Furry bulky box

Another domestic parcel address card. This time the parcel was filled with furs and it was bulky too. The furs were delivered from Tranås Furs Inc. (Tranås Pälsvarukompani AB) in Tranås to the shop Hats & Furs (Hatt & Pälsvaru AB) in Stockholm owned by Mr. Tore Gustafsson. Actually it looks like Mr. Gustafsson himself has signed the card, look in the lower left corner. The 4 kg parcel was delivered pretty fast, it took only one business day between Tranås and Stockholm in mid-November 1968.

Tranås used to be the fur hub of Sweden and fur was a big business there. The consumers' view on furs have drastically changed since 1968 and now there are hardly any fur shops at all in the country.

Domestic parcel 4 kg and bulky; fee 4.50 + 50% = 6.75 kr
1967, 16 June, 45 öre ultramarine Gustaf VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 364,000,000, 2-sided perforation.
1958, 17 September. 5 kr blue The royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,000, 2-sided perforation.
1962, 2 July. 30 öre violet Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 123,000,000, 2-sided perforation.
1968, 21 February. 1 kr green-black Dancing Cranes. Qty: 140,000,000.

At the time the 45 öre ultramarine was the stamp used for the most common postal rate, the one for domestic letter  - 20 g. The 30 öre violet from 1962 seems correct as well, there was a 30 öre red available to at the time but only in booklets (released in 1966). The first version of the 5 kr blue The Royal Castle was released as early as in 1941. It was not until 1958 it was released in coils, it is the coil version we can admire on the card above. The 5 kr blue was phased out in the beginning of the seventies when it was replaced by the 5 kr blue-green National Seal 1439.

The 1 kr Dancing Cranes is of a more modern design and belongs to the series of new definitive stamps that were issued from 1967 and on. One might say that the 1 kr Dancing Cranes during the end of the sixties replaced the 1 kr orange Three Crowns from 1939.

Where are the places:
Tranås is situated 230 km SW of Stockholm, the distance by road is 270 km.

First violet, then blue and finally grey

35 öre stamps of Gustaf VI Adolf type III series

The  Gustaf VI Adolf definitive series was given a face-lift in 1961. It was the second time since the series was introduced in 1951. This time not only the background was re-engraved, the portrait was redesigned and it became slightly different from type I from 1951 and II from 1957. The background was engraved tighter than type II as well, which made the stamps much more colourful, but with the same pattern. Another difference was that the numeral and the word “Sverige” (Sweden) now became white coloured.

Another novelty was that for the first time the denomination 35 öre was introduced in the series. Last time a stamp with the king's portrait had that denomination was the Gustaf V right profile type II. The new 35 öre got the same colour as the old one, violet.

October 1961 to June 1962

Domestic collect on delivery parcel,  - 3 kg, fee: 2 kr + C.O.D. fee: 45 öre; sum: 2.45 kr
1961, 23 October. 35 öre violet Gustaf V Adolf type III. Qty: 26,100,000.
1952, 10 December. 2.10 kr blue Three Crowns. Qty: 15,600,000.

From its release in October 1961 the 35 öre violet was just a complimentary denomination. That lasted until 1 July 1962 when 35 öre become the new postal rate for domestic letter  - 20 g.

July 1962 to July 1964

Domestic parcel  4 kg fee: 4.50 kr + bulky fee 50 % 2.25 kr; sum: 6.75 kr  
1962, 2 July. 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 366,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
1958, 17 September. 5 kr blue Royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,000 (2-sided perforation)
1948, 1 April. 1 kr 40 öre dark green Three Crowns. Qty: 72,900,000
This address  card was originally presented in this post - here.

But suddenly there was a new 35 öre issued, a blue one. The reason for that was that Swedish Post also needed to issue new slot machine booklets with the 35 öre denomination and until 1966 the Swedish Post stamp printers could only print one colour at the time. Blue had since 1954 been the colour of the stamp for domestic letter  - 20 g. In the booklets it was accompanied by the 10 öre blue New Numeral Type type II. That was most likely the reason the new 35 öre had to be blue. Such a booklet is shown here. However, Swedish Post also issued a slot machine booklet with 25 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf and 10 öre New Numeral Type type II, but then both stamps became brown because the 25 öre was brown.

35 öre for domestic letters lasted until July 1964. The blue 35 öre was then replaced by the blue 40 öre, but from July 1967 until  December 1968 35 öre was the postal rate for domestic and Nordic postcards.

The parcel address card above was cancelled as late as December 1968 but the blue 35 öre was still used by the Post Office in Karlshamn.

From July 1964

Domestic parcel,   - 7 kg fee: 7 kr + bulky fee (50%): 3.50 kr; sum: 10.50 kr
1964, 25 June. 35 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 51,700,000. (2-sided perforation)
1962, 15 October. 15 öre green New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 22,300,000
1958, 17 September. 5 kr blue The Royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,00 (2-sided perforation)

The blue 35 öre was substituted by the grey 35 öre in the last days of June 1964, but they seem to have co-existed . . .


Some postal rates for domestic and Nordic postcards and domestic letters:

	Postcard	- 20 g
. . . 1961	20	30
July 1962	25	35
July 1964	30	40
July 1967	35	45

Movie box

1941 - 1948 - 1962

First we have the stamp 5 kr blue Royal Palace, Stockholm II, originally issued in July 1941 as a four sided perforated stamp, and the two sided variety on the card was issued in 1958. Then there is the 1.40 kr dark green Three Crowns issued in April 1948 and the 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III from July 1962. That sums up to 6.75 kr. The weight of the parcel was 4 kg. In December 1968 such a parcel cost 4.50 kr to send anywhere in Sweden. However this particular parcel was also big and bulky and the fee for that was 50 % of the parcel fee; that is 2.25 + 4.50 = 6.75 kr. Check!

Domestic parcel  4 kg fee: 4.50 kr + bulky fee 50 % 2.25 kr, sum: 6.75 kr
1958, 17 September. 5 kr blue Royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,000 (2-sided perforation)
1948, 1 April. 1 kr 40 öre dark green Three Crowns. Qty: 72,900,000
1962, 2 July. 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 366,000,000 (2-sided perforation)

On Wednesday 4 December 1968 it was time to return a movie that have been shown in the small town of Karlshamn in the southern Sweden to the movie production company Swedish Culture Films Inc (AB Svensk Kulturfilm) in Stockholm. Mr. Jönsson carried the parcel to the Post Office in Karlshamn. The next day the parcel arrived in Stockholm and was picked up on Thursday 5 December. The card was printed with the address to the movie company. But it was not really completed since by this time the novelty of postal codes were used. The postal codes were introduced in May 1968 in Sweden. In this case the postal code 111 20 was stamped on the card. The parcel reach its destination the Post Office Stockholm 1 located at 28 - 32 Wasa Street, the funny thing is that the office of the movie company was just across the street. The company also assures that the film was fireproof.

The Swedish Culture Films was not the most productive production company. Actually they produced only nine movies between 1949 to 1957. Mostly documentaries and short films. They were also distributors of religious movies in the fifties. Not all of them were even sound film and of course they were shot in black and white only. The first movie got a sound track recorded in 1968 and maybe that was the movie that were shown in Karlshamn?

Where is the place?
Karlshamn is situated 400 km SW of Stockholm. the distance by road is 532 km.

Wide hatbrims in a box

"Encombrant" means bulky

French was for long the international language of postal administrations and it might still be at some places. The Universal Post Unions website is even in English nowadays, but the second language offered on the website is French. After all French is the official language of the UPU. They say that English was added as a working language in 1994. Well, I think it just took over. Nevertheless the red vignette reads "Encombrant" on the domestic parcel card below and that is French. The Swedish Post used French in the 60s. The parcel card has three stamps, the 5 kr blue the Royal Palace, Stockholm II from 1941, 20 öre grey Gustav VI Adolf from 1961 and the 5 öre red New Numeral Type, type II from 1957. Three decades on one card.

Domestic Parcel Address Card 3 - 5 kg fee: 3.50 kr + fee for bulky parcel: 50% extra
1958, September 17. 5 kr blue Royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,000 (2-sided perforation)
1961, March 20. 20 öre grey Gustav VI Adolf, type III. Qty: 224,000,000
1961, June 7. 5 öre red New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 205,000,000

The parcel was handed over to the Post Office Malmö 4 at 31 A Greater New Street (Stora Nygatan 31 A) on Wednesday 23 November 1966. "Encombrant" or bulky meant an increase of the rate with 50 % and the rate paid was 5.25 kr which means it was a parcel weighing between 3 - 5 kg since 3.50 kr was the ordinary rate. That was pretty easy to figure out.

Some domestic parcel rates effective July 1965:

- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg	5 - 7 kg
2.30 kr	3.00 kr	[3.50 kr]	5.50 kr

The bulky things were hats. The firm S. Bukenowski in Malmö sent a batch of hats to the incorporated company Modemagasinet, a fashion store in the town of Skellefteå. The parcel reached its destination Post Office Skellefteå 1 at 45 Canal Street (Kanalgatan 45) three days later.

Where are the places:
Malmö is situated 514 km south west of Stockholm.
Skellefteå is situated 622 km north east of Stockholm.
The distance by road is 1,380 km between the two places.

This is where the Post Office Skellefteå 1 used to be. (Google)
Note that the Swedish Post's old logo is still present - magnificent!