Canadian Street Scene Medium Value Definitives : 1978 - 1982

Canada Post issued three medium-value definitve stamps (50c, 75c and 80c) on July 6, 1978 featuring "different street scenes typical of the Canadian urban environment". The "Street Scene" stamps were designed by Tom Bjarnarson and printed by the British American Bank Note Co. Ltd. A fourth denomination (60c), printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company was issued on May 11, 1982.

50 cents Prairie Town Main Street

a) British American Bank Note Co. Ltd. Printing

The 50 cent denomination shows a "two-wagon" width main street of a prairie town which was subsequently identified by collectors as Austin, Manitoba. (Robin Harris wrote a brief article dealing with the Street Scenes issue in the May-June 2003 issue of Corgi Times)

Austin, Manitoba circa 2013

b) Canadian Bank Note Co. Printing

The Canadian Bank Note Co. took over the printing of the 50 cent denomination, releasing its version in December, 1978.

The CBN printing has “© 1978" on the licence plate of the automobile in the lower right.

According to the Unitrade Catalogue, the stamp was issued on December 13, 1978

75 cents Quebec Street Scene

Canada Post provided this description of the Montreal row-house scene in its new issue pamphlet:

The streets of larger cities in our grandfathers' day presented rows of substantial brick or stone buildings, individualizes with ornamental sculpture, delicate wrought iron and elaborately carved and fretted wood - the painstaking handwork of artists and craftsmen. In spite of the encroachment of modern and more anonymous styles of building, many of these neighbourhoods still persist, as depicted on the 75c stamp.

80 cents Atlantic Coast Street Scene

The stamp depicts a street scene from St. John's Newfoundland showing painted structures leading down to the sea.

60 cents Ontario Street Scene

A Toronto neighbourhood is featured on the 60 cent Street Scene stamp issued on May 11, 1982.

The Unissued 60 cents Atlantic Coast Street Scene Stamp

Street Scenes stamps were originally scheduled for release on December 7, 1977

In late 1977, Canada Post distributed a new issue pamphlet announcing the release of the Street Scene definitive stamps on December 7, 1977. The Atlantic Coast Street Scheme stamp was originally to be denominated 60 cents.

A problem must have arisen since the issue date was delayed by six months and the Atlantic Coast Street Scene stamp was changed from 60 cents to 80 cents.

 

 Unissued 60 cent stamp and issued 80 cent stamp

Canada Post included this note in the new issue pamphlet distributed for the revised stamps issued on July 6, 1978 :

Usages

The medium-value stamps were issued primarily to make-up rates rather than to pay for single usage rates or fees. In this section, usages are organized by service provided rather than by denomination. Readers are advised that this is not a complete review of Street Scene stamp usages.

A. Domestic

1.  Letter

January 1, 1982 - January 14, 1983

The 3rd weight step letter rate was 60 cents ( >50g., .≤100g.)

 

Willowdale to Toronto, May 4, 1982

60 cents paying the >50g., .≤100g. letter rate

2. Registration Fee

a) April 1, 1978 - March 31, 1979

The minimum registration fee was $1.25

 

 >2 oz., .≤ 4 oz. letter rate $0.34

Vernon to Ontario, February 12, 1979

$1.59 paying the $0.34 letter rate + $1.25 registration fee

b) April 1, 1979 - December 31, 1981

The minimum registration fee was $1.50

 

Val Caron to Sudbury, August 31, 1981

17 cents letter rate + $1.50 registration fee

c) January 1, 1982 - January 14, 1983

The minimum registration fee was $ 1.85.

[NOT SHOWN]

d) January 15, 1983 - June 23, 1985

The minimum registration fee was $ 1.96.

 

 Linwood to London, March 24, 1984

$ 2.28 paying the 32 cents letter rate + $1.96 registration fee

3. Acknowledgment of Receipt Fee

April 1, 1979 - December 31, 1981

 

Registered mail from Orillia to Pointe Claire, December 9, 1980

AR Card mailed from Orillia subsequent to mailing, February 3, 1981

Acknowledgment by Pointe Claire Post Office that the registered item was received on December 12, 1980

60 cents paying the subsequent AR fee

4. Money Packet

Money packets consisted of mailable matter containing valuables such as bank notes, gold  bullion, jewels, Stocks.

April 1, 1979 - July 1, 1979

 

Trinity to St. John's, April 4, 1979

$9.90 paying the 80 oz. (5lb) money packet rate

6. Special Delivery Fee

April 1, 1979 - January 14, 1983

The special delivery fee was $1.00.

Val Belair to Dorval, November 9, 1982

30 cents letter rate + $1.00 special delivery fee

5. Mail Redirection Fee

Edmonton (New Address) - Newmarket Old Address

Card mailed from Edmonton October 8, 1981

$1.00 paying fee for 3 months redirection

6. Parcels

Baker Lake to Eskimo Point, June 1979

$2.15 parcel rate

Eskimo Point, N.W.T. to Ottawa, August 1979

$1.50 parcel rate

Antigonish to Truro, November 1980

$2.00 parcel rate

7.  Used to Pay Postage Due

The air mail letter from England to Borden, Ont.,  October 5, 1978 shown below was shortpaid. The receiver of the letter was taxed 54 cents by Canada Post. The postage due was paid with a 50 cent Street Scene definitive and a 4 cent flower definitive stamp, cancelled Borden, October 17, 1978.

 RATE AND POSTAGE DUE ANALYSIS

a) British Calculation

Air Mail Letter Rate from Great Britain to Canada

The correct rate for a 20g air mail letter to Canada (a Zone B destination) during this time period (June 13, 1977 to August 20, 1979) was 18 1/2 p, calculated as follows:

The sender of the letter erroneously believed that the Forces Air Mail rate applied to this correspondence and affixed a 9p stamp. The amount shortpaid was thus 9 1/2 p.

British Taxe Fraction

 

See  International Taxation of Unpaid and Underpaid Mail: 1976 Lausanne Handling Charge System for details regarding taxation.

 b) Canadian Calculation

 

(The Canadian  international letter rate at that time was 30 cents.)

Amount due 54c written on the front of the envelope

B. United States

 Registration

April 1, 1979 - December 31, 1981 

The minimum registration fee to the United States was $1.50

St. Eustache to Culver City, May 1, 1980

17 cents letter rate + $1.50 registration fee

Scarborough to Menlo Park, Calif., October 7, 1980

17 cents letter rate + $1.50 registration fee

January 1, 1982 - January 14, 1983

The minimum registration fee was $2.00.

 >30g, .≤ 50 g. . letter rate $0.50 (January 1, 1982 - January 14, 1983)

Vancouver to Eugene, May 14, 1982

$0.50 2nd weight step letter + $2.00 registration fee

C. International


1. Letter Rate Period : April 1, 1978 -March 31, 1979

The 1st weight step letter rate was 30 cents (up to 20g.). The special delivery fee was 80 cents.

Victoria to Warboys, England, August 12, 1978

30 cents international letter rate + 80 cents special delivery fee

2. Letter Rate Period : April 1, 1979 - December 31, 1981

The 1st weight step letter rate was 35 cents (up to 20g.). The 2nd weight step letter rate was 63 cents (equal to or greater than 20g. ,≤ 50 g.). The 3rd weight step letter rate was 84 cents (equal to or greater than 50g. , ≤ 100 g.).

Elkford to Whyteleafe, December 1979

63 cents  ( equal to or greater than 20g., ≤ 50 g. rate)

Borden to Ratingen, Germany, October 5, 1979

84 cents paying the 3rd weight step letter rate (equal to or greater than 50g. , ≤ 100 g.)

Montreal to Niedereschach, Germany, November 19, 1980

$1.85 paying the $0.35 international letter rate + $1.50 registration fee.

3. Letter Rate Period : January 1, 1982 - January 14, 1983

 The 1st weight step letter rate was 60 cents (up to 20g.). The The 2nd weight step letter rate was 93 cents (equal to or greater than 20g., ≤ 50 g.).

 

 Jasper to Plymouth, England, October 12. 1982

60 cents international letter rate

Burlington to Ratingen, Germany, May 26, 1982

2nd weight step letter rate 93 cents  (equal to or greater than 20 g., ≤ 50 g. rate)

4. Letter Rate Period : January 15, 1983 - June 23, 1985

The 1st weight step letter rate was 64 cents.

Calgary to Stockholm, January 23, 1983

64 cents letter rate

Shortpaid 4 cents and taxed 4/64

 

Toronto to Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia, January 30, 1984

$1.70 paying $0.64 letter rate + $1.06 special delivery fee

5. Letter Rate Period : June 24, 1985 - March 31, 1987

The 1st weight step letter rate was 68 cents.

Barrie to Bremmer, Germany, September 6, 1985

$3.14 paying the $0.68 letter rate + $2.46 registration fee

Order of the Eastern Star

 The Order of the Eastern Star (OES) is an international Freemasonry organization dating back to the 1850s and 60s. The organization is open to men who are Masons  and women with specific Masonic affiliation. Eastern star chapters participate in numerous projects including fund-raising and social functions.

The covers below were mailed from Canadian Grand Chapters of the Eastern Star to the Masonic Temple in Washington, D.C. during the Centennial period.

 Masonic Temple, 801 -13th St. Washington, D.C.

New Brunswick

 Fredericton to Washington, March 21, 1973

Manitoba

 Winnipeg to Washington, March 26, 1973

  
Saskatchewan

 Kamsack to Washington, June 15, 1972

Quebec

 Montreal to Washington, December 28, 1973

Royal Air Forces Escaping Society

Royal Air Forces Escaping Society badge

On the night in April 21/22 1944, Canadian R.C.A.F. pilot  Hugh Thomas was forced to bail out of his 218 Squadron Stirling bomber near Laon , northern France.  With the assistance of the French underground he was able to make his way to Spain and eventually back to Britain. The remarkable story of his escape has been posted on the  Canadian Aviation Historical Society  (Regina Chapter) web site. Thomas was one of over 2, 800 aircrew shot down during WWII  who either escaped from captivity or evaded capture.

Thomas remained in the military after the war ending his career at the RCAF's European headquarters in Paris in 1953. He was also a founding member of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, a UK-based charitable organization formed in 1946 to provide help to those in the former occupied countries in  World War II who put their lives at risk to assist and save members of the "Royal Air Forces" (Air Forces of the British Commonwealth) who were attempting to escape and evade capture. Until it was disbanded in 1995, the society helped the widows, dependents and orphans of those who died and those requiring medical treatment or otherwise in need. It also fostered continued friendship between escapers and evaders and their helpers.

The cover below was mailed by Hugh Thomas to the R.A.F. Escaping Society when he was serving at the R.C.A.F. station, Summerside, P.E.I.

 Summerside to London, September 4, 1951

1968 Commemorative Handstamp and Cover

 

A Royal Air Forces Escaping Society commemorative cover was issued on May 29, 1969 to raise funds for the organization.

 British Forces Post Office 1067
May 29, 1968

Astronomer Dr. Helen Sawyer Hogg

Astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg  (1905 - 1993) was a distinguished scientist as well as role model for female astronomers. She was the leading authority in variable stars in global clusters and her contributions were recognized by many awards including Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1946 (first woman in Physical Sciences) ,  Companion of the Order of Canada in 1976,  and induction into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 2004.  The asteroid 2917, discovered in 1980, was named Asteroid Sawyer Hogg in 1984.

 

 Helen Sawyer Hogg was born in Lowell, Mass., and studied astronomy at Mount Holyoke College, receiving her doctorate in 1931 at Radcliffe.  She married Canadian astronomer Frank Hogg and began her work at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, B.C., and  continued her research in 1935 at the David Dunlop Observatory in Toronto, working  alongside her husband.  Sawyer Hogg was also as a professor of astronomy at the University of Toronto and wrote a  popular astronomy column that ran for 30 years in the Toronto Star.

 David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill

 

 Photographs taken in 1938 and 1940 showing a nova

 1939 Steward Observatory, Tucson, Arizona

In 1939 Sawyer Hogg travelled to the Steward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona to photograph globular clusters that were too far south to be observed from the Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill.

 

 David Dunlap Observatory to Dr. Helen Sawyer Hogg, Steward Observatory, Tucson, Arizona

May 26, 1939

1963  Dunstable, Mass.

Helen Sawyer Hogg had a summer residence in Dunstable, Mass., about 15 miles from her hometown Lowell, Mass.

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria to Helen Sawyer Hogg David Dunlap Observatory, June 3, 1963
Redirected to Dunstable, Mass., June 5, 1963

Girl Guides National Heritage Camp 1967

Canada's Centennial year was an opportunity for Canadians to learn about their country and their fellow citizens. One such event was the Girl Guides of Canada National Heritage Camp 1967   held at Nairn and Morrison Islands on the St. Lawrence river west of Cornwall from July 15 to 25, 1967. The cover below was mailed on July 15, 1967 from Woodlawn, Ont., to an eastern Canadian participant at the Girl Guides National Heritage Camp.

About 2000 Guides from across the country as well as guests from Great Britain, France, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Sweden, and the United States, participated in the event. In keeping with the "Heritage: theme, girls revived ancient regional crafts. such as totem-pole carving, bead work and burlap painting, wool weaving, soap carving  and quilting. Highlights of 100 years of Confederation were showcased in a pageant called "Canada Tree". 


World Chief. Lady Olave Baden-Powell, widow of Scout founder Lord Baden-Powell, officially closed the camp on July 25, 1967. A few days later. Lady Baden-Powell visited Expo 67. 

Lady Baden-Powell at Expo 67, July 28, 1967

1985 Louis Hébert : The Father of Canadian Pharmacy

The 45th International Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences and of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, was  held from September 2 to 6 1985 in Montreal. To mark the occasion, Canada Post issued a stamp honouring Louis Hébert  (1575 - 1627), considered by Canadian pharmacists as the father of their profession.

The 34 cent commemorative stamp, issued on August 30, 1985, was designed by Montreal graphic designer Clermont Malenfant and printed by Asthon-Potter Limited.

Essays

Mr. Malenfant. painted lovely essays for this issue.

 

 National Archives of Canada

 National Archives of Canada

Issued Stamp

The stamp shows Louis Hébert surrounded by objects relating to his life and work in the Quebec colony. The sprig of balsam fir in his hand and the silverweed, both useful as herbal medicines, together with the mortar and pestle, symbolize his craft as an apothecary. With wheat and scythe, Hébert was able to provide the small colony with a store of food for the long winter months.

First Day Covers

Canadian Bank Note Company

Astra Pharmaceuticals Canada Limited

Astra pharmaceuticals prepared souvenir covers for the 45th Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Signed by Gerry McDole President

Usage

Mississuaga LPP to Brampton, November 15, 1985

34 cents letter rate

Returned to sender