Two seven kg

Parcel address card variations

This post is about two 7 kilo domestic parcels. The first one was sent on Thursday 11 April 1968. It was solely a local matter. The parcel was handed over to the Post Office Stockholm 16 at 3 Ore Square Street (Malmtorgsgatan 3) in the city centre of Stockholm the part that is called Norrmalm and it arrived two days later at the Post Office Stockholm 19 on 54 Döbeln's Street (Döbelnsgatan 54) in the north part of town. Where a representative from the firm Piping Inc (Rörlednings AB) paid 60 kr (since it was a C.O.D.) and picked it up on the following Wednesday. The parcel contained printed matter in the form of drawing pads, 7 kg of paper. Pretty heavy.

Domestic address parcel  - 7 kg, Collect On Delivery; fees: 7,00 kr + 0,70 kr, total 7.70 kr
1964, 25 June. 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 94,200,000 (3-sided perforation).
1967, 12 January. 1.80 kr dark blue Three Crowns. Qty: 7,600,000
1967, 15 February.3,70 kr  violet The Lion Fortress. Qty: 16,000,000

It seems odd that the 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf  is the 3-sided perforated version not the 2-sided one, but at this time the 40 öre was a left over. It used to be the rate for domestic letter  - 20 g until July 1967, but now it is 1968. The 40 öre stamp was taken from the 165th booklet issued by Swedish Post. The 1,80 kr dark blue Three Crowns was not originally aimed for parcels. Its single use was for domestic letter  - 500 g until March 1969. But the 3,70 kr violet The Lion Fortress on the other hand was made for parcels 1 - 3 kg, that lasted until January 1969.

From here to there . . .                                                                                                                    
Top: the Post Office Stockholm 16 used to be here.                                                                    
Bottom: the plumber firm Piping Inc. used to be here and most likely the basement door to
the left was the entrance. Note that the name of the street is misspelled on the address card,
should be Rehnsgatan.

The next parcel was an ordinary domestic parcel sent from the town Söderköping about 180 km south of Stockholm to the Post Office Stockholm 1. The sender was the company Fix Tricot Factories Inc. (Fix trikåfabriker AB), still in business. The parcel was picked up by Holgersson's Men's Clothing - that store is long gone, but it was situated across the Stockholm Central Station, just two blocks away from Stockholm 1. What about the content? Tricot of course, 7 kg of nice gentlemen's tricot one can assume.

Domestic Parcel  - 7 kg, fee: 7,00 kr
1967, 16 June. 45 öre ultramarine Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 364,000,000
1967, 12 January. 2,80 kr red Three Crowns. Qty: 15,000,000.
1961, 7 June. 5 öre red New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 205,000,000
1967, 15 February. The Lion Fortress. Qty: 16,000,000

The 45 öre ultramarine Gustaf VI Adolf single use was domestic letter  - 20 g and probably the most common stamp of the time. The 2,80 kr red Three Crowns was as The Lion Fortress intended for domestic parcels, but for the lighter ones weighing up to 1 kg. The 2,80 kr red was issued at the same day as the 1,80 kr dark blue on the first address card above. That day (12/01/1967) also a lighter blue 1,85 kr was issued in the Three Crowns series. You can read about the Three Crowns series - here. The 5 öre red New Numeral Type stamp on the card had been around since 1961 and was of course a complementary denomination. It is a type II since its colour is bright red, not red carmine as type I.

Here is where the parcel was picked up on Friday 15 November 1968.This corner at the back of the block that was the head quarters of Swedish Post and the Post Office Stockholm 1 was where the entrance for the special office for parcels was located. Today the building is used by the Swedish Government.

To sum up, two of the stamps on the cards above were aimed for domestic parcels, the 2,80 kr red Three Crowns [ - 1 kg] and  the 3,70 kr  violet The Lion Fortress [1 - 3 kg]. The Three Crowns representing the old kind of stamp issuing policy, long series with the same motif but different denominations. Where The Lion Fortress was one of the new more contemporary designed stamps that came in the late sixties, with different motifs and just one stamp.


Postal rates domestic parcels for 1968:

- 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

Grand Hôtel

Even Stockholm has a Grand Hotel, the most well-renowned and prestigious hotel in the capital. The luxurious hotel have had many famous guests in its days   . . . one of the lesser known guests was Mr. Nils Ivar Malmström that spend some days there during fall 1952. He was on a trip back to the old country. Mr Malmstrom had emigrated to USA earlier in the 20th century and by now he owned his own company together with his partner Richard Malmstrom (maybe his son?). The company was in in the chemical industry and they were specializing in Lanolin, which is refined wool wax or wool grease.

International letter airmail, fee: 1.30 kr, 15 g?
1951, 6 June. 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 21,800,000
1939, 22 September. 1 kr orange Three Crowns. Qty: 141,000,000

I am not really sure about the 1.30 kr rate.The rates for airmail were not uniform in any way. There were specialized rate for different regions of the world and they changed frequently. My guess is that the letter weighed 15 g or less.

Anyway, a 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I which used to cover the rate for international letter - 20 g until June 1952 was applied. In October 1952 when this letter was mailed it had no single use anymore. Also a 1 kr orange Three Crown stamp was added in order to sum up to 1.30 kr. The 1 kr orange was the most common Three Crown stamp.

The letter was handed over to the Post Office Stockholm Ban in the afternoon of 13 October 1952, a Monday. The Stockholm Ban was the Post Office at the Stockholm Central Station. The letter went to the company's address in Brooklyn, a quick look at Google maps show no trace of the company. Actually it looks more like a waste land.

On the reverse side on the letter cover Mr. Malmstrom has written his present address: Grand Hotel, Stockholm.

Mr. Malmstrom crossed out his home address, which was 209 Park Street, Montclair, New Jersey. That house is still standing.