Monday, November 26, 2012

Canada Official Postal Guides




 Postal history is a collecting field that is dependent upon primary sources of information. The Canada Official Postal Guides are at the top of my reference list. Until 1961,  the Guides were printed in book form, usually on an annual basis. Postmasters and postal personnel relied on the Guides and  their monthly supplements to keep up to date on Post Office regulations, postage rates and  procedures to be followed in the handling of mail.


The Canadian Official Postal Guides from 1863 to 1900 have been digitized and can be viewed at  the Library and Archives Canada online database. Unfortunately Canadian Official Postal Guides beyond 1900 have yet to be made available, but recently the Monthly Supplements from 1913 to 1932 have been added to the data base:

(Opening the PDFs takes a few minutes)

The supplements are a rich source of information and their inclusion in the database is appreciated, but it is hoped that Library and Archives Canada will be adding the Postal Guides from 1901 to 1961 to its database.