Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery

by Clifton A. Howes

Five years of the third type seemed to be sufficient, for in 1892 a fourth variety made its appearance. This, curiously enough, reverts to the second type in similarity, for the foliations around the numerals again disappear and the only distinguishing feature is the ornaments beneath the numerals—now little quatrefoils instead of the triangular ornaments found on the second type. This fourth type seems to have been first noted in the Canadian Philatelist for March, 1892, and is more fully described in the Monthly Journal for 30th April, 1892, as being upon "thin, surfaced, straw coloured paper." This wrapper was cut to a slightly smaller size, 10¾ × 5 inches. The article in the Dominion Philatelist lists it upon "cream colored paper" alone, but both varieties exist, though it would seem that the straw colored one was perhaps the first issued.

There is one variety analogous to the "stamp at left" wrapper of the first type, and which is also doubtless due to faulty cutting of the sheets; this has the stamp at the usual distance from the top of the wrapper, but nearly in the middle as far as the spacing from the sides goes. The impression is in dark blue on the straw colored paper.

In its issue for 31 March, 1894, the Monthly Journal chronicles a change in the color of the wrapper stamp (fourth type) from blue to "grey-black", the wrapper itself remaining a "straw" color as before. We find the impression to be a plain black, though if lightly inked it might show as gray black. Besides the pale straw colored wrapper there exists a cream toned one and also one of stouter paper in a very light brown tone. All these are cut to the last size noted, viz., 10¾ × 5 inches.

All the preceding wrappers were the product of the British American Bank Note Co., but when their contract for supplying stamps ceased in 1897 a new issue was naturally looked for. This did not materialize until June or July, 1898, when a new wrapper of the usual size and of light manila paper made its appearance with an impression of the 1 cent adhesive stamp (maple leaves in the four corners) in dark green. Unlike the stamped envelopes, it was manufactured by the American Bank Note Co., but the die for stamping it, instead of being a reproduction of the adhesive, was newly engraved for typographic work and is therefore much coarser in appearance than the adhesive stamps.

No change was made in the wrapper die to include the numeral of value until the new issue with head of King Edward took place. As before, the design of the adhesive was copied but the die was engraved for surface printing and is coarser in its lines. The new wrapper probably appeared early in October, 1903, as we find it recorded in Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News for the 24th October of that year. The size was as before and the paper a light manila.

As a result of the changes in newspaper rates, due to the amending of the Postal Convention with the United States in 1907,[225] we find a set of special wrappers issued in that year, concerning which the Postmaster General's Report for 1908 says:—

To facilitate the mailing of second class matter sent by publishers to their subscribers in the United States, special newspaper wrappers of the 1 cent, 2 cents and 3 cents denominations were introduced. As a result of the reduction in rate of this class of matter, made in February, so far as daily editions of newspapers were concerned, the demand for 2c. and 3c. wrappers ceased, and their issue was, accordingly, discontinued.

The first issue of these wrappers is given as the 11th July, 1907, and a reference to the Report of 1908, already quoted,[226] shows the reason for their appearance. The rate on periodicals had been raised to 1 cent per 4 ounces when sent to the United States, which in turn had made provision for a like rate on periodicals addressed to Canada, at the latter's behest. This move on Canada's part was aimed principally to prevent the flooding of Canadian mails with cheap American monthlies. But such a protest went up against this heavy increase, that the rates were lowered, in February 1908, to 1 cent per pound on newspapers only, which of course rendered any wrappers save the 1 cent of but little use. With becoming thrift, however, the unissued remainder of the two discarded values was surcharged "1c." in large block type in black and used up in that way.