CHAPTER XXIV

THE LETTER CARDS

The Postmaster General's Report for 1892 contained the following announcement:--"Letter cards, similar to those in use in Great Britain, Austria, and other European countries, are being prepared, and will be issued to the public in a short time." Only one value was issued, the 3 cents, and it appeared in company with the 20 and 50 cent adhesives and large sized post card on the 17th February, 1893. Artistically it is a pretty poor production, the stamp being apparently a rough wood-cut imitation of the stock type used by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. at that time for British Colonial stamps. The profile of the Queen is on a solid ground within an octagonal frame, and the labels at top and bottom contain the words POSTAGE and THREE CENTS respectively. At the left of the stamp, in two lines, is CANADA--LETTER CARD, the first being in Gothic, the second in Roman capitals. The entire impression is in carmine. The size of the card, opened out, is 5-1/2 × 7 inches (138 × 175 mm.), the longer dimension being reduced one half by folding of course. The perforation gauges 12 and is in Form A of Senf's catalogue (both lines crossing at the corner intersections). The margin outside the perforations measures 3/8 inch (10 mm.) and is gummed only around the third face of the folded card. The stock is of fair quality and of a light greenish-blue tint.

The Postmaster General's Report for 1894 says that "so far the demand for these letter cards has not equalled the expectations of the Department." On looking at the stamp accounts we find that from their date of issue to the 30th June, 1893, 265,350 of the letter cards were distributed; but during the whole of the next fiscal year but 104,650 were issued and for the third year the amount had dropped to 77,750. The Postmaster General's plaint was therefore justified.

It is perhaps best to record here a curious semi-official issue of what might be termed a "letter sheet" for the use of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was first noted in the _Monthly Journal_ for 31st January, 1894, as "a sheet stamped with the current 1 cent wrapper die, upon which is printed the monthly statement of receipts and expenditure for transmission to shareholders." Perhaps for the reason that the wrapper stamp was impressed upon it, this variety has been listed under the newspaper wrappers, but such it is not. The circular was printed upon a stout gray-blue paper, and had the wrapper stamp of type 4 impressed upon the back in black. Above the stamp appears the inscription "Printed Matter Only," while in the lower left corner of the address side of the folded sheet are two lines reading:--

Canadian Pacific Ry. Monthly Statement of Earnings and Expenses.

Three guide lines are printed for the address, as upon the old post cards. The sheet must have been issued in 1893 subsequent to the appearance of the large post card with the stamp of type 4 in black. It is stated to have been issued as an experiment and was in use but a short time. A second variety is known, however, on white laid paper, which was probably issued subsequently to the blue variety, but at what date is not known. Both sheets are rare so the experiment evidently was not carried on for long.

Returning to the regular letter cards we find again in the Postmaster General's Report for 1895 that "arrangements have been made for the issue of letter cards of the denominations of 1, 2 and 3c. for the use of banks in transmitting certain notices to their customers, as well as for ordinary letters within those postal limits to which their denominations respectively apply." The next year's Report explains their use a little more fully:--

During the year the 1 and 2 cent letter cards were introduced--the former to serve the purpose of the "drop letter" (_i. e._, a letter posted at, and delivered from, the same office) in places where there is no free delivery by letter carrier; the latter to meet a similar object in cities where there is such a delivery. Already this extension of postal facilities appears to be appreciated--more especially by banks, which largely use these cards in transmitting notices to their customers.

The 2 cent letter card is chronicled in the _Monthly Journal_ for 31st October, 1895, and the 1 cent in the same paper for the 30th November, 1895. Both were doubtless issued the early part of October. They conformed in all respects to the 3 cent letter card issued two years and a half previously, except for the stamp. If the 3 cent was wretched, the two new ones were hideous. They were not only more poorly engraved, which was needless, but the label at the bottom was enlarged by extending it at either side. The 1 cent was printed in black and the 2 cent in green--inscription and stamp in the same color in each case.

In 1903 the _Weekly Philatelic Era_ published the following:[238]--

A correspondent in Vermont sends Mr. Lohmeyer a 1c. letter card of the first issue, which he discovered in a Canadian post office recently, it being the only copy there and damaged at that, the perforated margin on the right hand side being torn off. In the lower left corner the bottom perforation runs to the left side perforation only, instead of crossing it, as on all Canadian letter cards previously seen.

[238] =Weekly Philatelic Era=, XVII: 149.

This is the style of perforation designated as C in Senf's catalogue--in which the horizontal line does not project beyond the vertical lines at either side. We have seen a perfect copy of the above described 1 cent letter card, which seems to be unlisted; but the 3 cent card with this perforation, listed and priced in Senf, we have not ourselves seen. It is possible that if two of these cards exist with perforation C, the third one--the 2 cent--will some day come to light.

The change in the stamp contractors in 1897 and the use of a new design naturally brought changes in the letter cards as well as the other postal requisites. The new 2 cent letter card was chronicled in the _Monthly Journal_ for 31st January, 1898, so it is safe to assume that it appeared in December, 1897. The 1 cent and 3 cents are chronicled in the same paper for 28th February, 1898, and must therefore have been issued as early as January, 1898. The new letter cards were in all respects the counterparts of the previous ones save the stamp, which was now the same as that used for the new post cards and wrappers, viz., a copy of the "maple leaf" Queen's head type engraved for typographic work. These three letter cards are known only with the perforation A.

The reduction in domestic postage to the 2 cent rate on the 1st January, 1899, rendered the 3 cent letter cards useless as well as the envelopes of like denomination. We have already recounted the story of the surcharged envelopes and the two types of the handstamp which were used in doing the work.[239] Suffice it to say, therefore, that we have but to add the letter cards to the same story to make it complete. Both the 3 cent letter cards of 1893 and 1898 were turned in for surcharging purposes, and the former not only received both types of the rubber hand-stamped surcharge in the usual blue-black or gray-black color, but is found also with the second and common type in a violet color.[240] The surcharging was begun and the letter cards so treated were issued as early as February, 1899. The perforation, so far as known, is always A.

[239] See page 240.

[240] =Monthly Journal=, IX: 175.

In its issue for 27th January, 1900, the _Weekly Philatelic Era_ notes the receipt of the 1 cent and 2 cent letter cards of the maple leaf type in new colors, conforming with the requirements of the Postal Union, the one cent in green instead of black and the 2 cent in carmine instead of green. In all other respects these letter cards conformed to their predecessors. They were doubtless issued early in January, 1900.

The letter cards had been used in considerable quantities each year, particularly after 1895, when the 1 cent and 2 cent values were added to the previous 3 cent; but in 1902 they were withdrawn without any particular reason having been given that we have been able to discover. The stamp accounts for the Report of 1902 give the numbers issued in that fiscal year as 195,100 for the 1 cent and 352,000 for the 2 cent. The only item of information we have to quote concerning their demise is confined to the dates: the last issue of the 1 cent letter card is recorded as the 4th April, 1902, and of the 2 cent letter card as the 28th June, 1902.