Istanbul, TUR - Topkapı Palace Postcard

 Topkapı Palace is part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as of 1985.

Read more & References!

> "Topkapı Palace." In Wikipedia. (2024, March 27). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topkap%C4%B1_Palace.

> "Historic Areas of Istanbul." In Wikipedia. (2024, March 16). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Areas_of_Istanbul.

> "Historic Areas of Istanbul." In UNESCO World Heritage Convention. (Undated). https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/356.

Ontario, CAN - Apollo 15 Lunar Landing Postcard

 

This postcard features a photo from the Apollo 15 (1971) mission to the moon and today I learned about some interesting negative publicity the mission received when it came to light that the crew had carried a number of postal covers into space without prior authorization and had received monetary compensation (which they later returned). Indeed, the covers were confiscated by NASA and only returned under threat of a lawsuit in February 1983. Interestingly enough though, also in 1983, NASA sent 260,000 postal covers to space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger for the STS-8 mission, splitting profits made by selling the covers with the USPS. Now, per the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 1214.602, all mementos aboard NASA missions must be approved and "[i]tems such as philatelic materials and coins that, by their nature, lend themselves to exploitation by the recipients, or create problems with respect to good taste [...] will not be approved for flight."

Read more & References!

> "Apollo 15 postal covers incident." In Wikipedia. (2024, March 12). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_15_postal_covers_incident.
> "STS-8." In Wikipedia. (2024, February 15). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-8.

> "Code of Federal Regulations | Title 14, Chapter V, Part 1214, Subpart 1214.6, § 1214.602 Policy." In National Archives. (2024, March 12). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-V/part-1214/subpart-1214.6/section-1214.602.

> "Apollo insurance covers." In Wikipedia. (2023, June 17). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_insurance_covers.

Hartland, NB, CAN - Postcard with "World's Longest Covered Bridge" Cancel

  

Front of postcards

Back of postcards

(2024-02-23) Hartland, NB

When I requested the stamp canceled card, I also included these two postcards I had received (blank) from one of my grandparents - the perfect postcards to create "maxicards" with, given the Hartland covered bridge stamp and cancel. I'm super happy with how these turned out and the care that went into getting them back to me - the postmaster kindly covered each of them with a small piece of paper to avoid the ink smudging.

HARTLAND STN MAIN

27 ORSER ST

HARTLAND NB, E7P 1A0

I've written more about the Hartland PO here!

Hartland, NB, CAN - "The World's Longest Covered Bridge" Cancel

 (2024-02-23) Hartland, NB

Absolutely in love with this stamp-cancel combination and the application of the cancel looks amazing! (I also made some "maxicard-like" postcards - check them out here)

HARTLAND STN MAIN

27 ORSER ST

HARTLAND NB, E7P 1A0

This cancel was released in 2023.

Fun facts!

> The bridge is 390.75 m (1281.99 ft) long

> The bridge had a Google Doodle dedicated to it on the day of it's 111th anniversary, July 4, 2012

> The bridge was named a Provincial Heritage Place in 1999

> The stamp is part of the Historic Covered Bridges collection from Canada Post in 2019

Read more!

> "Hartland Covered Bridge." (Undated). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartland_Covered_Bridge.

> "Inauguration of Hartland Bridge." (2012, July 4). In Google Doodles. https://doodles.google/doodle/inauguration-of-hartland-bridge/.

> "Hartland Covered Bridge National Historic Site of Canada." (Undated). In Parks Canada

Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=181

> "World’s Longest Covered Bridge." (2013, Aug 25). In MyNewBrunswick. https://mynewbrunswick.ca/worlds-longest-covered-bridge/.

> "Canadian Stamp Stories: Historic Covered Bridges." (2019, June 17). In Canada Post | Postes Canada. https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/personal/collectibles/stamp-stories/2019-06-17-historic-covered-bridges

Mount Hope, ON, CAN - Postcard with Canadian Warplane Heritage Stamp Cancel

 

(2024-01-26) Mount Hope, ON

At the same time as I sent cards for cancellation at the Mount Hope PO, I included this postcard to get sent back to me as well. Given I've received and sent cards that make it to their (domestic/international) destinations without ever having had the stamp cancelled (with a pen or not), I'm a little disappointed this one, which had already been cancelled nicely with the pictorial one, also got machine cancelled...

Now that I look at this card though, I wonder if I should try to collect a few more pictorial marks in the rest of the blank space.

MOUNT HOPE PO

3055 HOMESTEAD DR

MOUNT HOPE ON, L0R 1W0

I've written more about the Mount Hope PO here!

MISC - A Blast from the Past with Old Postcards

Inspired in part by learning a bit more about the postage rate history in Canada and in part by my recent interest in stamp cancels, I decided to dive back into my personal postcard collection and take a look at some of the older postcards, focusing on the stamps used and their associated cancels. Here's some of what I found...

United States

1949

USA to CAN - $0.02 - Oct 15, 1949
including a stamp (presumably) upon arrival in Canada, on Oct 20, 1949

1979

USA to CAN - $0.10 - Jan 31, 1979
with a stamp "ALWAYS USE / ZIP CODE"
(ironically this postcard was missing the postal code)

1996

USA to CAN - $0.32 - Dec 1?, 1996
with a stamp "MISSISSIPPI QUEEN / STEAMBOAT MA(??)"

2005

USA to CAN - $0.23 - Nov 07, 2005
including a "POSTAGE DUE" stamp, without a value...
($0.23 was the domestic postcard rate in 2005 but the international rate is unclear for me for this time. In 2005, letter rates were $0.37 and in 2007, "Forever" stamps were introduced, giving a Canadian letter rate of $0.69)

Canada

1958

Canada to Alberta - $0.04 - Sep 07, 1958

BC to Canada- $0.04 - Aug 1?, 1958

1962

BC to AB - $0.04 - Aug 23, 1962
with a stamp "DAWSON CITY / GOLD RUSH / FESTIVAL / JULY 1 - AUG. 25"

1971

ON to AB - $0.06 - May 24, 1971
with a stamp "JUNE 1 - CENSUS (??) / COUNT YOURSELF / 1 JUIN RECENSEMENT / SOYEZ DU NOMBRE"

New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand to Canada - $1.00 - Aug 27, 1990
with a stamp "FASTPOST (??) / FOR SPEEDY / DELIVERY-"

Other

This one wasn't written nor stamped but it does have an interesting "Posted Aboard Ship Date" stamp (without a date)

Read More!

Great for more images of this sort - 

> Postal History Corner: Canadian Postal and Philatelic History. https://postalhistorycorner.blogspot.com/

And more history -

> Rates for Stamped Cards and Postcards. (Undated) In Postal History. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/postcard-rates-since-1873.htm

> History of United States postage rates. (2024, January 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_postage_rates

> Postage stamps and postal history of New Zealand. (2023, September 29). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_New_Zealand

> Redressing the Balance – A brief history of Letter Balances and the Penny Post. In MOTAT. https://www.motat.nz/collections-and-stories/stories/redressing-the-balance-a-brief-history-of-letter-balances-and-the-penny-post/

CAN - Postage Rate History

With the announcement of another postage rate increase proposal, I thought it would be interesting to dive into the postage rate history in Canada, with a unique look at how it has shifted for postcard enthusiasts. I've put together a full page detailing this information on my blog here.

Mount Hope, ON, CAN - Canadian Warplane Heritage Stamp Cancel

(2024-01-26) Mount Hope, ON

I am in love with how all of these cancels turned out! Each of them turned out just a clearly as the one in the image and the worry I'd been having over using those stamps (which, at the time, I had no extras) turned out to be for nothing. I've since received some more airplane stamps though, so I'll be sending those off for additional (different) cancels!

MOUNT HOPE PO

3055 HOMESTEAD DR

MOUNT HOPE ON, L0R 1W0

The pictorial cancel image shown on the Canada Post site has a date of 2022-10-27.

Some news out of Mount Hope:

> The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has over 40 aircraft on display

> A flight aboard one of the last two remaining airworthy Lancasters is being auctioned off by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum for the four-day trip happening in August (Daily Mail article)

Read more!

> Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Wikipedia

> Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum History