Friday, September 6, 2013

Toronto "741" "821" and "821 A" Air Mail Handstamps


In the late 1930s, the Toronto post office applied a three-digit numeral handstamp on some air mail letters addressed to foreign  destinations. I have seen three different handstamps, "741" , "821", and "821 A" on covers mailed from 1937 to 1939 . Unfortunately I have been unable to find the reason why the numbers were used.

741 

The only 741 handstamp I have seen has serifed numerals.


 
 April 1, 1938 (Station "K")
Air mail to Curacao, Dutch West Indies

 
  May 26, 1939
Air mail to Tucson, Arizona

October 1, 1939
Air mail to Tacoma, Washington


821

The 821 handstamp exists serifed and sans-serif

Serif




August 11, 1937 (Toronto Station "A")
Air mail to Des Moines, Iowa


 November 8, 1937
Air mail to New York then South Africa

 
 December 15, 1937 (Toronto Station "A")
Air mail to Honolulu, Hawaii

Sans-serif


 
December 11, 1939
Air mail to Colorado Springs, Colorado


821 A

The only 821 A I have seen is a sans-serif handstamp.







October 31, 1939
 Air Mail from London, Ontario (Toronto transit) to London, England


September 8, 1939
Toronto to Bombay, India
821 A struck out with pencil