Postal History Corner

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Diamond Jubilee Keepsake Folders
Volume 2 (1963-1972)

Among the many souvenirs Canada Post released during the Jubilee Year was a set of six "Keepsake Folders" which depicted stamps issued during the six decades of the Queen's reign. This post deals with Volume 2, issued on February 6, 2012, covering the 1963 to 1972 period.

The folder includes:

One mini-pane of four stamps
A postage-paid postcard depicting Queen Elizabeth II stamps issued from 1963 to 1972
A booklet that recounts significant events and Royal Visits

Keepsake cover

Booklet cover

Mini-pane

Canada Post reproduced the 1967 Royal Visit stamp on the mini-pane.

Royal Visits

The Queen paid three visits to Canada during the 1962 - 1972 period. Photographs from each tour are include in the mini-pane margin.

1964

The 1964 Royal Visit was the topic of an earlier post, here.

1967

Click here for an earlier post dealing with the 1967 Royal Visit.

1970

On July 5, 1970, the Queen began her 10 day tour which included visits to Manitoba for the 100th anniversary of its entry into Confederation, and the Northwest Territories to mark its centennial.

Canada Post Office did not issue a stamp for the 1970 visit. The covers shown below are souvenirs of the Northern leg of the visit.

Fort Smith, July 6 1970

Yellowknife, July 8 1970

Postage-Paid Post Card

Stamps Depicted

1. Definitives

a) Cameos

(Click here for the post dealing with the Cameos)

b) Centennials

i) 1967

The 1967 definitive stamps were discussed here.

ii) 1968 -1972

Earlier postings have dealt with these issues:

2. Commemoratives

a) 1964 Royal Visit

b) 1970 Royal Visit

Diamond Jubilee Keepsake Folders
Volume 1 (1952-1962)

Among the many souvenirs Canada Post released during the Jubilee Year was a set of six "Keepsake Folders" which depicted stamps issued during the six decades of the Queen's reign. This post deals with Volume 1, issued on January 16, 2012, covering the 1952 to 1962 period.

The folder includes:

One mini-pane of four stamps (A minor error on the margin is noted in this post)
A postage-paid postcard depicting Queen Elizabeth II stamps issued from 1953 to 1962
A booklet that recounts significant events and Royal Visits

Keepsake cover

Booklet cover

Mini-pane

Canada Post reproduced the 1953 Coronation Stamp coronation on the mini-pane.

Significant events are shown in the mini-pane margin. The wrong year is given for the event in the lower left corner(Opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway). The correct year should be 1959 instead of 1954.

1952 Ascension to the Throne

1953 Coronation

1954 (This is an error. The correct year is 1959)

Opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway

President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth

Opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway 1959

Postage-Paid Post Card

Stamps Depicted

1. Definitives

a) Karsh Definitives

(Click here for the post dealing with the Karsh definitves)

b) Wilding Definitves

The Wilding definitive stamps were discussed here.

c) The Cameo Definitves

The "Cameo" definitive series replaced the Wildings issue. The 5 cent denomination was issued on October 3, 1962.

The cameos were discussed here.

2. Commemoratives

a) 1953 Coronation

Two postings deal with the Coronation issue:

"1953 Queen Elizabeth Coronation"

"The Coronation Issue 1953, A New Low in Attractiveness"

b) 1957 Royal Visit

See "The 1957 Royal Visit to Canada and the United States".

c) 1959 Royal Visit

See "1959 Royal Visit"

Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Windsor Centennial Symbol Cancellation

In 1967, a special Centennial cancellation consisting of the Centennial symbol and three wavy lines was used at over twenty post offices. See "The Centennial Symbol Machine Cancellation".

The Windsor, Ontario Centennial cancel is quite rare. I have never seen it used on commercial mail. I have recently acquired a few favour covers.

April 24, 1967

The addressee is (Rev.) N. Cole

April 28, 1967

May 15, 1967

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Mourning Covers

Starting February 4, 2013, the Government of Canada will stop distributing pennies. I picked up a notice at my postal outlet announcing the phasing out of the penny and the rounding rules that merchants may be applying when pennies are no longer given out in change owed. The notice, printed in black, reminded me of mourning covers and has inspired this post.

Here is the Notice announcing the "death" of the penny:

Mourning Covers and Stationary

Dating back to the 19th century in Canada, mourning covers contained the announcement of a person's death and information about funeral arrangements, or were used to send sympathy thank you cards. Mourning covers and stationery are easily identified by their black borders. Commonly used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mourning covers are rarely seen after the 1950s.

In this posting, mourning covers from Canada, Great Britain, and the Netherlands are shown.

Canadian Mourning Covers