Air mail to Chicago

Another post with two letters. Both letters were sent to Borg-Warner Corporation in Chicago, Il in the end of 1954. The first one was sent on Friday 5 November and it was a registered letter dealt with by the Post Office Stockholm 1, the main post office of Stockholm situated on 28 - 34 Wasa Street (Wasagatan 28 - 34).  Stockholm 1 was also co-located with the head office of the Swedish Post, where the Swedish Post actually filled up two blocks along Master Samuel's Street (Mäster Samuelsgatan) . The stamp print shop was also located there but in the middle of the two blocks towards Klara North Church Street (Klara Norra kyrkogata).

Registered air mail  - 10 g. Fee: 90 öre + registration fee: 40 öre
1954, 15 March. 30 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 14,900,000.
1952, 1 July. 50 öre grey Three Crowns. Qty: 23,700,000

There are three labels on the letter cover. The blue one is the air mail label - Par Avion. To the left there is the mandatory registered mail label marked Stockholm 1 with a running number. Below a green label with the text "Utförsel medgiven" which means that the letter also had to pass Swedish Custom. The international registration fee was 40 öre at the time and it all summed up to 1.30 kr. Everything seemed to went well and as you can see the letter arrived in Chicago on the 8th of November according to the U.S Postal Service:

Arrival stamps by U.S. Postal Service in Chicago.
Left: "Old Post Office Stat."
Right: "Reg. Div.

The next letter was sent a month later, on Wednesday 8 December 1954, and handled by the Post Office Gothenburg 1 (Göteborg 1). This letter was slightly heavier, but since no registration was needed the cost was less, 1.15 kr.

The three stamps on a row are the classic line-up of Swedish definitive stamps in the fifties and sixties (at least the first part of the decade). To the left the New Numeral Type a series for complementary low denomination, denominations below the most common postal rates. At the time there was only one stamp the 5 öre, but the series would get both 10 and 15 öre stamps later on. In the middle the Gustaf VI Adolf series used for letters, domestic and international of different weight classes, post cards and printed matter and much more. This was the work horse of the Swedish definitive stamp series. Finally to the right the long running Three Crown series with mainly higher denominations and it did heavy duty for parcels.The orange 1 kr was the Three Crown stamp printed in the highest quantity in the series.

Air mail  - 15 g, fee: 1.15 kr
1951, 29 November. 5 öre red-violet New Numeral Type, type I. Qty: 140,000,000
1954, 12 April. Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 320,000,000
1939, 22 September. 1 kr orange Three Crowns. Qty: 141,000,000

There are no traces of the firm Autopart that sent the letter above but the sender of the first letter Sjöö Fabriksbolag AB still exists and at the same address they had in 1954 - 15 Industrial Road (Industrivägen 15) in Solna, a suburb very close to Stockholm. Borg-Warner is still a prosperous company. In 1954 the address 79 E. Adams Street was the Pullman Building. Built by the famous Pullman Palace Car Company in the 1880's. Four years later the Borg-Warner corporation moved into the  Borg-Warner building that they built on the same spot. That building is still standing, but Borg-Warner has moved away.

Both letters went trough this door.
Pullman building, Chigaco, Il.
(undated picture found on the Internet)

Two letters to UK - 40 öre blue

The first letter was sent by J. D. Viktor Bemfelt, Stockholm,  an electrical engineer to EMP Electric Ltd, London UK. Mr. Bemfeldt used to be the Country Manager for the German giant AEG's subsidiary in Sweden and had a 25 year long career in the company until 1950 when he started his own firm - V. Bemfelts Elektriska AB (V. Bemfelt Elecric Inc.). In the beginning of May 1953 he apparently had an urgent matter to discuss with EMP Electric Ltd, a well reputed supplier of advanced electrical fuses.

A 40 öre blue Gustav VI Adolf type I was applied on the letter cover and the letter was initially handle by the Post Office Stockholm Ban, the Post Office at the Stockholm Central Station. 40 öre was the fee for first class international letters ( - 20 g). The 40 öre fee was in effect for ten years, from June 1952 until June 1962. In those days the postal rates were pretty much fixed. That would change from 1962 an on wards.

The 40 öre stamp had at the time to be of a blue colour  since the Swedish Post still was compliant with the UPU-colouring rules and blue was designated for international letters first class. 1953 was actually the last year when Swedish Post followed those UPU-rules. The 40 öre blue was replaced by the 40 öre olive-green in January 1954. Here is a post about UPU-colouring and its consequences - UPU-colours.

International Letter  - 20 g, fee 40 öre
1952, 1 July. 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 12,600,000.

Twelve years later 40 öre could still bring a letter to UK. In this case it is a Christmas card that was sent on Monday 20 December and it was taken care of the Post Office Göteborg 1, in Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast. The stamp is a 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Did the Swedish Post revert to old UPU-colouring rules? Not at all, in December 1965 the postal rate for international letters was 60 öre and the designated stamp in the Gustaf Adolf series for those letters was coloured red. The Swedish Post had however always special rates for Christmas cards both domestic and international ones. The rate for Christmas card distributed abroad was 40 öre in 1965.

International Christmas card, special rate: 40 öre
1964, 25 June. 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 416,000,000.

The normal use for the 40 öre blue Gustaf Adolf stamp in 1965 was for domestic letters  - 20 g. The reason why the stamp became of a blue colour is more likely dependent of the fact that the Swedish Post still only had one-colour printing capabilities. The Gustaf Adolf stamp for domestic letters was also always issued in slot machine booklets. Since different stamps had to be used in the booklets they all had to be of the same colour. The sum of the slot machine booklets was limited to 1 kr and depending on the actual rate for domestic letters the numbers of stamps could vary, but it was since 1957 always combined with the 10 öre blue New Numeral Type, type II, link to New Numeral Type. Hence the blue colour.

At Christmas card time special charity stamp looking stickers were sold and one of those is placed on the back of the cover.

Season Greeting sticker.

Adding up to 1.40

Traversing rates

For more then nine years the postal rate for a Swedish domestic parcel weighing less than 1 kg was 1 kr and 40 öre. There was a definitive stamp designated for that rate, of course a stamp from the Three Crown series, the 1.40 kr dark green. The stamp was first issued in April 1948, but back then it covered the rate for parcels weighing 3 to 5 kg and from June 1951 on  parcels 1 - 3 kg. Its carrier as single stamp on parcel address cards ended the last day of June 1961. It had many other single uses from 1948 and well into the late sixties. The excellent website of the Swedish Postal History Society  have researched all kind of single uses of the Three Crowns series and at the moment they have registered 492 single uses for the stamps in the series. The 1.40 kr stamp has 32 single uses identified. Here are some clips from 1959:

Domestic parcel card,  - 1 kg, fee:1.40 kr
1948, 1 April. 1.40 kr dark green Three Crown series. Qty: 72,900,000.

As described above the parcels rates kind of traversed through the weight classes. It was the same with 1.10 kr, 1.70 kr and the 2 kr rates.

Domestic parcel rates: (öre)

	- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg
04-1948	80	110	[140]
06-1951	110	[140]	170
06-1952	[140]	170	200
07-1961	170	200	250

But there was not every Post Office that used a single 1.40 kr stamp, some of them applied more stamps to ad up. Have a look at these clips below, also from 1959:

Domestic parcel card,   - 1 kg, fee: 1.40 kr
1954, 8 November. 60 öre red Rock Carvings type I. Qty: 53,800,000.
1957, 15 October. 20 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type II. Qty: 193,000,000. (two-sided perforations)
1957, 15 November. 40 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type II. Qty: 38,400,000.
1954, 8 November. 50 öre grey Rock carvings type I. Qty: 115,000,000.
1954, 8 November. 20 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type II. Qty: 16,800,000 (three-sided perforation, pairs)

In 1957 the Swedish post decided to print the initials of the designer (del. = latin  delineavit) and the engraver (sc. = latin sculpsit) at the bottom of new stamps. The Gustaf VI Adolf stamps has that new kind of information. Check it out. "D T del." stands for David  Tägström and "S E sc." stands for Sven Ewert. The Rock carvings stamps from 1954 do of course not have that information, but the next editions of Rock carving stamps from June 1957 have the del. and sc. printed at the bottom, forming the type II version. Oddly enough the del. and sc. policy was never applied to the Three Crown series.

The launch of something new

First batch of the new Gustaf VI Adolf definitive series

The old king Gustaf V died on October 29, 1950 and his son Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf, a prince sure could have many names in those days, became Gustaf VI Adolf. The existing definitive series of the king from 1939 had of course to be replace immediately. When it comes to stamps immediately can be quite a long time since the new stamps was emitted in June 1951. Apparently the Swedish Post had not planned for a succession. Which is a little bit surprisingly since the old king was 92 years old.

The new series began to be designed in February 1951. The artist David Tägtström painted the new king’s head in a relief profile. The purpose was to make a more timeless portrait, almost coin like, that would last for more than a decade. Given the portrait a contest was arranged for the detailed design. Mark Sylwan won the contest and hemade the final design of the stamp and it was engraved by Sven Ewert.

The Swedish Post decided to emit the new series with the denominations 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 öre only. 5 öre was still needed but only as a compliment and therefore the new 5 öre stamp was issued in a new series of it owns, the New Numeral Type (read more - here). From now on the lowest denomination for the definitive stamps of the king would be the rate for printed matters, in June 1951 that was 10 öre.

First Day Cover Gustaf VI Adolf type I, issued 6 June 1951.
10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 284,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 24,700,000 (3-sided perforation, pairs)
15 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 66,300,000
20 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf, type I. Qty: 70,100,000
25 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 161,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
25 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 22,500,000 (3-sided perforation, pairs)
30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 21,800,000

The definitive stamp of the old king Gustaf V covered all lower denominations from 5 öre up to 50 öre in intervals of 5 öre. The new series had no 35 or 40 or 45 or 50 öre stamps were issued in 1951, as they had done with the old Gustaf V series. Probably those denominations were not in demand anymore. Eventually a 40 öre stamp came 1952 but that was due to changes of the postage rates. For this series a new policy came into effect which meant that the raises only of the postage rates for printed matters, post cards and letters would spawn new stamps, not  any longer could single stamps of the series cover the rates for registered mail, express fees, C.O.D, parcels, e.t.c. as before with the old Gustaf V series and the lower rates in the 40s. Those rates were now taken care of by the Three Crowns (read more - here) and later on also the Rock Carving series (read more - here).

1951 was regarded as a low water mark by the Swedish stamp collectors at the time. Besides the New Numeral Type and the new definitive stamp series of Gustaf VI Adolf there were only two more new stamps issued in one single commemorative series - Christopher Polhem. 1952 was not a great year either, only two commemorative series with five new stamps. The reason is that Swedish Post had only one engraver employed, Sven Ewert, and there were no more capacity. The critics from the stamp collectors was taken seriously since the collectors was good business for the Swedish Post. The Rock Carving Series was an answer to that and also the various combinations of the new slot machine booklets in the beginning of the 50s. Later in the decade it started to pick-up and more engravers were engaged by Swedish Post.

Five new stamps, how could you have used them in the summer of 1951?

10 öre green single use: international printed matter

15 öre brown single use: domestic postcard

20 öre grey single use: domestic letter  - 20 g

25 öre red single use: international post card

30 öre blue single use: international letter  - 20 g

Blue colour - 1st weight class

A theory 

Sweden stopped to be compliant with the UPU-colouring rules in 1953 and the last definitive stamps following the rules were 10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf (from 1951), the 25 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf and the 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf (both from 1952), all of type I. Read more about the UPU colours in this post. (The green colour was used for International printed matter stamps, the red colour for international postcard stamps and the blue colour for international letters first weight class.)

25 öre was from July 1952 the postage rate for domestic letter first weight class ( - 20g), the most common rate. In February 1954 the new 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I came out and replaced the older UPU-coloured 25 öre. The blue colour became then the colour for the coming Gustaf VI Adolf stamps that covered the rate for domestic letter first weight class for over ten years. First the already mentioned 25 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type I, and then in 1957 the 30 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type II, then the all new 30 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type III from 1961, in 1962 the new 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf, the 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf came in June 1964 and finally the 45 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf from 1967 that lasted until March 1969 when the 55 öre red showed up and broke the long suite of blue stamps.

First Day Cover for slot machine booklet number 6.
1957, 1 June. 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type II. 2-sided vertical perforation.
1957, 1 June. 10 öre New Numeral Type, type II. 2-sided vertical perforation.
Qty of se-tenant pairs: 7,100,000
Qty of 30 öre pairs: 7,100,000

Somehow it seems like the Swedish Post continued with an UPU-colouring of their own. The chosen blue colour for domestic letter first weight class had the same effect as with the UPU-coloured stamps:
a) Existing stamps of the "wrong" colour had to be replaced and a new blue one was introduced.
b) When the denomination no longer covered the rate that blue stamp had to be cancelled and replaced with a new one in another colour.

In 1957 the rate was raised to 30 öre and the old blue 25 öre was cancelled and replaced with a brown 25 öre stamp. In 1961 a new 30 öre blue Gustaf Adolf of type III was issued. When the rate for domestic letters was raised in July 1962 the blue 30 öre was replaced with the violet 30 öre  and even worse, the existing violet 35 öre was replaced by the new blue 35 öre. When the rate was raised again in July 1964 the blue 35 öre had to be replaced with the new grey 35 öre. The orange 45 öre from 1964 was replaced by the blue 45 öre in 1967. All this stopped in March 1969 when the new stamp covering the new domestic letter rate became red.

I do not think that the main reason for the blue colour was to specifically "mark up" domestic letter stamps of the first weight class even if it seems so. Rather I think that the causes are to be found in printing technique and slot machines.

The first slot machines for booklets came in April 1954, for some of them 2 kr was required, but the vast majority was configured for 1 kr. That was a very convenient novelty, before stamps could only be bought at the Post Offices, most of them opened weekdays at 9am and closed at the latest at 6pm, Saturdays open until 1pm. Sundays and holidays closed. Now customers could buy stamps 24 hours a day as long as they had a 1 kr coin.

The first two slot machine booklet that were issued were aimed for the 2 kr slot machines, the rest was used for 1 kr slot machines (until 1966). As long as the most common rate was 25 öre everything was fine. Four 25 öre stamps in each booklet. The rate had to be raised to 30 öre in July 1957 but it was of course to complex and way to expensive to upgrade all the slot machines to accept 4 x 30 öre = 1.20 kr, which also would required 10 öre coins to be accepted. No way.

Instead the Swedish Post decided on 3 x 30 öre and top up with one 10 öre stamp. That was probably why the 10 öre blue New Numeral Type, type II was born. It is of the same blue colour as the 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type II. The 10 öre blue New Numeral Type accompanied the new blue Gustaf VI Adolf stamp until 1964 (40 öre blue). Sometimes it was a little bit tricky,for example the 35 öre blue booklet had a blank stamp for example - see this post.

Until 1966 the Swedish Post was not able to print stamps of different colours on the same sheet (panes). However they were able to print different stamps of the same colour. That is the main reason why the Gustaf VI Adolf stamps used in slot machine booklets for domestic letter had to be blue! The complementary denomination to the blue Gustaf VI Adolf had to be blue - and the 10 öre New Numeral Type was blue, right? To make things more interesting the Swedish Post printed stamps in different combinations and cuts for booklets thus creating se-tenant pairs.

The FDC above shows one of the two first se-tenant slot machine booklets, the other one was a booklet with 15 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf and 5 öre New Numeral Type (five pairs in each booklet). These new booklets were cut differently and depending on the se-tenant pairs it could be up to four versions of the same booklet. These cuts and combinations can be a little tricky to understand, but there is a post on this blog called The anatomy of slot machine booklets that sort this out for you - you can read that post here.

In the case with 30 öre + 10 öre above it resulted in two versions depending on the cut and how the margin was glued on the booklet cover. The left block is cut on top and the right one at the bottom. There is a pretty long text at the left of the FDC that explains the changes that took place because of the rates that were raised. All the new exciting se-tenant combinations are specially emphasized in the text. Well, the fifties was a pretty boring decade for collecting Swedish stamps and these new varieties, combination and versions were probably warmly welcomed by the collectors.

Address known

Another parcel card, this time it is a cash on delivery. A whooping 6 kilos of books. It was sent on Tuesday September 16 from the Post Office Stockholm 3 at 31 Svea Road (Sveavägen 31) to Mrs. Magnhild Grahn living somewhere in Karlstad. The sum of the denominations are 3 kr 90 öre. The postal rate for parcel weighing 5 - 7 kg was 3.50 kr in 1958 and the C.O.D. fee was 40 öre when the amount was paid directly to the an account at the Swedish Post called the Postgiro. The Postgiro was the Swedish Post's own money transaction system,

Domestic parcel 5 - 7 kg fee: 3.50 kr + Cash on Delivery fee 40 öre
1954, 10 December, 2 kr 10 öre blue Three Crowns. Qty: 15,600,000
1951, 1 June.  kr 70 öre red Three Crowns. Qty: 56,300,000
1957, 1 June. 10 öre blue New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 239,000,000

The red 1.70 kr Three Crowns was a workhorse among the three lowest weight classes for domestic parcels from its first appearance in June 1951 to June 1964. Another workhorse was of course the ultramarine-blue 10 öre New Numeral Type, type II. The ultramarine-blue 10 öre was issued in coils and in various slot machine booklets, often as se-tenant pairs, between 1957 and 1966. The 2.10 kr Three Crowns is actually of the same blue nuance as the ultramarine-blue 10 öre. It was also the same blue nuance as the blue 30 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type II, the most common denomination in 1958 since it covered the postal rate for domestic letter first class (- 20 g). The single uses for the blue 2.10 kr Three Crown in 1958 was domestic C.O.D. parcel  1 - 3 kg when the amount was paid directly to the Postgiro or fragile domestic parcel  - 1 kg.

The parcel arrived the next day, a Wednesday, at the Post Office Karlstad 1. However the parcel had to be redirected because Mrs. Grahn had moved. First it went to the Post Office Karlstad 4, where they found out that it has to be redirected to another Post Office, the Karlstad 5. Finally on Monday Mrs.Grahn got the books in her possession. Nowadays there are no Post Offices in Sweden anymore All postal services for the public can now be found in corner stores, gas stations and other kind of convenience stores. The service hours are increased, but it was more fun to visit the old kind of Post Offices.

Here is where the Post Office Karlstad 1 used to be. There is still a sign over the door marked "Post Office". . . 

. . . Karlstad 4 used to be in this building . . .

... and finally Karlstad 5 could be find here.

Where is Karlstad situated:
Karlstad is situated 259 km west of Stockholm.
The distance by road is 314 km between the two places.

Five assorted stamps

The changing colours of 25 öre

This letter cover is not of the best quality. A little shredded and stained, blurry cancellation . . . Ah well, lets have a closer look. Five stamps from the 50s. Three 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I, one 10 öre Gustaf VI Adolf and a 5 öre red New Numeral Type type I. The sum is 90 öre and there is also a note about that on the right of the stamp cluster. The label tells us that this postal item is an air mail. That seems correct since the postage rate for airmail to North America was 90 öre between September 1952 and June 1962.

International letter  fee: 40 öre + airmail fee 5 - 10 g fee: 50 öre
1954, 4 February. 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 456,000,000
1954, 12 April. 10 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 320,000,000
1951, 29 November. 5 öre red-violet New Numeral Type, type I. Qty: 140,000,000

The 25 öre denomination of the Gustaf VI Adolf type I series came in four different issues. Some what of a record having in mind that the type I existed just between 1951 and 1956, a mere six years. The first 25 öre stamp from 1951 was grey. Its single use was domestic letter  - 20 g. A year later the 25 öre red showed up in July and the reason was that the rate for international postcards was raised from 20 öre to 25 öre. The rate for domestic letter  - 20 g was untouched. The stamps for international postcards have to be red since Sweden still complied to the UPU-colours of international mail which stated that the colour has to be red and no other denomination could be red. The effect of following these rules have been presented in this blog post. The red 25 öre was one of the last Swedish stamps to follow the UPU rules since Sweden abounded this practice in 1953. The next 25 öre stamp became blue and arrived in early 1954. There were no raises in the postal rates to trigger a change in colours. Instead the Swedish Post was a little bit unhappy with shades of the colours of the whole series. They thought that the previous colours often was to light and shallow. Finally in June 1957 a fourth 25 öre stamp was issued, this time in a brown colour. It was issued at the same time as the first stamps of the the new revised type II series. That is pretty strange - to issue both old and new stamps. What was the reason? You can find a part of the explanation in the next paragraph. The brown 25 öre was replaced with the 25 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf type II in October 1957

However the blue 25 öre set a new standard for the colouring of the denomination for the domestic letter  - 20 g (the most common postal rate), not unlike the UPU-colouring practice that was just abounded. It became blue for the years to come resulting in 30 öre, 35 öre, 40 öre and 45 öre blue stamps, until March 1969, when the new stamp for domestic letter first weight class, the 55 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type III, became red. The postage rate for was raised from 25 öre to 30 öre in July 1957. The new 30 öre became blue to mark that this denomination was for domestic letter first weight class. The old 25 öre blue had then to be cancelled and was replaced by the 25 öre brown. Maybe the decision of keeping the blue colour for the most common rate was made pretty quickly and there was no possibility to engrave a new 25 öre in the type II version of the series? I think that is a likely explanation.

The 10 öre changed colours only once. The first 10 öre was green and had to be coloured that way because it single use was international printed matter, even if the rate was still 10 öre it got its new brown colour in April 1954.


The letter was sent on Wednesday 20 June 1956 and the stamps were cancelled at the Post Office Stockholm 23 at 16 Yngliga Saga Street (Ynglingagatan 16), the Ynglinga saga is an old Icelandic traditional folk saga. We have had a postal item sent from that Post Office before, look here.

The back of the cover tells us that the sender was Dr. Jakob Möllerström. He was quite famous and he is regarded to be the father of Swedish biochemistry, he did biochemical studies already in the 20s and was internationally recognized for his research. His son became quite successful also, but in another field, as a composer of music and later professor. His name was Bengt Hambreus.

One went flying, the other went by ship

These two letters were sent the same day Thursday 3 August 1950 by the same sender. The peculiar thing is that one was sent as an air mail letter and the other one as an ordinary international letter to the same address. The airmail letter has three  20 öre red Gustaf V, right profile. They are all perforated on three sides, one pair and one single stamp and hence came from a booklet, actually from the 64th booklet by Swedish Post first issued in 1942. It contained 20 stamps and the cost was 4 kr. Three 20 öre stamps makes 60 öre and that was the fee for   - 5 g air mail to North America in 1950. The other letter, which is a  - 20 g international letter, has two 15 öre brown Gustaf V, right profile. They are also perforated on three sides and they are from the 71st booklet first issued in 1945. A closer look at the 15 öre stamps tells me that these are of version I. For example the band of medals on the king's chest are less detailed and light. (This post deals with the two versions.)

Top: airmail letter to North America fee: 60 öre
7 March, 1942, 20 öre red Gustaf V, right profile. Qty: 98,000,0000 (pairs), 3-sided perforation
Bottom:  - 20 g international letter fee: 30 öre
14 February, 1945, 15 öre brown Gustaf V, right profile, version I. Qty: 18,400,000 (pairs both versions), 3-sided perforation

The letters were taken care of the Post Office Stockholm 1, the Post Office was co-located with the head quarters of the Swedish Post at 28 - 34 Vasa Street (Vasagatan 28 - 34), where the Swedish Post filled up two blocks.

On the the other side of the letter covers the following is printed "Josef Kastengren, Buhlsjö, Österbymo". It turns out that Mr. Kastengren got the first formal driver license in Sweden in January 1907. Well, people were driving along without a license in those days, but this guy was the first one to get a permit the right way. He was a driving instructor and taught the Swedish royals to drive as well, actually he taught the king on the stamps, he was also a car salesman and a business man in the Swedish car industry. Quite a legend.

Eventually both letter reach their destination. 1100 E. Hector Street, Conshohocken, PA.
(Google street)

43 years after he got his license he still seemed to be in the business because the letters were sent to the well known Lee Tire and Rubber Company in maybe less known Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Famous for its car tires.The factory was built in 1910 by John Ellwood Lee, in 1965 it was bought by Goodyear and it closed down in 1980. But it did not end there. The old factory ground was turned into offices and called Lee Park and lately it has undergone some major renovations. It got a new name too, Spring Mill Corporate Center. In 1984 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The odd thing is that the letter that not was sent as an air mail letter has "5 gr" written by hand, indicating that some one bother to put in on a scale. It seems like it was supposed to be sent by air too, the way that the stamps are applied and that they are from booklets indicates to me that it was most likely not done by Swedish Post.
. . . ah well, the mystery will remain unsolved.

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.

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.

Printed matter - still green

A 10 öre stamp that went far

International Printed matter was always the one of the lowest postal rates, in 1952 it was 10 öre. 1952 was also the last time when new correctly UPU-coloured  stamps in the Gustaf VI Adolf series were issued, the 25 öre red  and the 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I. The reason was that the fee for international postcard (red colour) and international  letter  - 20 g (blue colour) was raised, the rate for international printed matter remained however at 10 öre. The 10 öre had to be green in order to indicate international printed matter to foreign postal administrations.

The letter cover below is from 1952 and is an international printed matter which has a 10 öre stamp - it is of the right colour, the green colour.

International printed matter fee: 10 öre.
1951, 6 June. 10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type I. Qty: 7,900,000

This printed matter bound for U.S was posted Friday 23 May 1952 and was handled by the Post Office Uppsala 1 at 3 Railroad Yard Street (Bangårdsgatan 3). The sender was the Department of Bio Chemistry at Uppsala University. The department has ceased to exist or been merged into some new department, but Ely Lilly Company is yet in business. It is an American global pharmaceutical company with headquarters still located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The only funny thing is that Uppsala is still spelled the old fashion way Upsala, one "p" only. That spelling was changed to Uppsala around 1905 or so.

Here is where the Post Office Uppsala 1 used to be in 1952. Google

In the beginning of the last century it was not uncommon that the Swedish Government co-located the main post office, the branch office of the Bank of Sweden and even the Swedish Telegraph Crown Agency in each county seat. (Uppsala is the county seat of Uppsala County.) In Uppsala the post office and the Bank of Sweden were in the same building and the Swedish Telegraph at the opposite corner. The post office was at the right part of the building.

Airmail letters to Hagerstown

Two letters - two orders - from two different decades

W. H. Reisner Manufacturing Company Inc. in Hagerstown, Maryland manufactured mechanical and optical instruments, stamped metal works, and did nickel plating, and in addition manufactured pipe organ hardware and accessories, the firm founded in 1902. They sold their products throughout the United States, and to many foreign countries, including England, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Cuba, Australia and even Sweden.

The letter cover at the top is from the firm Nygren's Fishing Equipment Shop at the Warehouse Street 12 (Magasinsgatan 12) in Göteborg (Gothenburg). Apparently they urgently needed new gear and sent an order by air mail to W.H. Reisner. I wonder what kind of products they ordered from far a away America? Nygren's was still in business in the seventies.

Top letter cover:

Air mail letter  - 10 g, letter fee: 30 öre + air mail fee: 20 öre

1921, September 6. 50 öre grey Gustaf V, left profile. Qty: 10,700,000 (white paper)

Bottom letter cover:
Air mail letter  - 10 g, letter fee 40 öre + air mail fee: 50 öre

1951, November 29.  5 öre red-violet New Numeral Type, type I. Qty: 140,000,000
1954, January 20. 40 öre olive-green Gustaf VI Adolf, type I. Qty: 24,300,000

Göteborg is the second largest city in Sweden and situated 397 km south west of Stockholm at the Atlantic coast of Sweden. The stamps were cancelled on Thursday 23 August 1945 at the Post Office Göteborg 2 at 3 Oak Groove St. (Ekelundsgatan 3) It is also stamped with the text "By air to the United Kingdom" which meant that the letter went by air to U.K, but by boat over the Atlantic.

The second letter cover is from 1954 and the sender is Hans Christian Schuster,  he was a pipe organ builder. Mr. Schuster was also a quite succesful long-distance runner. He won the Swedish championship 20,000 m in 1922 and participated in the marathon at the 1920 Summer Olympics, Antwerp, Belgium. The letter started its journey on Tuesday 6 April 1954 at the Post Office Stockholm 9 at 160 - 168 Horn's St. (Hornsgatan 160 - 168). This time the letter went by air all the way to North America.

Express letter from 1952

Göterstad in a hurry

 According to the back of the cover a person with the family name Göterstad sent an express letter to Mrs. Anna Wassberg in Stockholm in May 1952. The letter was handed over to the Post Office Falun 2 at Kyrkbacksvägen 23 ( 23 Church Hill Streeet) in the town Falun 196 km north west of Stockholm and delivered to Mrs. Wassberg living at Västmannagatan 24 (24 Västmanna Street) in Stockholm. The letter was mailed on Saturday 24 May and arrived at the Post Office Stockholm 1 the next day, also according to the back of the cover. Stockholm 1 was co-located with the head quarters of the Swedish Post at Vasagatan (Vasa Street), where the Swedish Post filled up two blocks. Falun is the capital (county seat) of Kopparberg County in the part of Sweden that is called Dalarna.

Domestic  - 20 g fee: 25 öre + express delivery fee: 65 öre
5 öre red New Numeral Type, type I. Issued 29 November 1951.
10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf, type I. Issued 6 June 1951.
20 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf, type I. Issued 6 June 1951.

The domestic  - 20 letter fee was in 1952 25 öre and the express fee was 40 öre. The total sum was then 65 öre. To accomplish that five stamps were used. The stamps were applied from the right to the left. The two right most stamps, the 20 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf and the 5 öre New Numeral Type were used as the fee for the domestic letter rate and then a two strip of 10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf followed by one 20 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf were used for the express fee. In May 1952 these stamps were the latest definitive stamps.

However they did not last for long, the first one to be discontinued was the 20 öre red, already in July the same year it was replaced by the 20 öre grey. The 10 öre green was replaced by the 10 öre brown in 1954. The 5 öre New Numeral Type, type I, was around for the longest time and replaced by the 5 öre red New Numeral Type, type II, in 1957. Read more about Gustaf V Adolf, type I - here, and about the the New Numeral Type - here.

Below is a picture of were the Post Office Falun 2 used to be. Well, Falun 2 seemed to have been a pretty small Post Office to me. I wonder when it closed down and how many that worked there. Did the Postmaster live in the attached house?

Where the Post Office Falun 2 used to be (Google)