Postmark Irregularities

I'm trying to understand the variations found in the "VJ" day postmarks in WW II Victory, VT patriotic covers. The following image illustrates what I am asking about:



First and most noticeable is the substitution of "VJ" for the normal "A.M." found in Victory, VT, postmarks. How would that be done?

Second, however it was done, it resulted in at least three varieties of postmarks. The first variety is shown on the top two rows of the image. This is by far the most common variety. The distinguishing characteristic between the top two rows is the additional ink picked up above the period following "VT." I presume that owes simply to different pressure or the angle at which the handstamp was applied, and not a sign of a different cancellation device. You can see similar kinds of differences in the bottom two rows as well.

In the bottom two rows, the "VJ" is shifted to the right, compared to the top two rows. At a first glance, if you fixate on the position of the "VJ" relative to "1945" it would appear as if the "VJ" is shifted further right in the last row than in the next to last row. But by focusing on the position of the "VJ" relative to the nearby "VT." you can see that the shift, relative to the position of the "VJ" in the top two rows, is the same.

What distinguishes the bottom two rows is that the three center lines of the CDS, i.e. the date stamp -- SEP/2/1945 -- is shifted to the left in the bottom row relative to the next to bottom row. To see the difference, focus on the position of SEP relative to the "T" in "V I C T O R Y."

At a minimum, it appears that three different cancellation devices were used to cancel Victory, VT, patriotic covers.

So we have a mixture of variations in date stamp and time stamp. Are variations like this possible with POD issued devices, or would the P.M. have to had someone machine her unauthorized devices?

TIA.

Basil

The 4 central lines are 4 loose pieces of rubber type inserted into hole. The position of each left to right does not matter.

Shown below is a POD cancellation device. It is not exactly the same as your cancel, but I use it to illustrate the hardware involved. The town and state were fixed, and the month/day/year/time were variable. There are slots in the metal and they would allow the slugs to be changed as needed. In the case of your VJ moving left or right, the slot was wider than the slug itself, allowing this shift to happen.

Linus

(image from ebay)

If you could find enough postmarks, you may be able to draw some conclusions if the slugs moved throughout the cancelling process or if there were separate time periods involved. For example, if you find that there are only two positions, with no intermediate positions (slugs moving all around), then I would assume that there were separate time periods involved.

Of course, this does not address if there was any funny business going on in Victory at the time or if there were rouge cancels applied at a later date.
Don

Agree with Don's line of thinking, there are likely two or more time periods involved. The most obvious (above-board) explanation is that the clerk cleaned the cancel with a brush during the day and the interior slugs moved a bit. The other explanation would be contrary-to-the-regulations backdating.

Thanks for the replies, and especially the image (Linus), as that helps a lot in visualization.

As to Don's suggestion about two or more time periods, that would have to involve some backdating, because all the postmarks in my image were supposedly canceled the same day. But what about two or more devices? Victory, VT was a small 4th class PO, normally processing about 15 pieces of mail a day. By September second, there was easily 2 or 3 thousand pieces of mail to process. I'm extrapolating here, from what is gleaned from this newspaper article about Victory's load on V-E Day.



Don said:




Well, the "VJ" itself is a bit of "funny business" since I would imagine this was unauthorized, just as I would imagine that the violet/magenta ink on most of these postmarks was unauthorized.

I'm pretty sure that backdating occurred on some covers with Victory, VT postmarks. Here are a couple of covers where I think that is the likely explanation:



I've a very large collection of Victory, VT covers, and I believe that the earliest "legitimate" use of violet/magenta was on a cover dated 12-25-1942. Examples appear sporadically in 1943, and into 1944 and 1945 black becomes scarce and violet/magenta dominates. This corresponds, roughly, to the increase in the volume of patriotic covers being serviced in Victory, and I think by some time in 1944 violet/magenta came to be the default. I said "legitimate" use because I'm under the impression that except as otherwise specified (like for special delivery) only black ink is regulation. But Victory was not the only PO using colored ink on philatelic mail during WWII, and I suspect that the postal authorities turned a blind eye to it.

There are other examples of backdating, or outright forgeries with Victory, VT WWII postmarks, but I believe that most, if not all, of the VJ postmarks were likely cancelled on or shortly after September 2. I cannot say some backdating didn't occur, but I don't think that's the most likely explanation the variation seen in the postmarks.

So what about the possibility of multiple devices in play on September 2?

There is more to this, but I'll save it for a later post.

Basil

Linus,

The Victory postmarks are what I understand to be 4f-bar postmarks. Wouldn't that be something more like what is shown to the right in the following image?



Are the stamp faces rubber, or metal? And if the device is something like the one on the right, how many "slugs" are there? And is there any room for "play" (the slugs shifting to one side or the other)?

Since the "VJ" is likely non-standard, could it be that (a) an ersatz slug was made that was smaller than it should have been, so that it fit loosely, or (b) with the possibility of multiple devices, that the "VJ" was positioned differently on the ersatz slugs?

Basil

Basil, You may be over-thinking this. There is one device at Victory. If you think there is a second, then demonstrate the difference of letter shape or spacing or wear patterns, etc. It just isn't there. Not even different sets of type for the slugs. Yes, there was probably some courtesy back-dating and mailing back under cover, "but two or more periods" does not PROVE backdating. This Postmaster was already used to changing the AM/PM slugs twice a day and the date one a day, so it is very believable that a postmaster with a large mail volume from collectors desiring a clear cancel would brush off the device and the slugs might shift slightly from morning to afternoon. What are you trying to demonstrate or prove?

Did they have complete trays of letters to insert in place of AM/PM (seems unlikely)? If not, how quickly could someone get the VJ letters to insert?
Don

Speculation: During mid-1945 "VJ" was expected to occur and very likely a collector had the letters made and sent to Victory,VT with their order of covers.

Add: here is a box of slugs from the mid 1950s used in a Pennsylvania office. The top row for a set of (absent) tweezers, then year-dates, 1-31, months and AM/PM.

John, (check your email, if you see this first)

So you only see one device accounting for the variations in the image I posted? Remember, all these were supposedly canceled the same day. Are you suggesting that during the day, the slugs could have been taken out, and when put back in that accounts for the differences. I've been told that the differences absolutely prove that these postmarks come from multiple devices.

I'm just trying to understand the most reasonable or likely explanation for the differences. If there is only one device, then what do the variations demonstrate?

But if what I've been told is true, that we are seeing evidence of multiple devices, then what would that mean? There is a long-standing legend that the Victory, VT device "fell into private hands" after WWII and was used to create fraudulent covers. Here's an early version of this story (from a blurb in the November 1981 issue of The Vermont Philatelist):



Herst wrote more about this in the March 1, 1986 edition of FIRST DAYS. There he based his reasoning on the analysis of a "United Nations" cover which demonstrated remarkable ignorance for a man of his reputation. I have been collecting Victory, VT covers for some time now. I have several autographed by Elizabeth Stanley (the PM during WWII) as well as her predecessor, and even one autographed by the PM when the PO was shuttered in 1951. There are some clearly fraudulent Victory, VT covers out there (and in my collection), but lots and lots of covers produced or serviced by some of the major names associated with WWII patriotic covers, including hand painted covers (of which I have several) by Dorothy Knapp, Cairo Sturgill, and Leonard Borkowski.

I've been toying with preparing an exhibit about the WWII Victory, VT covers, and simply want to be able to describe as best I can what was going on in the Victory PO at the time. I think that requires a plausible explanation for the variation seen in the postmarks in my original image. Any insight will be appreciated.

Basil

Interesting idea that some were made much later with the "lifted" postmarking device. I think I agree. I will send some thought back via email for you to ponder.

(Edit: we cross-posted, so perhaps your email will answer some of what I ask here.)
John, you wrote



Let me alter that speculation a bit, but before I do, would a single slug with "VJ" account for the variation shown in my original image? Are you suggesting something along the lines of, say, after hours of postmarking covers (creating marks like the top two rows) the slugs are removed, cleaned, and when put back in would produce variations like seen in the bottom two rows? I know someone who would tell you that is impossible.

As to a variation on your speculation, the bulk of the V-E day covers are marked with the ordinary A.M. or P.M. timestamp.

(Ordinarily there was only one dispatch out of Victory, and it is rare to see a P.M. postmark except on two occasions: May 5, 1945, and Aug 14, 1945. It makes some sense that there might have been a P.M. dispatch on those occasions, but it is then odd that there are no P.M. postmarks for Sept 2, 1945, which probably had more mail than Aug 14, 1945.)

However, there are a very few "VE" covers, in which "VE" occurs (like "VJ" did on VJ-Day) in the place of A.M. or P.M. I've seen about a dozen or so of these, all of them but two identified with a particular individual. So my alternate speculation is that this individual sent a "VE" slug, and it was used on their covers, and a very select few of others (I've only ever seen just two), and this same person wanted "VJ" and supplied a "VJ" slug and the P.M. decided to use it was used on all VJ colors.

I can also imagine a less salutary version, in which some time after VE day but before VJ day this person sent "VE" and "VJ" slugs, asked for "courtesy" backdating for their "VE" covers and use of the "VJ" slug when victory was ultimately declared over Japan, and that slug got used for all the Sept 2 VJ day covers.

Basil

To try to add some clarification, I hope you realize that 4-bar cancel device were almost always rubber matching the type "slugs" shown by John Becker. Different type inks were used for metal and rubber devices (try using something metal with a rubber stamp pad; the ink mostly pools into beads and doesn't coat the surface) and with little experience are pretty easy to distinguish. So the Victory devices were rubber. And the slugs do shift around (rubber) and while intended to fit their spaces snugly, there is some play which would account for type moving side to side, but not really up and down. There used to be rubberstamp kits for the office with removeable slugs that had type that acted as described.

Now John states there can be no major differences in the overall cancel, and I agree. You may have noticed that some of the lower cancels in the first scan tend toward being oval, but keep in mind this is a rubber device that is relatively soft and would distort this way if struck a certain way or was getting softer from wear. Quite normal for 4-bar cancels.

To start a new line of speculation, take a look again at John Becker's rubber type kit. Very plain and non-distinctive typeface. But note there are NOV and JAN slugs. Shave off NO and AN and there's your VJ (I think). Even though the typeface is nondescript, I think it's match with the month/day/year typeface. The slugs might have to have the sides cut down or have a blank slug put in place to keep all from falling out of the device or shifting too much. If anyone happens to have any November or January covers from Victory, please post an image. It's not going to tell us a lot but it would support this thought.

Plus, how is a VJ slug submitter going to know the exact typeface and size to send? Too tall and it won't fit in device. Too short and you'd need a spacer to keep the slug from moving around. That would quickly come loose or get soaked with ink and come loose, again if you've ever used an office-type rubberstamp kit. Someone who worked for the P.O.?

And as for servicing the reported 2500 covers in a day, its not a problem as far as I see. Time yourself banging an imaginary cancel on an inkpad and then on a cover, working with a batch of them spread out on a table. 50 a minute is doable if you're efficient. Giving yourself 30 minutes in breaks an hour to rest, spread out more covers and clean the cancel for nice strikes, then that is 1500 an hour, plenty of time to do other work if there was that much to do at Victory on a normal day.

For both VE and VJ day covers it woud have been easy for Stark and others to pre-stage by sending blanks (with or without cachets) to the Victory postmaster, since newspapers would have reported ongoing surrender negotiations with Germany (it wasn't instantaneous) and the Japanese surrender was way back on August 15. A telephone call to jog her memory, if needed, would be an easy thing to do.

Basil wrote:

There may have been a regulation to that effect, but in practice, I doubt this was followed to the letter. It may have been more about saving the purple/magenta/violet ink for parcels and registered and the clerks who handled those (inclduing counter clerks), where its bleeding could show tampering.

I believe even today, the USPS is pretty tight about not backdating even though you can't read the date (still) on a lot of spray-on cancels. Pictorial/fancy show cancels of today are just souvenir-type things really but seem to be treated seriously by USPS, at least in nearly all cases. Designs can be elaborate but sometimes you can see where a date space was roughly cut into the design after the fact for standard USPS rubber type date type slugs. However, recently, date ranges are often integral to the design and it seems somebody decided it was good enough for USPS work. Further, USPS allows a 30 day grace period for such cancels not previously announced in the Bulletin. But such cancels received even under separate cover do not have changeable date slugs inserted, I've found. That could be just sloth, sure.

I have suggested several measurements and comparisons for Basil to make which may shed some light on some subtle differences in the cancels in the first scan. The permanent parts of rubber stamps are going to be virtually constant on any given day, but change over time, being rubber. This may indeed point to some of the VJ cancels being made considerably later than VJ-Day. Stay tuned!

Blank slugs = they typically put a slug in backwards to fill the void.

The last 3 are for sure the same device.All 3 have the same characteristics.