Here Is A Nice Used Cinderella.

There will be some that may recognize a parcel label I found used on a large piece of brown wrapping paper. The item reads "MERCHANTS PARCEL DELIVERY INCOPORATED" at top and "MAIN 623" at bottom. It is tied by an interesting purple cancelation. How many know this firm and what it became. I will furnish the answer if no one knows what this is.

There is a Merchants Parcel Delivery in Bremerton, Washington. Is that where the stamp is from?

Peter

This was found in Alpena, MI.

The original firm was American Messenger Service founded in Seattle in 1906. In 1913 it adopted the name Merchants Parcel Delivery. The delivery truck depicted is a Model T Ford. In 1919 the company opened operations in Oakland, CA. The company used the statement "Best Service-Lowest Rates." Their named changed shortly to UPS and they adopted the Brown color for the delivery trucks.

This label probably saw a very short life span. Main 623 was their telephone number.

That's pretty cool. I especially like the clock cancel, I guess to indicate the exact time of cancellation. Nice.

Yes the clock cancel is real neat. It appears to have been canceled at 2:00 PM. The date in the center appears to have a month starting with "J?" the day "6" and year "1?." It is a shame the month and year aren't clearly printed. I think it might be JU 6 15 but I am not certain.

Mike

I thought the centre of the circle read 6 P.M. which would make the clock indicate 6:10 P.M.

The Outside circle of numbers are from 1-12 (indicating hours) with three lines between each number. The lines would indicate 1/4 hour marks. The pointer is pointed directly at the number 2 and the PM is plainly seen. There is what appears to be a date line above the PM indicator stating "J? 6 1?" which be Jan. Jun. or July 6, 1914/1915. This is the way I think it reads but others may have better ideas. So please share your thoughts.

Mike

Just to muddy the waters more, the "6" on the inside actually looks more like an upside down "9" (if I compare it with the outside numerals).

Ok, you're right, watermark, I didn't see the month (JU?) or year (14?). They're very faint.