Assistant Request For A "Messenger" Marking On 3c Prexie, On A Cover From Switzerland

Dear experts,

Does anyone have some insight into this "MESSENGER" marking on a 3C stamp? The cover itself is from Switzerland, seems to be fully paid, and thus I couldn't see why this 3C stamp is attached and further obliterated with the "MESSENGER" marking.

This cover belongs to a friend of mine (a keen US stamp collector from Tokyo) and he said he has got this for more than 30 years and still have no idea about the usage - so do I.

Any observations and insights are welcome - thank you in advance !

Hironobu

This relates to the US government having a monopoly on the mails. Thus the recipient had to pay the letter rate postage on this envelope in order for the private messenger to legally carry it outside the mails to B Dodge (?), who apparently was at a different, but nearby location. This procedure is described in the periodic Postal Laws and Regulations volumes, the 1948 volume covering this in part 91.
Thus one also gets private and unusual cancels on these mail pieces. Overall, these are fairly uncommon. The handful of examples I have seen most frequently involve corporate mail, often between branches, such as this one, which I believe was handled under the same regulations:



I also believe this strip was on a heavy letter or small parcel carried privately on a bus line. Postage required even though it was never handled by the USPOD:

Dear John, thank you so much for your thorough and comprehensive explanation.

I understand the relevant regulations in Postal Laws & Regulations, 1948 you have mentioned shall be the Section 91.3, "Requirements when letters are carried out of mail";



So I understand that this 3C stamp was applied by the sender (the editorial office of the journal?) and "MESSENGER" cancel (private cancel) been applied by the sender or a private messenger service, and the cover forwarded to "B. DODGE", who might have been the responsible person for handling the matter.

I have searched for B. DODGE in the Web archive of the Journal of the Aeronautical Science, in hope to find his/her name among the editorial member list but couldn't find it.

Thank you again, and I am sure my friend will be very happy about this.

Regards,
Hironobu

Yes, you found the paragraph which I think applies here.
Yes, the US stamp would have been applied at the JAS office and cancelled there.
The messenger service would also have been paid somehow.
B Dodge: hard to tell if he is the original sender, the final recipient, or even the messenger, but sounds like you have a good strategy.
I sense you have it nearly figured out. A very desirable use!

Dear John,

Great to know that I nearly got it !

I have forwarded your posts (as well as my observations) to my friend - the owner of this cover-, and he was so delighted that his long mystery has been solved, and forwarded his sincere thanks to you.

This simply shows the significance of this Community, and thanks again!

Regards,
Hironobu

I am unsure about one point with your cover, and do not have the time at the moment to dig more deeply. The Swiss postage paid for the letter to get fully to its destination and would have covered any subsequent forwarding within the U.S., so I think there is a good chance the added U.S. postage was not necessary, since if the USPOD had handled the forwarding (rather than the messenger) they would not have received any additional postal revenue. I suspect the JAS added unnecessary postage "to be safe" and to follow the practice of their own internal messenger-mail. If I am mistaken on this, I am sure others will soon post replies.

In contrast, the Shell Oil item I posted has the true origin postage paid by the sender, thus definitely required to compensate the USPOD due to their monopoly, etc. Being soaked, the strip with Kokomo cancel is harder to evaluate..

Dear John, thanks again for your observations and comment.

I've searched the web archive of the Journal of Aeronautical Sciences, and have found this page from January 1949 issue, mentioning on the addresses for correspondences (red frames added by myself);





It says that all correspondences regarding manuscript publication etc should be addressed to the Editorial Office of the Journal, which is located in 2 East 64th Street, New York 21, New York.

However, this cover was incorrectly addressed to the "Editor" at 20th & Northhampton Street, Easton, PA., where the Publication office of the Journal, which was only responsible for correspondences for journal subscription, was located.



Thus this cover, received at the Publication office, has been forwarded to the Editorial Office in NY.

My thought is that this mistake (e.g. sending the correspondences aimed to Editorial Office to Publication Office, or vice versa) had been so frequently occurring that the Institute of the Aeronautical Society, who was the publisher of the Journal, have had a specific contract between the public messenger to handle the transfer of misaddressed correspondences between the two Offices.

Hironobu

- Nov 10: edited for clarity

Looks like a logical reason.

Thanks !

I was also wondering about the lack of forwarding address, but assuming that this was a regularly occurring transfer between the two offices, they might have added the postage to individual letters/envelopes but omitting the forwarding address, and put them into a larger parcel envelope or sack (or whatever) bearing the forwarding address and handed it to the messenger.

Hironobu