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Help With New York Airmail Cancel.

 
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Valued Member

Switzerland
251 Posts
Posted 12/16/2015   08:04 am  Show Profile Bookmark this topic Add codexluminati to your friends list Get a Link to this Message
Could anyone please, give me some info about this transitory New York air cancel?
It comes from an airmail cover originating in Colombia to Germany.
In the center there is a date FEB 4 1953 1 (what the 1 stands for?)
At the border I can decipher at the bottom: NEW YORK but after not really clear; in the top: air (mail?) field P.I.A (what PIA stands for?).

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Pillar Of The Community
United States
2423 Posts
Posted 12/16/2015   08:23 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add KGB to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
This is great history. Air Mail Field refers to what is now JFK International Airport. At the time of this cover, everyone called the airport Idlewild.
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Pillar Of The Community
1211 Posts
Posted 12/16/2015   8:11 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Kimo to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
The cancel reads "NEW YORK (IDL) N Y" around the top (which is on the bottom in this photo since the cancel is upside down to show the date in the center which was inserted upside down that day. The "(IDL)" of course stands for Idlewild Airport which as was mentioned is the original name for what is now called JFK Airport. Around the bottom it reads "AIR MAIL FIELD P.T.S" I would expect that the "1" would be 1 AM or 1 PM since the time is normally included in that position in this cancel. My thought is the lazy postal clerk either did not insert the AM or PM while they were being lazy putting in the date upside down, or perhaps since this is an indistict impression it may be under the "1" and just not inked well enough to show up. The P.T.S. stands for Postal Transportaion Service which was the part of the U.S. Post Office in charge of all mail in transit including air mail.

Here is a slightly clearer impression of this cancelation that was used on international mail.


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Edited by Kimo - 12/16/2015 8:21 pm
Valued Member
Switzerland
251 Posts
Posted 12/17/2015   05:34 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add codexluminati to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks, That is exactly the info I need it.
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Pillar Of The Community
1211 Posts
Posted 12/17/2015   11:29 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Kimo to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
This is not a rare cancel as it was applied not only as a backstamp for incoming or transiting mail through New York City but also in a version with killer bars as a main cancel for outgoing mail from New York City to other countries. For example, there are a number of first flight covers from the 1950s going from New York City to cities in Europe that have the stamps canceled with the version with the killer bars next to the circular cancel.
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