we do not have a state religion. The concept of the Divine Right of Kings has not existed for centuries. That view was popular in an age where kings and queens were absolute monarchs, who ruled without any restraint from elected representatives of their people. It held that the monarch derived authority directly from God—and so disobeying the sovereign's wishes was the same as disobeying God. From its founding in 1867, Canada (in common with other Commonwealth Realms) established a constitutional or limited monarchy. This means that the king or queen reigns, and is the embodiment of the state, but does not rule, which is the duty of the elected government.

When our Queen came to the Throne in 1952, each of her Realms (the countries of which she is Sovereign) adopted its own formula to refer to The Queen in a legal, formal way.

For Canada, this title runs as follows:

Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith

Moving passage of the Royal Style and Titles Act in Canada's Parliament on 3rd February 1953, Prime Minister Louis St Laurent explained why the term Defender of the Faith was retained:

In our countries [Canada and the other non-British monarchies of the Commonwealth] there are no established churches, but in our countries there are people who have faith in the direction of human affairs by an all-wise Providence; and we felt that it was a good thing that the civil authorities would proclaim that their organization is such that it is a defence of the continued beliefs in a supreme power that orders the affairs of mere men, and that there could be no reasonable objection from anyone who believed in the Supreme Being in having the sovereign, the head of the civil authority, described as a believer in and a defender of the faith in a supreme ruler.

Contrary to the mistaken view sometimes repeated by the media, The Queen of Canada—who personally is both Anglican (in England) and Presbyterian (in Scotland), two nations having an official state religion—is not in any way an official or representative of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is in fact the Canadian Crown that guarantees all citizens the right to worship God in their own way, or not to do so at all. Canada's future King, Charles, the Prince of Wales, has mused aloud that as monarch he would like to make the role of the Crown in defending that freedom more explicit, and so be called "Defender of Faith."

Thank you for clearing that up lorddenning. I can see now that my statement might have been taken to say that Canada had a state religion. That was not my intent. I was trying to imply, in an admittedly poor fashion, that the culture of Canada, under the influence of a monarch who is ostensibly religious, might explain the prolonged use of the "Observe Sunday" slogan cancel.

Believe it or not, a US Senator introduced legislation to the US Congress seeking to adapt the "OBSERVE SUNDAY" slogan in a postmark for the US Mail. Obviously, it was never enacted, but here are the resolutions submitted: