Quincy, Mass Machine Number Outside?

This 1956 Quincy, Mass. machine cancel has what appears to be a number 7 outside the dial. I do have Quincy machine numbers 1 through 6, all with the number inside the dial, so a machine number 7 seems plausible, but with the exception of a couple of modern facer-cancellers, I haven't seen numbers outside the dial. Can anyone tell me more about this machine?

I agree with your analysis of this being machine #7 to go along with machines 1-6.

I not have a specific example from Quincy. With the earliest machines, machine identification in large offices was done with killer letters/numbers and dial letters/numbers. This desire to be able to quickly identify which machine needs attention like ink, date changes, etc., did not change with the later facer-cancelers. More recently, there are intentional cuts in the rims and killer bars.

Closer to the topic at hand ... as you noted, here are some examples of machines indicated to the upper right of the dial:
Rochester, NY with binary code
001 = machine 1
010 = machine 2
011 = machine 3
100 = machine 4
101 = machine 5


Middlesex-Essex, MA with dials A-D with corresponding killer-bar cuts in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th bars for dials B, C, and D, respectively.


Wooster, MA with dials A, B, C, and E. I suspect Dial D exists, buy I do not have one.


Add: I will add for others to read, but I sense you are fully aware of the Boston Zone system beginning c1920 to number the Boston stations and the surrounding suburbs which is a direct forerunner of today's Zip Code. Especially with the Boston area, a number like 69 for Quincy and 55 for Medford does not mean they had 69 or 55 machines in Quincy or Medford, but corresponds to their Zone Number.




Thus numbers or letters in cancels may mean different things in different cities in different eras.

Thank you! It's good to see somebody else paying attention to modern postal history.

I can add Worcester D, Worcester F and Middlesex-Essex E.

It's also worth noting that these Worcester cancels were actually used at the Central MA P&DC (Processing and Distribution Center.) Central MA, located in Shrewsbury, opened in 1991, and took over processing from Worcester, but used the Worcester name in its cancels for its first ten years. Once they started using "Central MA" in the dial, all the machine letters were moved inside the dial. I have A, C, D and E, but not B.

Interesting that the killer corresponding to the Middlesex-Essex "E" dial did not have a cut in the 5th wavy bar.

Thank you also for pointing out that zone numbers in cancels are not the same thing as machine numbers or letters in cancels.

It's also worth mentioning that zone numbers and machine numbers or letters are not the same thing as Station numbers or letters.

There have been many stations and branches, subordinate units of the main post office, identified only by a letter or number. Postmarks of these identify them as being stations.

Thank you. That's why I was careful to include the caution above:


Although I am 1000 miles from Massachusetts, Boston's machine cancels and Zone System are both of interest to me.

Greets,
John is a remarkable resource but what I find even more impressive is his ability to quickly locate and post examples. Not only must his library/archive be large but being able to pull examples often leaves me in awe. Thank you John.
Don

How does he find the time?