SA Slogan postmarks and postal meters
 
One area in our field of interest that has been barely mentioned in our publications and may represent possibilities for extensive and interesting collections is the use of world wide slogan postmarks on SA correspondence. (Ref. Suggested future project #7)

Mail canceling machines have been used by postal departments since the turn of last century. It was shortly after World War II (earliest cancels seen are from 1947) that businesses and organizations with large mail volumes began to lease mechanical canceling devices for their outgoing cards and letters. These time and money saving devices provided the correct postage, date and origin imprinted directly on standard size pieces of mail fed through these machines. These could also produce "labels" with the same information to be affixed to out-size letters. The various manufacturers' machines, types F, H, NPM, P, PB, etc. were numbered and registered to a user in a specific location. The devices mostly use red printing ink, but a few have been seen using blue/purple ink.

Over 60 years the SA gradually introduced postal meters in its world wide organization. At first we see the use at National and Territorial Headquarters, followed by DHQ's, large Corps and Institutions. Currently, most SA facilities in the US use these and more sophisticated electronic devices on a daily basis. The SA seems to have standardized on the Pitney Bowes brand.

Some time ago I got hold of a small collection of US postal meters in an auction. These meter marks, all with various slogans attached, covered the 1970's and 1980's time period. It seemed that they could form the basis for a partial study collection, which could grow to include other countries as well. Unfortunately, about half of the labels had adhered to the plastic sleeves in which they were kept and could not be removed without major damage. I did, however, record essential readable data for a register to be created.

You will find that available material in this field is not abundant, unless you have somehow access to older correspondence envelopes in files or archives. Note that there are also regular business covers with SA slogans! It is not exactly higher value stuff (philatelically speaking) and that explains why it is not often seen for sale or in auctions. Still, I am pretty sure that there are hidden away, in a number of member collections, several slogan samples mixed in with your regular things.

Mounting full-size business envelopes in your albums is going to be a bit bulkier than stamps and would require many binders. Your other option may be to cut-to-shape the slogan covers to the same size as the labels dispensed by some of the canceling devices. The largest labels are roughly 33 x 120 mm and could be mounted like stamps on regular album pages. This surely would be the better solution for roughly opened, damaged or out-size covers. 

The different types of slogan postmarks often can be classified by their intended usage. Some are for general use year round, others specifically for special events, anniversaries or Christmas appeals and still others have a distinct Social Work connection. Given enough material, sub-collections for each of these topics could be built. In the US some slogans have been used nationwide, some are limited to a Territory and some for a unique local purpose. A few of the same slogans have seen use in other countries, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

We may cover more ground in future articles as we address the international scene. Please give me some encouragement by providing comment, by inquiries about other topics and by sharing some of your own study items (earliest slogans?) or database examples. I cannot guarantee you that all questions will be answered, but we can always give it a try.