"Cancer, In Care Of Your Local Post Office."

I forget sometimes how uniform culture could be in the United States as late as the 1960s.

For example, while listening to Old Time Radio last night, I heard a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society. The announcer said, "For information, or to make a donation, just write to Cancer, in care of your local post office."

Hey KGB, I look forward to asking my
postal clerk how that could work.
There are so many cancer organizations out there.
I am not sure how they can send them all to one.

Years ago I found a text describing a thematic collection about cancer. Almost start one. It's been wrote by a french oncologist Jean-Marie Dilhuydy and part of a dictionnary on cancer. Here is the link for the french version and use Google translate. Daniel

http://www.guerison.free.fr/www.fnc...inition=1619

KGB: Why would you think that your postal clerk would know about something that happened 60 years ago, probably well before the birth of the postal clerk.

You're thinking with a 21st Century viewpoint. In the 1960s, the American Cancer Society was the premier organization dealing with cancer. Also, I'm not sure that your statement "there are so many cancer societies out there" is necessarily true.

If you're really interested in finding out more about the arrangement between the ACS and the USPOD, I would suggest taking a little time and doing some research using the online Postal Bulletins.

Good morning,

Glenn Estus, It was me and not KGB that mentioned
talking to my postal clerk. I misunderstood the post
not realizing it was in fact about 60 years ago.
I do get it now, and agree with what you said.

Usually by 9.00 PM I am tired and should reread the
threads a second time before responding.

It would be interesting to see if the March of Dimes and other organizations had the same visibility to warrant this cooperation from the postal service.

My apologies to KGB. Somewhere in my files I have an old beat up copy of Luft's Slogan Machine cancel catalog from the 1960s(?). I don't think there has been any comprehensive listing of US slogan machine cancels used in the past half century. That would make a great project for some one to begin. (but not me! I'm already too busy working on another major postal history project.)

Here are two of the early machine cancel slogans from 1922 from an International machine and a Universal machine, respectively:






And here are two of the later machine cancel slogans from an International machine and a Universal machine, respectively - specifically mentioning the "American Cancer Society" by name:






And my favorite from the Hawaii Cancer Society perfectly sticking the double-point spear in Lincoln's eyes.