Surely This Is Not Actually An 841 - Cross Plains, TN?

I was so excited to have this, but now I think about it, surely the 841 was not in use in the early 1930s, the lines look awfully thin ... and that "I" or short line to the right of the final S looks very suspicious.

Box cancel, maybe?

I have no opinion on the Cross Plains mark, but the due stamp is the scarlet shade in production/use 1943-58 and later, until supplies were used up..

That's interesting. I didn't know that different shades corresponded to different years; I just thought it was chance based on availability of supplies or techniques of ink mixing at the printer.

1958 would actually be possible for a Type 841.

So, still not sure it actually is one, but thank you very much!

A pressman mixing ink can be a bit off on one ingredient one way or the other and make a shade of ink that differs from the previous one. When matching the previous color from a run over time can differ greatly from the original color from the first run. In a perfect world it would remain the same threw out the different runs over the years. This is almost impossible to do. So you get your variations in color. I think it makes the hobby that more interesting.

Unkjay,
It is not a matter of matching colors. Although not detailed very well in the Scott catalog, the ink formulation for the postage due stamps was changed during WWII (c1943), reflected in the catalog from dull carmine (no suffix) to scarlet (now with the "a' suffix).

JanS, yours is a classic example of what happens when stamps are removed from a cover or other mail piece. The answer to your "boxed cancel?" question is lost or made extremely difficult to answer.