Introduction
When the aeroplane flew into the world of communication, it had an enormous impact on the postal services. A new world was opened with new and faster communications, where different airlines competed for the fastest and cheapest transport. In order to make this transport as efficient as possible, all kinds of handstamps were placed on the mail.
My interest refers to handstamps that indicate how far and by which route the mail had to be or was flown. Needless to say that I was catched by Ian McQueen’s studies and based on these and my own findings I published 2 books. But now, in the age of internet, I was pleased to get into contact with Mr. Piyush Khaitan from India, who has a foundation to promote philately and via this website my work will be available in a much easier and up-to-date way.
The purpose of the Jusqu’a handstamps was to indicate how far air transmission was applicable and in some cases how further transport had to take place. The usage is spread over a long period, from 1919 till mid 50-ies when air transport became very common and mail was carried all the way by air.
In this survey I am trying to divide these handstamps into some categories to explain the usage of these cancels and more important, I have tried to make an as complete as possible inventory of all known handstamps. As the greater part of these handstamps were placed in the country of origin of the mail, I choose for a listing per country and I made a separate chapter for bar and cross cancels.
“Insufficiently paid for airmail” handstamps are not included, because, generally spoken, letters with these handstamps have never flown. However there are always exceptions:
Also it was possible to indicate one’s preference for a special airline because it was cheaper and/or faster:
The handstamps appear in different languages:
My interest refers to handstamps that indicate how far and by which route the mail had to be or was flown. Needless to say that I was catched by Ian McQueen’s studies and based on these and my own findings I published 2 books. But now, in the age of internet, I was pleased to get into contact with Mr. Piyush Khaitan from India, who has a foundation to promote philately and via this website my work will be available in a much easier and up-to-date way.
The purpose of the Jusqu’a handstamps was to indicate how far air transmission was applicable and in some cases how further transport had to take place. The usage is spread over a long period, from 1919 till mid 50-ies when air transport became very common and mail was carried all the way by air.
In this survey I am trying to divide these handstamps into some categories to explain the usage of these cancels and more important, I have tried to make an as complete as possible inventory of all known handstamps. As the greater part of these handstamps were placed in the country of origin of the mail, I choose for a listing per country and I made a separate chapter for bar and cross cancels.
“Insufficiently paid for airmail” handstamps are not included, because, generally spoken, letters with these handstamps have never flown. However there are always exceptions:
- when the handstamps also contains a jusqu’a indication (e.g. South Africa)
- in the U.S.A. these cancels sometimes were also used on incoming mail and then they had a jusqu’a function.
- it was not possible to have the full traject flown (no trans-atlantic flights till 1936)
- it was cheaper to have it partly flown
- in some cases other routes were faster, e.g. if you could get the mailboat in time.
Also it was possible to indicate one’s preference for a special airline because it was cheaper and/or faster:
- “PER K.L.M. TOT AMSTERDAM” or
- “By I.A. to Durban”
- “By KNILM to Manilla – by PAA to USA and onward air transmission”
The handstamps appear in different languages:
- French, because this was the international language for postal traffic
- English, between English speaking countries
- Local language, used for inland flights only (some are difficult to recognize: Arab, Chinese, Japanese, etc.)
- Combination of French and local language
Contents
Catalogisation is done by country in alphabetical order with the following subdivisions: A, B, C, D, P, T, V, M. and I have made a separate section for the UK bar cancels and also a cross reference section for bar and cross cancels. Also separately stated are the following handstamps: “entièrement transporté par avion”, “transporté exceptionellement par avion” and “transporté exceptionellement a titre de propaganda”. The name of the town in the description refers to the cancel on the stamp(s), which is normally also the town where the handstamp was used.
A: Handstamps placed in the town of dispatch and indicating the destination to be flown to (with or without “jusqu’a”). It also happens that these handstamps appear on the back-side of the envelope, which may lead to the conclusion that in case of bundles they were only placed on the top and the bottom envelope.
a) also mentioning the town of despatch “PAR AVION DE TIRANA Á NEW YORK”
b) only mentioning the destination in the cancel “PAR AVION JUSQU’Á AMSTERDAM” or “AIR MAIL TO NEW YORK”
c) only mentioning the destination handwritten “PAR AVION JUSQU’Á ……….
d) just mentioning the continent or country of destination “PAR AVION JUSQU’EN EUROPE” “PAR AVION DE BUENOS AIRES EN FRANCE”
e) only mentioning country of origin and country of destination “AUSTRALIA-FRANCE”
f) mentioning that only a part of the total traject was to be flown “BY AIR MAIL IN UNITED STATES ONLY”
g) negative indication of jusqu’a destination “Insufficiently paid for Air Mail beyond KARACHI”
h) next to the destination, also indicating further transport: “TO NEW YORK BY AIR AND ONWARD BY STEAMER”
B: Handstamps cancels placed in the town of dispatch and indicating from where the mail had to be flown:
a) the town of airmail dispatch was stated: “Par avion de Chita à…………. ” or “PAR AVION –(HONGKONG)—VIA AIRMAIL” (handstamps used in Philippines to indicate : by boat to HongKong and further by plane).
b) the town of airmail dispatch had to be handwritten “FROM …………….BY AIRMAIL”
c) the town of airmail dispatch and destination was stated: “PAR AVION de HONG KONG a LONDON” (used in Macao)
d) the town of airmail dispatch and destination had to be handwritten: “PAR AVION de……….à…………..”
C: Handstamps placed in the airport of arrival to indicate that the full traject has been flown or that no further air transmission was requested:
a) mentioning that air service was completed “AIR SERVICE COMPLETED AT SYDNEY”
b) no further text “CANCELLED BOMBAY” (with or without date)
c) large variety of German cancels “Mit Luftpost befördert Flugplatz…….”
d) Dutch propeller-cancel, Rotterdam, Amsterdam or ‘sGravenhage “town-name, date, PER LUCHTPOST AANGEBRACHT”
e) French text handstamps: “Entièrement transporté Par Avion”, sometimes with the addition:”à titre de propagande” (for promotion purposes)
f) bars (red, blue or black) placed through the air mail indication, showing that airmail was completed till the town where the bars were placed
g) cross (red, violet, black) placed through the air mail indication, showing that airmail was completed till the town where the bars were placed
D: Handstamps placed in the airport of exchange to indicate that the full traject had to be flown:
a) O.A.T. (Onward Air Transmission) and AV2 handstamps (see Murray Heifetz).
b) “By Air to Australia and onward air transmission”
P: Handstamps placed in the airport of despatch indicating that air transport has been carried out “free of charge”, mainly for propaganda reasons:
a) “Zuschlagfrei mit Flug befördert/expédié par avion sans droit”
b) “lettre transporté exceptionellement par avion
c) Propaganda handstamps telling you that airmail saves time (e.g. Colombia)
T: TRANSATLANTIC, -OCEAN and NORTH ATLANTIC air service handstamps are included here.
V: “VIA”- handstamps:
A great number of these handstamps (especially the “via New York”) had a jusqu’a purpose. All “VIA” handstamps I found, (whether they had a jusqu’a function or not), are included in a separate section: “V”.
In a number of cases different routes were possible, e.g. mail from Argentina to Europe could be flown via Natal-Lisboa, but could also be directed via New York. Different airline companies had different rates.
M: In every collection you need a dustbin for items which are closely related to the subject and which are worth to be mentioned. Not included are souvenir or first flight route indications, which were sometimes placed next to the first flight cachet. These cachets already indicate between which towns the flight should take place, so an extra handstamp is quite unnecessary. Further it is obvious when the title of the book reads “handstamps”, etiquettes are not included (although personally I like them very much).
In countries with a larger number of alike handstamps, I made subcategories in order to make it more surveyable and easier to find.
I also tried to give a scarcity rating from ° to °°°°°° from very common to very rare, based on my own experience).
It is clear that this website cannot give a complete list of these cancels, so any additions and comments are very welcome at [email protected]
New findings are still possible, especially when we look at the Postal Instructions in various countries. In a lot of cases jusqu’à markings are mentioned, but it is questionable whether the related handstamps have ever been issued.
A: Handstamps placed in the town of dispatch and indicating the destination to be flown to (with or without “jusqu’a”). It also happens that these handstamps appear on the back-side of the envelope, which may lead to the conclusion that in case of bundles they were only placed on the top and the bottom envelope.
a) also mentioning the town of despatch “PAR AVION DE TIRANA Á NEW YORK”
b) only mentioning the destination in the cancel “PAR AVION JUSQU’Á AMSTERDAM” or “AIR MAIL TO NEW YORK”
c) only mentioning the destination handwritten “PAR AVION JUSQU’Á ……….
d) just mentioning the continent or country of destination “PAR AVION JUSQU’EN EUROPE” “PAR AVION DE BUENOS AIRES EN FRANCE”
e) only mentioning country of origin and country of destination “AUSTRALIA-FRANCE”
f) mentioning that only a part of the total traject was to be flown “BY AIR MAIL IN UNITED STATES ONLY”
g) negative indication of jusqu’a destination “Insufficiently paid for Air Mail beyond KARACHI”
h) next to the destination, also indicating further transport: “TO NEW YORK BY AIR AND ONWARD BY STEAMER”
B: Handstamps cancels placed in the town of dispatch and indicating from where the mail had to be flown:
a) the town of airmail dispatch was stated: “Par avion de Chita à…………. ” or “PAR AVION –(HONGKONG)—VIA AIRMAIL” (handstamps used in Philippines to indicate : by boat to HongKong and further by plane).
b) the town of airmail dispatch had to be handwritten “FROM …………….BY AIRMAIL”
c) the town of airmail dispatch and destination was stated: “PAR AVION de HONG KONG a LONDON” (used in Macao)
d) the town of airmail dispatch and destination had to be handwritten: “PAR AVION de……….à…………..”
C: Handstamps placed in the airport of arrival to indicate that the full traject has been flown or that no further air transmission was requested:
a) mentioning that air service was completed “AIR SERVICE COMPLETED AT SYDNEY”
b) no further text “CANCELLED BOMBAY” (with or without date)
c) large variety of German cancels “Mit Luftpost befördert Flugplatz…….”
d) Dutch propeller-cancel, Rotterdam, Amsterdam or ‘sGravenhage “town-name, date, PER LUCHTPOST AANGEBRACHT”
e) French text handstamps: “Entièrement transporté Par Avion”, sometimes with the addition:”à titre de propagande” (for promotion purposes)
f) bars (red, blue or black) placed through the air mail indication, showing that airmail was completed till the town where the bars were placed
g) cross (red, violet, black) placed through the air mail indication, showing that airmail was completed till the town where the bars were placed
D: Handstamps placed in the airport of exchange to indicate that the full traject had to be flown:
a) O.A.T. (Onward Air Transmission) and AV2 handstamps (see Murray Heifetz).
b) “By Air to Australia and onward air transmission”
P: Handstamps placed in the airport of despatch indicating that air transport has been carried out “free of charge”, mainly for propaganda reasons:
a) “Zuschlagfrei mit Flug befördert/expédié par avion sans droit”
b) “lettre transporté exceptionellement par avion
c) Propaganda handstamps telling you that airmail saves time (e.g. Colombia)
T: TRANSATLANTIC, -OCEAN and NORTH ATLANTIC air service handstamps are included here.
V: “VIA”- handstamps:
A great number of these handstamps (especially the “via New York”) had a jusqu’a purpose. All “VIA” handstamps I found, (whether they had a jusqu’a function or not), are included in a separate section: “V”.
In a number of cases different routes were possible, e.g. mail from Argentina to Europe could be flown via Natal-Lisboa, but could also be directed via New York. Different airline companies had different rates.
M: In every collection you need a dustbin for items which are closely related to the subject and which are worth to be mentioned. Not included are souvenir or first flight route indications, which were sometimes placed next to the first flight cachet. These cachets already indicate between which towns the flight should take place, so an extra handstamp is quite unnecessary. Further it is obvious when the title of the book reads “handstamps”, etiquettes are not included (although personally I like them very much).
In countries with a larger number of alike handstamps, I made subcategories in order to make it more surveyable and easier to find.
I also tried to give a scarcity rating from ° to °°°°°° from very common to very rare, based on my own experience).
It is clear that this website cannot give a complete list of these cancels, so any additions and comments are very welcome at [email protected]
New findings are still possible, especially when we look at the Postal Instructions in various countries. In a lot of cases jusqu’à markings are mentioned, but it is questionable whether the related handstamps have ever been issued.
