Unusual Use Of US C3

I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I wanted to share what I believe is an unusual use of C3. Let me know what you think.

Unusual, and suspect in a few respects. It doesn't pay a valid rate (no airmail service was available from Europe, certainly, and it overpays registry rates), and C1 and C2 had been issued by that point in time. It's possible that there was an attempt here to try to get airmail service between New York and Toledo (or Chicago, or another intermediate stop), but I'm not sure that there was regular airmail service on the route at this point.

The machine looks OK, and I'm not all that experienced in WWI military mail, but there are usually some manuscript annotations that accompany the censor marking. The registry marking looks a bit odd but would need to be compared against other registered covers from the APOs at this time (which are not themselves particularly common either).

Certainly an interesting cover. Dr. Babcock was a well-known Detroit philatelist and served as a Colonel in the Medical Corps during World War I. He is probably best known for the AEF booklets.

Unusual indeed. So it is not surprising there is a collector/dealer involved with the franking. It is very uncommon to find machine cancels on registered mail. Also odd there is no registered mark from the arrival port (New York? Or would all registry transiting marks have been on an outer jacket at this time?).

Jarnick,

If I might ask, what is the source of your information here about Babcock's role in the "AEF Booklets." I presume this refers to the booklets for C25a issued in 1943. I ask because I happen to have been researching the history of this issue, and haven't come across this. I have Davis' "The Transports" and I don't see in it any reference to his role here. If there is additional reference material that can shed light on the development and issue of this booklet, I'd like to know about it. Judging from what appears on some of the cachets for the FDC for this issue, it was common knowledge that the booklet was intended to service a demand for this format by US service personnel. But I cannot actually find out how that knowledge developed. Davis cites some internal Postal Department correspondence about this purpose, but if that is the source, how did it become public? If Babcock had an important role in promoting its use for this purpose, I'd appreciate knowing the source of that information.

TIA.

Basil

blcjr ... No, the reference of AEF booklets is to the World War I Washington-Franklin booklets (Scott 498f and 499f). While serving in France, Babcock accumulated a substantial quantity of the booklets and recognizing their potential scarcity managed to ship them back to the United States. Babcock died in 1942 and his collection was subsequently sold in in name sale by Sylvester Colby.

More on the AEF booklets can be found at this auction site:

http://stampauctionnetwork.com/F/f9238.cfm#79

Thanks, wt1. Not the booklets I was thinking of.

Also, it is not a WW 1 cover. The date on this is April, 1919, and the war ended on November 11, 1918. It took a while for all of the soldiers to eventually get shipped home so this would have been sent by a guy who was among the last who were still waiting around to get shipped back home. I agree that it is philatelic.

OK, sticking to the subject of the cover, lets look at a few details and marking:
1. APO 705: was opened to serve Bordeaux, France and Bordeaux Terminal. The device cancelling is classified as VanDam machine Type A730(1), shows usage from 8/1918-5/1919(1) and appears as a valid cancel. The use of the stamp and marking are not.

2. AEF Censor Device #1949: (Type Van Dam C-2 based on type style of 1949) the lowest # seen was A.54; the highest # seen was A.2963(1) -- this is 100% valid.

3. 'PER AERIAL MAIL": is 100% suspicious and possibly added at a later date. There was no Air Mail Service or Trans-Atlantic Clipper between the US & France. I could find nothing on Air Mail service available to/from MPES forces during WWI. Foreign Air Mail was not established until July 10, 1924. The cover may have been eligible to U.S. Air Mail Service when it reached the M.P.O. (Military Post Office) port-of-entry in the states, AND 24c was not the Registered Airmail Rate. The U.S. Airmail letter rate, per ounce, effective December 15, 1918 was 6 cents plus Registry Fee 10c.(2) (There may not have been over $50 indemnity available - see #4). 16c does not equal 24c!

4. REGISTERED MAIL: "The standard 10-cent registry fee had to be paid by all, but in some cases the 3-cent postage also was affixed to the envelope, even to those enjoying free frank privilege." There was no indication for "Return Receipt Service." IN ADDITION TO THE CIRCULAR REGISTRY STAMP, MOST LETTERS ALSO CARRIED EITHER A STRAIGHTLINE OR BOXED "REGISTERED". APO 706 and 710 carried their numbers inside the boxed registry handstamp. These were normally applied in purple or magenta, and rarely found in black or red. THERE IS STILL RELATIVELY LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT THE AEF REGISTRY SERVICE…"(1)

5. All backstamps look valid, including the MPES AEF 703 REGISTERED (Van Dam Type A9102) hand stamp. This style shows usage between August 1918 to July 1918.(1)

6. CENSORSHIP: General Orders, No. 13, states,"Any communication which has been opened by a censor will be closed again with the 'OPENED BY CENSOR' label provided by the Adjutant General of the A.E.F. "General Orders, No. 146, changes the above statement to read, "Any communication which has been opened by the Bas Censor will be closed again with the 'Examined by Bas Censor' label provided by the Chief Quartermaster of the American Expeditionary Forces."(1) THIS COVER WAS NEVER OPENED AND RE-SEALED BY THE CENSOR! Bringing into question --contents -- OR -- THERE WERE NO CONTENTS-- further confirming the item being 100% philatelic or contrived!

While probably not intended to deceive, this cover causes a definite problem to the novice collector and cannot be considered a true postal history item. Bottom line: The cover is a philatelically contrived cover.

Hal


1. The Postal History of The AEF, 1917-1923, War Cover Club edited by Theo. VanDam, ©1980 American Philatelic Society, State College, Pa.
2. U.S. Domestic Postal Rates. 1872-1999, Revised Second Ed., Henry W. Beecher & Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz ©1999 Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz, Portland, Or.

Wow! Thank You for the great replies!

I wonder who mailed it? Being the address is stamped and there is no return address, I wonder if it could have been mailed by Dr. Babcock himself? I am going to determine when he served in France to see if the timeline matches. Since he was a philatelist, I wonder if he mailed it when he was leaving, to see if he got home before his letter? I could see myself doing something similar if I were in the same situation.

This forum is awesome! Thanks again everyone for taking the time to help educate me!