1850's Advertised Auxiliary Marking - How Did Advertising Work?

Since I was fortunate in getting great answers to a previous question, I have another to pose.

US #25 on Cover from New Paris, Indiana to ??? with "Adv. 1" manuscript marking.

I assume that the reason "1" was included in the marking was to indicate the first attempt.

How many attempts were normally made?

What would have happened to this cover if a recipient could not be found?

Thanks.

Generally listed in the local newspaper of largest circulation. The "1" is the penny fee charged for the advertising, which would have been done only once, paid by the recipient when he/she picked up their mail. Unclaimed letters went to the dead letter office.

Very early covers can also be found with a 2 cent advertising fee on a city by city basis. Here is a combination cover relating to your previous thread today. Mailed prepaid 3 cents from Camden, SC to Madison, IN, where it was advertised on Nov 1 and incurring a 1 cent fee; then forwarded at 5 cents charge on to New Castle, KY for the second leg in the mailstream. Total due to the recipient was 6 cents.




In 1863, Evansville, IN had handstamps for "Advertised" and "Due 1". Recall that there would be no city delivery service - patrons called at the PO for their mail.




20th century examples seem to be scarcer ... Here are examples from 1915 and 1923 with postage due stamps. There are no postal markings on the back of either.

Thanks again John. If you can't tell I have developed an affinity for auxiliary markings on cover. It seems I still have more to learn (which I see as a good thing).

You seem to have quite a collection yourself.

I oversimplified my first response. Here are scans from sample Postal Law & Regulation volumes to illustrate how the procedures evolved over time. It would be an interesting challenge to find examples from each decade or so.

From the "Postal Laws and Regulations of the United States of America, 1847" Wierenga reprint, 1980:






From the PL&R of 1866, only a partial copy as it goes on for several more pages:






And even as late as the 1948 PL&R, again only a partial copy:



Jim Milgram has also written about these advertised markings in The Chronicle in recent years.

Thanks again John.

Here's one of my favorites:

Chip, all I can say is I'd love to show up at your house with a case of beer and spend an evening chatting and seeing your collection of gems. (Hope that didn't come off as creepy :)

Took the words out of my mouth.

You can stay away (pun? intended).

Reason you can stay away is that you can see a good chunk of current and past collections from the comfort of your own house: http://cgpostal.com

The address of the recipient is Mrs Mary (Cline or Caine or ???) Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia. Harrisonburg was established in the late 1700s and is the Rockingham County Seat. It is located in the Shenandoah Valley and is west of Shenandoah National Park. In 1849, the total population was only 700 of which only 200 were taxpaying residents so it was the kind of small town where pretty much everyone knew everyone.