Perfin S O // R Y

Q/ Can anyone identify the perfin S o // R Y ???

TIA, Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Thank you, scotzm!

But that only begs the question(s):

- what was Lester doing using Southern Railway perfins in NYC on a personal postcard to Minnie?

- why no mention of The Great War, which had just begun?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Personal use of Perfins within the United States was not unusual. A salesman for a company could take a few with him on a trip, use them when he wanted to. I didn't believe they actually cared in the United States or at least anywhere near the frenzy the UK folks went through, if Perfins were used on personal mail. Today there are only a few companies still using Perfins (mostly Universities) and a lot of collectors with their own machines. The card was postmarked Penn Terminal Station in NYC, so perhaps he was travelling for the company , had some Perfins, and used one of them.

Here is a little more info. There are actually 4 patterns of the SO/BAR/RY. pattern.
It is hard to tell which one you have from the scan and rought red holes. They range from "F", "D+", "B" and "A" values.
Southern Railway was headquartered in WAshington DC (General Offices), so a short trip to the northern city of New York would only be a short trip. As the card was mailed at a train terminal, that would follow my pattern of thought. If the individual was staying at the "Waldorf" he was probably not employed as a lower level person with the railroad. He may very well have been up the food chain in management. In that case, he could get all the stamps he wanted to use for the trip. Just thought you might like a little more information on this.

Thank you, PoStat4evR.

The holes are red because I scanned, printed, picked red from my Sharpie Ultra Fine Point collection, did the deed, and re-scanned.

Absent that crude treatment - the last time I crawled up the graphics software learning curve was for a ~1990 version of Corel Draw, on lots & lots of 5-1/4" floppies, so electronic red dots were out of the question - I could not see the perfin pattern at all, as the cancellation and the 'affix stamp' (whatever) text badly confused the issue.

I would never have suspected that the USPoD would police the off-site use of perfins, and always assumed that the value to the perforator was to inhibit theft by threat of embarrassment.

Lester's "I'm stopping here" (see the lower edge of the picture side of the card) speaks to his being higher-up the food chain, but his handwriting & language (which I omitted) make him seem much younger; perhaps the son accompanying the actual higher-up?

I compare that cancellation with the spray mess we've got today, and sigh.

Love the publisher's logo. Gotta keep my eye out for more HTT Company cards as I rip thru my pile.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey