Centennial Period Third Class Domestic Mail

Dozens of posts dealing with the Canadian Centennial definitive issue (1967 - 1973) have been published in the nearly four years Postal History Corner has been on-line. Many of the posts will be revamped. The original post dealing with Centennial period domestic letter rates was published on June 11, 2014.

Third class matter generally consisted of matter wholly in print. Also included were items partly printed and partly written, such as school examinations, and miscellaneous articles such as preserved specimens. Samples which were not of salable value could also be sent at the third class rate.

There were four third class mail rate periods during the Centennial era :

1) To September 30 , 1967
2) October 1, 1967 - October 31, 1968
3) November 1, 1968 - June 30, 1971
4) From July 1, 1971

1) To September 30, 1967

The third class rate was three cents for the first two ounces and 1 cent for each additional two ounces.

1st Weight Step

North Keppel to a local Rural Route address, August 3, 1967

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces

 Toronto local mail, March 22 ,1967

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces

2nd Weight Step

Toronto local mail, September 18, 1967

"Printed Matter" handstamp

4 cents third class mail rate for up to 4 oz. (3c 1st 2oz. + 2c next 2 oz.)

2) October 1, 1967 - October 31, 1968

The first weight step rate remained at 3 cents for the first two ounces, but the subsequent steps increased from 1 cent to 2 cents for each additional two ounces.

Lac Briere to Montreal, August 19, 1968

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

 Cooksville local advertising post card, October 3, 1967

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

 Abbott Dear Doctor Card

To Ottawa, no cancellation because pre-cancelled stamp affixed

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

 Jeweller pick-up card

Kitchener, May 10, 1968

3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

 

Postal Stationery was commonly used for mailing printed matter.

 3 cent postal stationery

Ottawa, November 28, 1967

 3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

  3 cent precancelled postal stationery

Cap-de-la-Madeleine to Toronto, May 17, 1968

 3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces 

Undeliverable Printed Matter Returned to Sender

Returned printed matter was taxed an amount equal to the original postage charged.

 Ottawa to Aylmer, December 19, 1967

 3 cents domestic third class mail rate for two ounces  

Unknown and returned

 3 cents due was the amount of the third class rate

Insufficiently Paid Printed Matter

 Taxation of insufficiently paid printed matter was double the deficiency.

 Cooksville to Sawyerville, December 15, 1967

3 cents printed matter rate for the 1st two oz.

Unpaid and taxed 6 cents, double the deficiency

Sealed Against Inspection

Third class mail had to be put up in such a way as to admit the contents being easily examined. Matter that was completely sealed against inspection was treated as a letter and forwarded to the destination subject to the collection of double the deficient postage of the letter rate.

 Victoria to Vancouver, October 19, 1967 or 1968

5 cents paying the 2nd weight step third class rate (up to 4 ounces)

The above printed matter mailing was sealed against inspection and was treated as an insufficiently paid 3 oz. forward letter.

3) November 1, 1968 - June 30, 1971

The third class rate increased from 3 cents to 5 cents for the first two ounces, and from 2 cents to 3 cents for each additional two ounces.

 Windsor to Amherstburg, November 22, 1970

5 cents third class mail rate for 2 oz.

White Rock to Surrey, April 25, 1971

5 cents third class mail rate for 2 oz.

 Yellowknife local, February 15, 1971

5 cents third class mail rate

 Huntsville to Gravenhurst

5 cent precancelled sheet stamp

 Edmonton local, September 8, 1969

5 cents third class mail rate for up to 2 oz.

 5 cent precancelled coil stamp

Revalued Postal Stationery

Stocks of 3 cent postal stationery letters and post cards were revalued to 5 cents.

 Ottawa, 

5 cents third class mail rate

Election Card

 Powell River to Gibbons, August 1969

5 cents third class mail rate

Victoria, May 15, 1970

5 cents third class mail rate

Redirected Third Class Mail

Redirection of third class mail was not liable to additional postage if handed back to the post office with a changed delivery at the moment of delivery or as soon as possible thereafter.

Regina to Vancouver, December 10, 1969

Redirected at Vancouver, December 17, 1969

Undeliverable Printed Matter Returned to Sender

Returned printed matter was taxed an amount equal to the original postage charged.

 Toronto to "Elkhorn", Ontario, December 16, 1968

No Such Post Office in Ont.

Returned for better direction

Returned and charged 5 cents

The envelope was remailed in a new cover. The addressee wrote :

"Imagine having to pay 5c for return by post man + 5 cents again"

Vancouver, December 16, 1969

Returned and charged 5 cents

4) From July 1, 1971

The printed matter rate was 6 cents for the first two ounces and 3 cents for each additional two ounces. The 6 cent rate remained in effect until August 31, 1976.

Kitchener-Waterloo to Kitchener, October 11, 1973

6 cents third class mail rate

 Kingsville to St. George, October 15, 1973

6 cents third class mail rate

London to Kitchener, March 18, 1973

6 cents third class mail rate

Toronto advertizing

6c precancelled Ottawa tag sheet stamp

Belliveau Cove to Wolfville, March, 1972

Revalued 5 cents postal stationery post card

6 cents third class mail rate 

Redirected to the United States without additional charge

Regina to White Rock, March 25, 1972

6 cent precancelled postal stationery

2nd weight step (up to four ounces)

 Etobicoke to Toronto, December 1972

 9 cents paying the 2-4 oz. third class mail rate

 6 cents 1st 2 oz. + 3 cents next 2 oz.

 Burlington to Hamilton, October 12. 1972

 9 cents paying the 2-4 oz. third class mail rate

6 cents 1st 2 oz. + 3 cents next 2 oz.

8th Weight Step (greater than 14 oz., up to 16 oz.)

Toronto, November 2, 1971

8th weight tsp (14 oz. - 16 oz.) third class matter rate

27 cents paying the 14 oz -16 oz. third class mail rate

6 cents 1st 2 ounces + 21 cents for next 14 ounces (7 x 3 cents/2 ounces)

Unpaid Printed Matter

Taxation of unpaid printed matter was double the deficiency.

Toronto to Bobcaygeon, December 10, 1973

6 cents third class matter rate

Unpaid and taxed 12 cents, double the deficiency

Undeliverable Printed Matter Returned to Sender

Returned printed matter was taxed an amount equal to the original postage charged.

Brockville to Westmount, December 21, 1972

6 cents third class matter rate

Returned and charged 6 cents the amount of the third class rate

Kitchener to Sault Ste Marie, November 29, 1971

Returned "No Such Address"

Second state return handstamp - original value removed

Manuscript 6c due, the original postage charged

Millennium 4 - Tom Longboat

 

In 1999, Maclean's, Canada's national weekly news magazine, proclaimed  Tom Longboat  (1887-1944) as  the top Canadian sports figure of the 20th century.  Longboat, an Aboriginal-Canadian from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve near Brantford, Ontario was the greatest long-distance runner of the pre-WW I era and and perhaps of all time. In 1907, he shattered the Boston Marathon record by 5 minutes, winning the event in 2 hours 24 minutes 24 seconds, a time that still would rank him among the top world marathoners. His Boston Marathon time is emblazoned across the Tom Longboat Millennium stamp.

 Longboat enlisted in the army in 1916 and was a dispatch runner on the battlefields of France. He was mistakenly reported dead twice, and upon his return to Canada in 1919 discovered that his wife had remarried. After the war he lived in obscurity working for the City of Toronto until 1944, when he retired to the Six Nations Reserve. It was only after his death that his remarkable achievements were re-discovered. Longboat was  inducted posthumously into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.

More information on this amazing athlete can be found at these links:

Veterans Affairs Canada, Tom Longboat Canadian Soldier Olympian
Canadian Encyclopedia, Tom Longboat
Globe and Mail, Longboat's Legacy
Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, Tom Longboat

 

 Plaque on the Six Nations reserve of the Grand River Iroquois

The Millennium Stamp

1.  Millennium Collection Album

The Tom Longboat stamp was one of 68 Millennium stamps first issued in a hardbound book, Canada Post The Millennium Collection : Expressions of a People, on September 15, 1999. The stamps were printed two to a page.

 The Pontiac and Tom Longboat stamps were printed on the same page.

2. Millennium Collection Souvenir Sheet

Canada Post Corporation re-issued the Millennium stamps in panes of 4 stamps issued over a three month period from December 17, 1999 to March 17, 2000. The souvenir sheet with the Tom Longbow stamp was released on February 17, 2000.

Millennium Stamp Collection

1. Wikipedia :  Canada Post Millennium Stamps
(This site describes the stamps and provides links to article dealing with each subject.)

2. Postal History Corner articles:

 
1. L'Anse aux Meadows

2. Pier 21

3. Pontiac

4. Tom Longboat
5. Inuit Shaman
6. Healing From Within

In 1998, as one century was about to end and another begin, Maclean's magazine ran a list of the 100 most important Canadians in history, dividing them into 10 categories, with 10 names in each category. In the Stars category, reserved for the best in celebrity the country has had to offer, the number one spot went to Tom Longboat. And in the list of the top 10 Canadians in history overall, Longboat came in ninth spot, sharing the list with the likes of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Glenn Gould, Nellie McClung and K.C. Irving. - See more at: http://www.ammsa.com/content/tom-longboat-footprints#sthash.CXjQpOxt.dpuf