Need Help . Is This Ill, S Ill. ? Van't Find State.

Any idea what state Attwood is in.? Atwood Ill. ? not Miss. or Mass.

Atwood, Illinois

In this case a typographical error with an extra T and using "Ills" for the state name. It is actually fairly common to find typographical errors in postmarks, which makes looking them up a challenge.

Thanks John To call it a typo is being polite.. How can something so obvious be missed ? who was the dummy making the handstamp? & wasn't it checked before.. Sometimes you wonder...

There is also an Atwood, Kansas as well as Tennessee.

Might not be a typo. A Google search found quite a few references to Attwood, Illinois. The dummy may have been competent after all.

Cheers, Robert

Hey Robert I don't know which Google you have but my Google Chrome shows only Atwood not Attwood .. no mention of different spelling.. that was my first stop before coming here. you sure?

It appears Atwoood IL was a small, 4th class post office. At the time of this post card, postmasters at these small offices had to purchase their own date stamps if they did not want to docket each letter with a manuscript date and post office name.

The Post Office Dept did not provide them. Devices were supplied only to Presidential Class Offices (which is simply defined as a post office which mailed letters and packages with over $1000 in postage during the year.)

So this postmaster was out the 25 or 50 cents he paid, at least until he could convince the supplier that it was a sellers mistake, and get him to replace it.

My first hand knowledge is limited to Texas post offices, but this sort of thing happens from time to time. On occasion, the device is corrected quickly, but in other instances, it might stay in use for a few years until there is a physical need to replace it. What's fun is to figure out just how long the error device was used, when it started and ended, and what devices were used before and after.

Yup.




Cheers, Robert

I am going to side with John Becker on this being a typo for Atwood, IL.
https://books.google.com/books?id=g...nger&f=false states that H.A. Flickinger had a farm in Tuscola Township, located in Douglas Co, IL, which also includes Atwood.

What I've learned on SCF.

1. When it comes to postal history, trust John B. When he posts a reply.

Thank you, Stallzer.

My initial post above calling it a typo is based on collecting data on over 50 Indiana error canceling devices, so Illinois would be similar. Many errant devices were used for years.

To weave a little more fabric, Atwood, Illinois is on the border between two counties. Although Jim Forte's incredible useful P.O. list shows Atwood continuously in Piatt County (1874-date), the January 1882 Postal Guide lists Atwood in Douglas County and the January 1887 Postal Guide lists Atwood in Piatt County - probably nothing more than moving the office across the street when a postmaster changed, although I have not looked any further, but the P.O. site location records should have that level of detail if anyone wanted to run off on a tangent.

OK I'm convinced , John B is correct without a doubt. Now why did this happen ? The order for the stamp was not made over the phone. So it was either verbal ( face to face ) or written out wrong to begin with.. I guess at that time it just didn't matter much.. You know what they say,, Measure twice cut once. Thanks everyone..

1. Spellings of some towns have changed over the years and this may be such a case.
2. Spelling in general has been a bit fluid in the past centuries, and this may also be a case of that.
3. It may be that the person who made this simply did not know how to spell Atwood and the postmaster did not care.