Aerogramme Rates: Centennial Period

[This is an update of an article originally posted on June 10, 2010]

There were two aerogramme rate periods in effect during the Centennial era :

1. To June 30, 1971
2. From July 1, 1971

1. To June 30, 1971

The rate for aerogrammes to all countries was 10 cents. No enclosures were permitted.

a) Centennial Aerogramme

The Canada Office issued a new design aerogramme on November 6, 1967 which carried the Centennial and Expo 67 symbols on the outside of the combined letter-envelope.

Canada Post Office Notice:

First Day of Issue

Destination Denmark (1966 usage)



Destination England




Destination Australia




Destination Iceland : A Souvenir of Expo 67

Several  Expo 67 pavilion handstamps were applied to the aerogramme (shown below ) before it was mailed.

Montreal to Reykjavik, May 17, 1967

Expo 67 Pavilion Handstamps 

b)  10 cent Aerogramme Centennial and Expo Symbols Removed

The Centennial aerogramme was replaced by an aerogramme without  the Centennial and Expo symbols.

Destination China




Destination Australia




Destination Falkland Islands





Special Delivery : Germany

 

Montreal to Munich, June 27, 1970

40 cents Special Delivery fee

2. From July 1, 1971

The aerogramme rate was increased from 10c to 15c.

a) Uprated 10 cent aerogrammes

Destination Netherlands



Destination Tonga






b) 15 cent aerogrammes

The Canada Post Office issued 15 cent aerogrammes with new designs.

Destination Bermuda

20 Cent International Letter Rate Period 1976

From January  1, 1976 to  December 31, 1976, the international letter rates were as follows:

The post card rate was 20 cents, the same as the 1st weight step letter rate.


1st Weight Step Letter

Ville-de-Laval to Niederschach, Germany, November 26, 1976
20 cents international letter rate

 Weston to London, February 3, 1976
20 cents international letter rate

Lindsay to Berlin, DDR, July 3, 1976
20 cents international rate
 

 Sometimes a sender does not know what the correct rate is or simply chooses to affix more stamps than required.  The next  letter  mailed from Toronto to Germany on November 9, 1976 may be an example of a correctly franked letter or an incorrectly overpaid letter.  The sender (Bernd Jerger) was a visitor to Canada writing on Royal York Hotel (Toronto) stationery and affixed a complete pane of the 50 cent caricature booklet pane (in two parts) on the envelope.

Toronto to Niederschach, Germany, November 9, 1976

50 cents was the correct franking for the 3rd weight step, i.e. greater than 2 oz. and less than 4 oz. The manner in which the envelope was opened suggests that the contents were thick enough to account for  3rd weight  step franking, and even if it is an overpayment it is a nice example of a complete 50 cent booklet pane on cover, albeit in two parts.

50 cent booklet pane 

Stamps affixed to the cover

Insufficiently Paid

The Vienna system of taxing unpaid or underpaid international mail, in place since 1966, was revised at the 17th Universal Postal Union Conference held in 1974 at  Lausanne, Switzerland. The taxation change came into effect on January 1, 1976.

The country of origin's T fraction was changed to SINGLE the amount of the underpayment over the country of origin's international letter rate. The country of delivery still multiplied the fraction by its international letter rate but added a HANDLING CHARGE of 60 gold centimes* at most or the charges prescribed by internal legislation. [Article 21 (f) UPU Regulations]

Bridgewater to Birmingham, February 24, 1976

20 cents letter rate (Shortpaid 4 cents)

Canadian Tax Fraction : 4/20

British Charge : 13p

Canada Tax Fraction

Great Britain Charge

 

Military Mail

The letter rate from Canadian forces stationed overseas was 20 cents. The cover below was mailed from CFPO 5001 Cyprus to CFB Borden, October 6, 1976. The sender was Javier Perez de Cuellar, United Nations Representative of the Secretary General. De Cuellar went on to become UN Secretary-General from  1982 to 1991.

CFPO 5001 Cyprus to Borden, October 6, 1976

Registration Fee

The registration fee was 75 cents from January 1, 1976 to March 31, 1977.

Downsview to Munich, May 14, 1976

95 cents paying the 20 cents letter rate + 75 cents registration fee

Law Society Of Alberta : 1907 -2007

 The Law Society of Alberta (LSA) was created in 1907 pursuant to the Legal Professions Act. The Society's mandate is to serve the public interest by promoting a high standard of legal services and professional conduct. To commemorate the LSA's centenary, Canada Post issued a single 52 cent stamp on September 13, 2003.

Stamp Details

Canada Post's Details magazine provided the following information:

Stamp Designer  : Xerxes Irani

The July 2013 issue of Alberta Venture profiled Xerxes Irani

Mr. Irani provided insight into his design at the First Day Ceremonies held in Edmonton on September 13, 2007. Mr. Irani kindly provided me with a copy of his address which is transcribed below.

Good Afternoon.

I would first like to thank the Law Society of Alberta for including me in this special day and to Canada Post for selecting me to work on this incredible project.

I thought it might be appropriate to give you a bit of insight as to where the idea for this 100 year commemorative stamp came from.

The concept was to represent the rich past, vibrant present and promising future of the Law Society of Alberta.

I wanted to accomplish all of this in one image, as if it were a snapshot of the history of Law in Alberta.

Visually the most appropriate symbol for all Law is books as its FUNDAMENTALS are based in information and research.

We created actual leather bound books and scoured the Law libraries in Alberta to find the right elements for the stamp pane and First day cover envelope.

The portrait of Mr. James Muir (the society's first President) and the gavel remind us of the past and the promising future of the Law Society of Alberta.

As an interesting side note, Lawyers in Alberta used to pay their membership fees and dues with Alberta Law Stamps issued by the society specially for lawyers.

You can see what one of those looked like on the back of the First Day Cover envelope.

Thank you for your time and I will be around to answer any of your questions after the ceremony.

Mr. Irani also designed the 2012 Calgary Stampede commemorative stamps.

 Official First Day Cover

 

Xerxes Irani autograph on official first day cover

Unofficial First Day Covers

I prepared the covers shown below.

 Stamp designer Xeerxes Irani autogrpah

 James Peacock, President Law Society of Alberta (2007) autograph

Many thanks to Mr. Xerxes Irani for his generous assistance.

George V Admiral Period
WW I Military Mail

This post provides a brief look at the handling of military mail during WWI.


1. Military Camps in Canada


Field Post Office Canada Militia Petawawa Camp, Ontario to Hamilton, N.Y., September 15, 1916
5 cents 2 ounce letter rate to the U.S. (2 cents for each ounce (4 cents) + 1 cent War Tax)


Petawawa Camp, Ontario




Brockville to Toronto, June 8, 1918
YMCA Post Card


2. Forces in England and Europe

Postage was not required on mail from Canadian soldiers in England and France. Until July 28, 1917, however, Canadian Exchange Offices for overseas soldiers' mail affixed Canadian postage stamps on stampless mail received from soldiers overseas. The stamps were not paid by the sender or the addressee.


Free franked from Belgium, October 10, 1915
Montreal exchange office affixed the 2 cent stamp which was cancelled at Montreal on October 25, 1915


Field Service Post Card


Free franked , September 18, 1916 to Renfrew
Ottawa exchange office affixed the 2 cent stamp which was cancelled on October 2, 1916




Green Envelope


Free franked April 15, 1916 to St. Thomas, Ontario
London cancellation May 1. 1916



Field Post Office 142, July 29, 1916 to Renfrew
Montreal exchange office affixed the coil 2c +1c war tax stamo which was cancelled August 12, 1916


Military Hospital England


Camp Bramshott to Brantford, June 29, 1917
Hamilton flag cancellation, July 10, 1917


Bramshott Military Hospital oval handstamp


Mail to Member of the Expeditionary Force in France

The letter rate was 2 cents + 1 cent War Tax ( January 1916 Postal Guide supplement)


Kitchener to B.E.F., France, February 4, 1919
2 cents letter rate + 1 cent War Tax


3. Internment and Prisoner of War Camps

a) Prisoners of War in Germany

Postage was not necessary on letters addressed to Prisoners of War.


Toronto to Canadian POW Cellelager (Sennelager?), December 13, 1915

c/o General Post Office
Mount Pleasant
London England


British POW Post Free handstamp



Halifax to Canadian POW at Lenne (via Paderborn), December 20, 1915
Stamps were not necessary


b) Internees in the Netherlands

Combatants who entered neutral Netherlands were interned.


Tatamagouche, N.B., to Belgian soldier interned at Zeist, Netherlands, May 2, 1916
5 cents UPU letter rate + 5 cents registration fee



British censor tape



Toronto to Belgian soldier interned at Ammersfoort, Netherlands, 1916




Dutch Military censor


Patriotic label



Toronto to Belgian soldier interned at Ammersfoort, Netherlands, January 22, 1917


Dutch military censor


c) Internees and German Prisoners of War in Canada

Prisoners of War interned in Canada were permitted to write two letters per week. Letters to or from prisoners of war were postage free.

Amherst, Nova Scotia


German POW letter from Armherst internment camp to Hiddestorf, Germany, December 31, 1917



Amherst camp dated handstamp



Amherst camp to Lehe a/d Weser, November 13, 1917


A hand-drawn Christmas card


Kapuskasing, Ont.


Kapuskasing Internment Camp to Toronto, October 17, 1918


Internment camp censor handstamp





Kapuskasing Internment Station handstamp



Kapuskasing Internment Camp to Toronto, December 17, 1918


Passed by Internment Censor, Kapuskasing, Ont.


Censor label used to seal the envelope



Kapuskasing Camp to Gutach (Schwarzwald), Germany, October 5, 1919


Kapuskasing circular date stamp



McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York to Mr. T.A. Altenberg, P.W. 1976, Kapuskasing, Ont., July 16, 1918
Kapuskasing Internment Camp censor handstamp, July 25, 1918


Passed by Internment Censor Kapuskasing, Ont.


Kingston, Ontario (Fort Henry)


Cologne to Fort Henry, Kingston, February 12, 1917


Internment camp censor handstamp
April 12, 1917





Censor tape


Fort Henry camp, Kingston to Gutach, Germany, June 15, 1915


Lethbridge, Alta.


Registered letter from Lethbridge internment camp to Red Cross POW Agency, Geneva, Switzerland, October 28, 1915


Lethbridge internment camp handstamp


Vernon, B.C.


Vernon internment camp to Red Cross POW Agency, Geneva, Switzerland, March 27, 1917


Return address



Vernon internment camp triangle censor handstamp