The last of its kind - the UPU-colouring principle

UPU colours and its consequences on the Gustaf VI Adolf type I series

UPU, the Universal Post Union, was founded in 1874 in Bern Switzerland. Among other things they established uniform flat postal rates for the most common internationally sent items; letter (first weight class), postcard and printed matter; to be sent anywhere in the world. That was quite an achievement and made things much easier for the postal administrations. Some years later, in 1897, UPU decided that the stamps used for these international flat postal rates should each have a distinct and uniform colour. Blue was choosen for letter, red for postcard and green for printed matter. In order to make things even easier for the postal administrations. That seemed like a pretty good idea.

There was also another rule connected to the rules of colours and that stated no other colours were allowed for the stamps with the these particular denominations (for letter, postcard and printed matter). The implication was when ever those postal rates were changed, often raised, the existent stamps have to be cancelled and new ones issued in the right colours.

An interesting matrix of Gustaf VI Adolf type I. From top left . . .

1951, 1 June, 10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:      7,900,000

1954, 12 April. 10 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:320,000,000

--

1951, 1 June. 20 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:     70,100,000

1952,25 July. 20 öre grey Gustaf  VI Adolf type I. Qty:231,000,000

--
1951, 1 June. 25 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:      161,000,000
1952, 25 July. 25 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type I.  Qty:      286,000,000
1954, 4 February. 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 456,000,000
--
1951, 1 June. 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 21,800,000
1952, 1 July. 30 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:   9,300,000
1954, 15 March. 30 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 14,900,000
--
1952, 1 July. 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty:          12,600,000
1954, 20 January. 40 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 24,300,000

In June 1951 the new definitive series of the new king Gustaf VI Adolf was issued. Sweden still tried to be compliant to the UPU-colours and the 10 öre had to be green, the 20 öre had to be red and the 30 öre had to be blue.

International postal rates affected by the UPU-colours in June 1951:

Postcard	Letter - 20 g	Printed- matter
20 öre	30 öre	10 öre

As a comparison some domestic postal rates effective from 1 June 1951:

Postcard	Letter - 20 g	Printed- matter
15 öre*	25 öre	10 öre

* since 1948

Swedish post was UPU compliant in 1951, still in 1952, but they had gave up in 1954.

The rates for international postcard and letter  - 20 g was raised in June 1952, but the rate for printed matter was untouched.

International postal rates from June 1952:

Postcard	Letter - 20 g	Printed- matter
25 öre	40 öre	10 öre

UPU-colour consequences after June 1952.

The  biggest change in the Gustaf VI Adolf series were caused by the raise of the postcard rate. First the old 20 öre red had to be cancelled and since a 20 öre denomination still was needed a new 20 öre stamp had to be issued, it became grey. Since there already existed a  grey 25 öre stamp and grey now was the wrong colour it had to be cancelled. It was replaced with the new 25 öre red - right colour for postcard. The new 40 öre blue was a new denomination in the series. Therefore the old 30 öre blue had only to be replaced by the new 30 öre brown. This time seven stamps were affected.

This was the problem with the UPU-colours. The changes "consumed" a lot of stamps if the old rate's denomination was going to be kept and if there already existed a denomination of the new rate, which of course was of the wrong colour. In addition a new stamp in the right colour had to be issued, just in the case with the 20 to 25 öre raise above. In worst case four stamps were affected by each raise.

Up to four stamps were affected by the UPU-colouring principles.

Further back, especially before the first world war when the rates were changed after many years, sometimes after over a decade, this was not a big deal. However the postal rates were changed quite often in most countries during the first years after the first world war which caused quite a few countries to choose to be not complaint anymore. Sweden hanged on to the UPU-colours and issued compliant stamps until 1953*. Swedish Post was one of the last postal administrations that tried to be compliant.

No more UPU colours for the Gustaf VI Adolf series.

Even if Swedish Post could have kept the UPU-coloured stamps and not issue new ones in 1954 they choose to change the colours. The major reason was not to make a clean break with the UPU rule, instead the Swedish Post was not pleased with the colouring of the Gustaf VI Adolf type I series, they thought the background was not coloured enough. It was believed to to be too light. The next raise of the postal rates occurred in June 1957 and that brought the updated Gustaf VI Adolf type II series with a better background.



* The last stamps that complied to the UPU-colours were from the commemorative series 50th Anniversary of the National Athletic Federation in May 1953.

As good as new

Imprecise Address

Here is a letter cover that resisted time. It looks almost like it was mailed a few weeks ago, white and shiny. Actually it was posted late in the afternoon on  Friday 23 July 1937. It was received at the Post Office Stockholm 16 at 3 Ore Square Street  (Malmtorgsgatan 3) and started its journey to far away Portland, Oregon, from there. This was an international letter    - 20 g and the rate was 30 öre. The stamp used is the 30 öre blue Gustaf V, left profile. The blue colour was the correct UPU-colour for international letters of the first weight class which was  - 20 g in metric Sweden.

International  - 20 g letter fee: 30 öre.
1923, 28 November, 30 öre blue Gustaf V left profile. Qty: 20,700,000 (white paper)

The 30 öre blue Gustaf V left profile was issued the first time in November 1923. The paper used then was not as white as the one above, instead the paper was tinted. In October 1925 the rate for international letter  - 20 g was lowered to 25 öre and since Swedish Post was compliant to the UPU-colour a new blue coloured stamp had to be issued with that denomination and the 30 öre blue was withdrawn, also the old red 25 öre Gustaf V left profile had to be withdrawn as well. The 30 öre brown Gustaf V left profile replaced the 30 öre blue for the time being. In July 1936 the rate for international letter  - 20g was again raised to 30 öre and the 30 öre blue Gustaf V left profile made a come back but now printed on white paper. Finally the 30 öre blue was replaced by the Gustaf V right profile type II in April 1940. You can read about the Gustaf V right profile type II - here.

The sender is the incorporated company Nilsson & Blide, they were in the fruit import business and they also imported coffee. It was only wholesale, no retail. In those days they called fruit and coffee colonial merchandise even if Sweden did not have any colonies. Mr. Wilhelm Nilsson and Mr. Ivan Blide founded the company in 1925 and it seemed to have been pretty prosperous.

The letter is addressed to Balfour, Guthrie & Co. That company was a shipping company based on the west coast of U.S. (offices in San Francisco, Tacoma and Portland). It also operated other kind of businesses like a cement plant in Bellingham, Washington.

The letter ended up here: 733 SW Oak Street, Portland, Oregon. In the corner of Park and Oak. (Google Street)

The address on the cover is "Park and Oak Street", what the Swedes meant was the corner of Oak and Park Street. Obviously they did not know the precise address to Balfour, Guthrie & Co. The address should have been 733 SW Oak Street. Maybe there was no need to be precise, the building is still called the Balfour-Guthrie building. It was built in 1913 and represents somewhat of a milestone in the concrete industry. It was the first office building on the American west coast to be constructed with reinforced concrete. Probably with cement from the Bellingham plant . . .   it is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building looks well kept.

Read more about the building: www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/112500

The anatomy of slot machine booklets

Cuts and more cuts

In younger days I had a hard time to understand the different kind of perforations on pairs. Especially the se-tenant pairs from the 50s and 60s. Some of them had this peculiar vertical 2-sided perforation. One of the lower or upper corner were cut. Why did that occur? My album did not give much further information either.

Puzzling perforation.
1962, 3 September. 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Vertically 2-sided perforation (corner cut).
1963, 3 September. 10 öre ultramarine-blue New Numeral type II. Vertically 2-sided perforation (corner cut).

Those corner cut stamps origin from slot machine booklets. They contained the Gustaf VI Adolf series and was issued from 1954 to 1966, and from 1957 they also contained the New Numeral Type. (After 1967 the slot machine booklets were not corner cut anymore.) During that time the value of a booklet was 1 kr but since the postal rates were  raised constantly new combinations of denominations were required in order to offer useful stamps in the booklets.

We will use the 10th slot machine booklet issued by the Swedish Post to understand the principles of how the cuts were done and what kind of varieties and combinations that became the results.The booklet contains se-tenant pair with one column (vertical row) of two 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III and one column of three 10 öre ultramarine-blue New Numeral Type type II, and an empty slot, a blank stamp, in order to add up to 1 kr.


The way the stamps were glued on the cover and the way they were cut resulted in four different combination of the booklet. The margin could be at the Top or at the Bottom of the stamps, the stamps could also be placed in the way that the highest denomination was at the Right or at the Left, hence defining the four combinations: Top Right, Bottom Right, Top Left or Bottom Left.


Lets have a look how different se-tentant pairs forms a booklet.

Top Left

Top Left

The margin is above the stamps, on top, and the highest denomination is at the left.

The stamps at the end have their lower corners cut. [Facit: RH]

Top Right

Top Right

The margin is still above the stamps, on top, but the highest denomination is now at the right.

The stamps at the end have their lower corners cut. [Facit: RV]

Bottom Left

Bottom Left

The margin is now below the stamps and highest denomination is at the left.

But the stamps are kind of upside down compared with the Top versions when the margin is glued on to the cover.

The stamps at the other end (actually at the top) have their upper corners cut. [Facit: OH]

Bottom Right

Bottom Right
The margin is below the stamp and the highest denomination is at the right.
The stamps are in this case also kind of upside down compared with the Top version.
The stamps at the end (actually at the top) have the upper corners cut. [Facit: OV]

The principles of the combinations

This is how it works:

Overview of the parts of the booklet and the configuration of pairs.

If the stamps have the margin above them it is the Top version. The stamps at the other end have their lower outer corner cut.

When the stamps have the margin below them it is the Bottom version. The stamps at the other end have their upper outer corner cut.

When the highest denomination is at the left it is the Left version.

When the highest denomination is at the right it is the? . .           yes, the Right version.

The reason why the Top or the Bottom versions occur is because how the stamps are printed and cut. Six rows of stamps are printed with two margins in between and then they are cut into a block of six stamps with a margin.

This is why there are a Top and a Bottom version.

How about the Left and Right versions? The reason why its shifts between high denominations to the right and to the left is that the vertical cuts, because of some technical reasons, shift a stamp column. At least that is how it is described in the literature. I have not figured out how that works in detail. The sheet is 270 mm wide and a pair of stamps are 44.1 mm which makes it possible to print six columns of stamps. Six is an even figure  . . .

I think that the Swedish Post maybe also wanted to create some more interesting combinations. During the 50s the Swedish Post was criticized rather heavily by philatelist for issuing to few stamps and boring stamps. Maybe this was one way to do stamp collecting more challenging within the rather rigid issuing policy that was in effect. Just a thought.

Note about Facit abbreviations :

The Swedish well-known stamp catalogue Facit uses the term normal mounting for what I call Top. It is abbreviated R (as in "rättvänd"). If the marging is below the stamps Facit calls that inverted mount, abbreviated O (as in "omvänd"). If the lowest denomination is at the right Facit calls it right and it is abbreviated H (as in "höger"). Or if the lowest denomination is to the left Facit calls it left and it is abbreviated V (as in "vänster").

Top Left is then RH, Top Right is RV, Bottom Left is OH and Bottom Right is OV.

A kilo of boots

Contemporary use of definitive stamps

Here is a good example of how definitive stamps where used in the beginning of the 70s. A mix of old and new. This is yet another domestic parcel and its weight is below 1 kg. The postal rate at the time was 3.80 kr. At the top we find the 1 kr Dancing Cranes from February 1968, the 1 kr was a complimentary denomination. In the middle the 2 kr wine-red Three Crowns from January 1969. It was the last stamp issued in the Three Crown series. The series consists of 30 stamps and they were issued during almost three decades. The Three Crown series was by 1971 aging and the 2 kr was probably the last denomination in use. There was however a single use for that stamp, it covered the rate for domestic letter  - 250 g until October the same year. At the bottom the 80 öre blue/brown the Waxholm Boat issued in January 1971, 80 öre was a complimentary denomination as well. 1 + 2 + 0.80 makes 3.80, three stamps were required this time. That was not always the case further back.

Domestic parcel  - 1 kg fee: 3.80 kr
1968, 21 February. 1 kr green-black Dancing Cranes. Qty: 140,000,000
1969, 20 January. 2 kr wine-red Three Crowns. Qty: 67,700,000
1971, 22 January.80 öre  blue/brown the Waxholm Boat. Qty: 58,100,000

In the 60s the three most common parcel rates for the lowest weight classes each had a stamp covering each rate. Covering those rates was for along time the purpose of the Three Crown series. That changed in the 70s  and one reason is because the rates were raised more often from now on. In the 60s the rates were raised every second year or so, in the early 70s once a year and sometimes even twice a year. Issuing specific stamps for parcel rates were not practical anymore.

According to the parcel address cars the parcel contained boots. It was sent on Friday 13 August 1971 from the Post Office in Stenungsund to the Post Office in Ytterby and picked up there on the following Monday. The sender was the firm Cykel & Fritid in Stenungsund a shop were you could buy bikes, sports equipment, camping gear and other items to make your leisure time more enjoyable. The receiver of the parcel was the incorporated company Hefa AB in Ytterby, outside the small town of Kungälv. Hefa was in those days mainly in wholesales of sports products, shoes, boots, bags and garden furniture. How many boots can there be in a parcel weighing 1 kg? not too many pairs, most likely just one pair. My guess is that this parcel contained a pair of boots that had to be returned to Hefa. A customer complaint.

Where are the places:
Stenungsund is situated 387 km south west of Stockholm.
Ytterby is situated 392 south west of Stockholm.
The distance by road is only 23 km between the two places.

Some domestic parcel rates 1 January 1971 until 30 September 1971:
- 1 kg 1 - 3 kg 3 - 5 kg 5 - 7 kg 7 - 9 kg
[3.80 kr] 4.80 kr 5.80 kr 9.00 kr   10.50 kr

Hefa is still out there: http://www.hefa.se/en/

When the warship Wasa became a definitive stamp series

Man-of-war Wasa F.D.C.

The warship Wasa is a pride of Sweden. This magnificent warship sunk unexpectedly at the very beginning of her maiden voyage in August 1628. The reason she sunk was that in those days they had not yet figured out completely the mathematics to build stable ships. They just use some rule of thumb calculations that were well proven. In this case the Swedish King Gustaf II Adolf demanded in the last minute an additional deck with canons for his flagship and those canons affected the center of gravity in a less favourable way, one might say . . . Well, the ship sunk in the harbour of Stockholm and soon it was forgotten where. The ship wreck was eventually found in 1956, she was salvage in 1961 and renovated for decades. Now one can admire her beauty in a museum in Stockholm not far from where she sunk.

The 225th Swedish Post booklet was issued 1969, 10 August.
55 öre red Hercules head. Qty: 11,400,000
55 öre brown Lion head . Qty: 11,400,00
55 öre blue National coat of arms. Qty: 5,700,000
55 öre blue Wasa warship. Qty: 5,700,000
55 öre brown Lion mask. Qty: 11,400,000
55 öre red Male head. Qty: 5,700,000
Single use domestic letter  - 20 g.

If the old stamp issuing policy of the Swedish Post that was in effect for decades The Wasa booklet would have been a commemorative series and issued on 10 August 1968. That did not happen. The issuing policy changed pretty drastically in the mid 60's when the new Director General Nils Hörjel started to reform the Swedish Post. He was mostly focusing on how the Swedish Post would become more effective and profitable, but also the stamps were affected, especially from 1967 and onward.

The Wasa booklet was not even released the 10th of August, just an ordinary Wednesday in September. In the old times there was basically three kind of stamps issued, definitive stamps, commemorative stamps and special stamps for international purposes (like UPU, UN or CEPT stamps). One change in the mid 60s is that stamps were now also issued to promote Sweden and especially tourism. The idea behind the Wasa booklet was actually to promote tourism and the newly opened Wasa museum, not a jubilee. Five years earlier that would have been unthinkable. Wasa would for sure have been a commemorative stamp series.

Here is the English version of the text card that came along with the F.D.C., the information was also printed in Swedish, German and of course in  French, which still was the official language of postal administrations.

The stamps are beautiful. The designer and engraver was the master himself Czeslaw Slania. Clean design, a lot of details and he has really capture the feeling of wooden sculpture. This is a master piece. The two large stamps are one of the largest stamps issued in the 60's.

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of First Day Covers, especially if they have not been distributed in the mail as letter covers. The letter cover above has no address and was delivered to its first owner in an envelope. The only thing I like with F.D.C.s is if the text card is still there. The Swedish Post started to print cards with information about the stamps in the 40s (maybe in the 30s even?) and they might be interesting to read.

In the card above the Swedish Post announces that the stamps are ordinary stamps, which means definitive stamps. The Swedish Post sometimes uses the word definitive or ordinary. Another way of identifying a Swedish definitive stamps from the era is that definitive stamps do not have the year of issue printed below the motif.

Seven kilos for seven Krona

Printed matters to Ödsmål

It must have been a pretty heavy parcel that Ms. Bäckström dragged to the Post Office Karlstad 2 on that Thursday, 15 Februari 1968. Seven kilos of some kind of printed matters. The Post Office was situated at 48 Våxnäs Street (Våxnäsgatan 48) and luckily it was not too far from her apartment.

Domestic Parcel weighing 5 - 7 kg required 7 kr and from spring 1967 there was a special dedicated definite stamps for that rate, the 7 kr blue/red Gripsholm Castle. That is a pretty well designed stamp, actually one of my favorites from the 60s. It was a two colour print.Which was still unusual in the 60s, by spring 1967 only the 20 öre Posthorn from 1965 and the 35 öre the Fjeld also from 1967 were printed using two colours. The technique was still new. The 20 öre Posthorn have had some problem with the colours floating which resulted in some varieties. In order to avoid that the colours are more separated in this stamp. That is why it looks like an aura around the castle, a nice effect.

Domestid parcel card fee: 7.00 kr.
1967, 11 April, 7 kr blue/red Gripsholm Castle. Qty: 6,300,000

The receiver of the parcel was Mr. Sundberg living in in Ödsmål. Ödmål is a village close to the Atlantic coast in the province of Bohuslän. The parcel arrived two days later. The funny thing is that the card is stamped three times, at arrival 17 February, a Saturday, a second time on the following Monday by some reason and finally on Wednesday 21 February when Mr. Sundberg picked up the parcel. Normally the card is stamped only twice, at arrival and at pick up.

Note that a postal code was not yet required, the postal codes were introduced in Sweden on 12 May 1968.


Some domestic parcel rates 1 January 1967 until 31 December 1969:

- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg	5 - 7 kg	7 - 10 kg	10 - 15 kg	15 - 20 kg
2.80 kr	3.70 kr	4.50 kr	[7.00 kr]	10.50 kr	[14.00 kr]	17.00 kr

Where are the places:

Karlstad is situated 259 km west of Stockholm.

Ödsmål is situated 384 south west of Stockholm

The distance by road is 215 km between the two places.

This is where the Post Office Karlstad 2 used to be. (Google)
It is a barber shop now.

The big change

Old school vs. modern times

One significant changed when it came to Swedish stamp issuing policy occurred during spring 1967 with the release of a completely new kind of slot machine booklet. So far the classic lower denomination definite stamps were used for slot machine booklets, the Gustaf VI Adolf series of type I, type II, type III and the New Numeral Series. In 1966 the price for those booklets was raised from 1 kr to 2 kr and it became a little easier to fill up the booklet with useful denominations.

The first 2 kr slot machine booklet was was issued in April 1966 and it was the sixteenth since 1951. Its denomination was 5, 10, 15 öre as complementary stamps, 30 öre covered domestic postcards and 40 öre domestic letter  - 20 g.

Top: 1966, 18 April, 16th slot machine booklet. Qty: 1,270,000 [the old type of booklets]
Bottom: 1967, 17 May, 17th slot machine booklet. Qty: 3,770,000 [the new type of booklets - what a difference]

The stamps involved were:
1964, 25 June (pair). 5 öre red New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 45,300,000. 3-sided perforation.
1964, 25 June (pair). 10 öre blue New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 8,800,000. 3-sided perforation.
1965, 26 May (pair). 15 öre green New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 20,800,000. 3-sided perforation.
1966, 18 April (pair). 30 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 2,600,000. 3-sided perforation.
1964, 25 June (pair). 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 94,200,000. 3-sided perforation.

The 16th slot machine booklet was the last appearance of the New Numeral Series.


The next slot machine booklet released was the Iron Age, Öland about 500 A.D. The kind of motifs that were used were not completely new. Pre historical inspired motif had been used before for Swedish definitive stamps like the Rock Carving series from the 50s and the Ale Stones from 1966. But the difference was that these new stamps were not part of a definitive series consisting of many denominations and different varieties. It was a one time definitive series just for this booklet release. No coil versions. No more long series of definitive stamps issued for several years. The stamps were also of a smaller size than usually. From now on there would be no more slot machine booklets with stamps of the king. All later slot machine booklets were based on their own themes and motifs. It was also the goodbye and farewell to the New Numeral series which was replaced with this booklet, the Definitive Stamps of 1967 and the 20 öre Posthorn.

The denomination was 10 öre, and 15 öre  as complementary stamps, 30 öre still covered domestic postcards and 35 öre international postcards in May 1967. But not for long, from July 1967 35 öre was required for domestic postcard and domestic letter  - 20 g was raised to 45 öre. The Swedish post planned for the postage fee raises and the booklet was still useful since 10 öre blue plus 35 öre brown summed up to 45 öre and the 15 öre brown plus 30 öre rose also summed up to 45 öre. 35 öre was the new rate for domestic postcards. Wonderful, well, it was less wonderful for stamp collectors who wants pairs with the same denomination, for example 35 öre brown and 35 öre brown. Most cancelled pairs of this series is of course 10 öre + 25 öre or 15 öre + 30 öre.

The stamps of the all new 17th slot machine booklet were: (all were released on 1967, 17 May)
10 öre blue Man holding bear. Qty: 17,600,000
15 öre brown Man fighting bears. Qty: 8,800,000
30 öre rose/brown Warrior disguised as a wolf. Qty: 8,800,000
35 öre brown/rose Helm crested warriors. Qty: 8,800,000

The design was made by Czesław Slania and Arne Wallhorn, and they were engraved by Czesław Slania. The motifs was enlarged parts of helmet-crests that were found on the island of Öland.


Lets have a look at the covers as well:

Top: the cover of the 16th slot machine booklet
Bottom: the cover of the 17th slot machine booklet

The 16th slot machine booklet front cover has a pretty general design just listing the different denominations. The backside has an add that tries to convince you to invest in stamps, it is an add by one of the by the time leading Swedish stamp dealer Frimärkshuset. Frimärkshuset was the publisher of the Facit catalogue as well.

The 17th slot machine booklet front cover has instead a motif that connects with the motifs of the stamps. The back of the cover is an add for the airline SAS. SAS wants to take you to America in this add.

Even the cover was new on this all new type of slot machine booklet.

Double fragile

Three stamps on two cards with same denominations 

A few posts ago we had a look at a domestic parcel card that was bulky - "coli encombrant", this time we will have a closer look at two "colis fragile". These two parcels were both sent in 1968 and they were both eventually picked up at the Post office Stockholm 1 at 28 - 34 Vasa Street (Vasagatan 28 - 34). Stockholm 1 was co-located with the head office of the Swedish Post, where the Swedish Post filled up two blocks. Among many functions the stamp print shop was located there at the back towards Klara North Church Street (Klara Norra kyrkogata).

Domestic adress parcel card  - 1 kg fee: 2.80 kr + fee for fragile 50%
1967, 15 February, 3.70 kr violet The Lion Fortress. Qty: 16,000,000
1967, 16 June, 45 öre ultramarine  Gustaf VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 364,000,000
Top: 1961, June 7. 5 öre red New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 205,000,000
Below: 1967, 16 October, 5 öre red/black Horseman. Qty: 86.500.000

A fragile parcel required an additional 50% fee. Domestic parcel  - 1 kg yielded 2.80 kr and 50 % of that fee was 1.40 kr which resulted in a total of 4.20 kr.

Some domestic parcel rates effective January 1967:

- 1 kg

1 - 3 kg

3 - 5 kg

5 - 7 kg

7 - 10 kg

[2.80 kr]

3.70 kr

4.50 kr

7.00 kr

10.50 kr

The parcel at the top was sent by Mr. Sven Grundström and contained chemical products. Hmmmm . . . fragile chemical products, sounds a little bit dangerous. Well, apparently the parcel did not combust or explode. It was submitted at the Post Office Stora Skedvi on Saturday 7 December 1968. Stora Skedvi is in the province of Dalarna, Säter municipality. After two days it reached Stockholm and was picked up by Mr. Lars Sundén representing the company AB R. Barlach. The firm is still in the phone book but located in the city of Linköping south west of Stockholm.

The bottom parcel was sent by Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio) the Swedish public service radio company from its Malmö office to the head office in Stockholm and the parcel contained records. The records were handed over to the Post Office Malmö 4 at 31 A Greater New Street (Stora Nygatan 31 A). Since the parcel was labeled fragile maybe the records were of the old fragile type? On Wednesday 10 July 1968 the parcel left Malmö bound for Stockholm. After two days the records were back in the record storage of the head office.

Where are the places:
Stora Skedvi is situated 174 km north west of Stockholm.
Malmö is situated 514 km south west of Stockholm.