Show Us Your US Revenue SOTN/Bullseye Cancels!

I wonder if a monogrammed watch would be considered a proprietary article? Of course if it was appraised, then there was a 5 cent tax.

In looking through Mahler's compendium of Schedule B, I see nothing remotely like a monogram on a watch being a proprietary article. As to an appraisal, the resultant tax is a documentary tax.

We probably should be reminded that there was an annual tax on gold watches, but again that is neither a documentary tax nor a schedule B proprietary tax requiring a stamp.

I personally think we are barking up the wrong tree for an explanation.

I didn't see one either, it was just a thought.

This one isn't new but I have always enjoyed it! It also nicely demonstrates the use of an affixing machine as mentioned in an earlier post!

I am certainly familiar with the S.R.V.D. (S. R. Van Duzer) cancel with the evidence of affixing machine use, but your cancel reads S.R.V.R. Am I missing something significant here? Is this a type setting error of which I have missed mention in my 50 years of collecting?

I think it is an S.R.V.D. typeset error based on the fact that the type used in the cancel appears to match the type in all the other examples of the cancel that I have. Possibly a case of too many R's and not enough D's. Not certain though since it is the only example reading S.R.V.R. that I have ever seen. I've not seen mention of it either anywhere.

Egads, nice find. I'll have to pay closer attention to the S.R.V.D. cancels moving forward.

I've had this one probably 20 years or so and have been looking for another since finding it. No luck so far.

I have seen dozens of SRVD cancels, but I have never seen this one before.

Very cool -- an apparently new discovery revealed on SCF!

For fun, here are a few recent acquisitions.




Kemp & Day Preserved Food



John W. Stout of Bridgeton, NJ, manufacturer of Ketchup and Sauces. This one is a bit doggy but I believe pretty rare.



Fitler's Rheumatic Remedy



Damon & Baker Cosmetics and Patent Medicines, Coaticook or Stanhope, Canada

And to actually get back on topic...



Austin Messenger Matches



Brinkerhoff's (Photographer)

Your Kemp, Day cancel is a late use for canned goods. The original canned goods tax was in effect for five months, less than half a year (Oct 1 -March 1). Only one private die proprietary, Thomas Kensett of Baltimore and they only used the stamp less than two months. That was several years before the introduction of RB1, the bicolored stamp you illustrate. Some categories of canned goods continued to be taxed. A look through Mahler's book of the laws and Treasury Decisions would answer what continued to be taxed.

Fish, sauces, syrups (or sirups), prepared mustard, jams, and jellies continued to be taxed after the Act of March 2, 1867 exempted canned and preserved meats, shell-fish, vegetables, and fruits according to Mahler's book. In the case of Kemp, Day, the most likely product would have been ketchup or mustard.

I find it odd that fish was considered a separate category from preserved meat. Then again, I also find it odd when one calls themselves a vegetarian and still eats fish.

Pescatarian....

I won this cancel on ebay recently. I think it fits as a SON cancel:



and a close-up of the cancel:



Also, I found this one in an old stock book I have. Not sure where it came from: