Besides the family of the sender and recipient, this is a common WW 1 soldier's letter sent home to his wife. It is not sent "out of period" as the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) began in 1917. I cannot read the cancel so it I do not know when it was sent, but most likely in 1918, or possibly after the war ended in November, 1918 and sometime in the first half of 1919 as the AEF stayed around for about 6 months after the end of the war and kept on mailing letters and cards home. The circular censor marking at the bottom left is the standard censor mark for that era and it was not applied by special censors and there should not be any censor tape. During that time all officers were authorized to censor the mail of the enlisted men under them, as well as to self-censor their own mail. That circular cachet was a stamp that was issued to most every officer along with an ink pad with purple ink. Chaplains were also authorized to censor cards and covers as they were also officers, but they normally had a red ink pad. Typically, the job of censoring the enlisted mens' mail was bucked down to the lowest ranked or newest lieutenant in a unit as it was not a coveted job. Letters had to be submitted unsealed and cards could simply be read. After "censoring" the letter or card the officer would rubber stamp that circular cachet at the lower left corner then across that or just under it they would sign their name followed by their main unit just as "2nd Lt. John Doe, USMC" or such.
The location of APO 765 was not in Naples, Italy during WW 1. It was in Naples in WW 2 but that was an entirely different thing. I am not positive about the exact location of APO 765 in 1918 but for a while it was in a rear location in the general area of Verdun. To find out exactly where it was at different times during the war the best reference would be "Postal History of the AEF, 1917-1923 / 2nd Edition. (Van Dam, Ed./1990): A detailed catalog of the postal history of the American Expeditionary Forces during and after World War I, with illustrations of postmarks, censor & auxiliary marks, and a valuation guide for all listed types." I do not have this reference book myself.
People are correct that stamps were not required - what was required was for the soldier or sailor to write "soldier's mail", or "sailor's mail", or "officer's mail" in the upper right corner where the stamp would normally go.
There were many different pre-printed envelopes and cards during this war since most soldiers did not have access to writing materials and letters home were encouraged. Charity organizations stepped in and provided envelopes and writing paper and post cards to whomever wanted them. The Red Cross is one example and the YMCA is another, but there were many different groups doing it. They all were sure to put their organization's names prominently on these writing materials to get credit for doing this. It was good advertising.
Security about units and where they were was not as tight during WW 1 as it was during WW 2 and later wars. It is quite common to find these with a soldier's exact unit number written as part of the return addresses of the soldiers, and picture postcards of local towns where the soldiers happened to be are also commonly found. |
Posted 10/30/2018 2:12 pm
