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.

Shoes

Pretty much ordinary

Here is another domestic parcel address card, but is it not something peculiar, something special with this card? - no, it is a pretty much ordinary parcel address card from the beginning of the seventies. By this time the long running Three Crown series was replaced with newer stamps, often single stamp series. The black 4 kr "Blood Money" Coin 1568 was such a stamp. The complementary denomination stamp series New Numeral was also replaced by individual stamps, as the 25 öre black/yellow-brown The Grödinge Tapestry. The only reminder of past times was the still running Gustaf VI Adolf series, the 55 öre red on the card. The 55 öre red was usually used to cover the rate for domestic letter  - 20 g.

A shoe shop called Shoe Center (Sko-Centrum) seems to return 2 kg of shoes back to the distributor Hefa Inc (Hefa AB). It was on Thursday 12 August 1971 that a representative of the shoe shop entered the doors to the Post Office in Hagfors with the parcel under the arm. The parcel reached its destination Ytterby on the Saturday and it was picked up by Hefa on the following Monday.

Domestic parcel  - 3 kg, fee: 4.80 kr
1971, 22 January. 4 kr black "Blood Money" Coins, 1568. Qty: 33,300,000
1971, 23 April. 25 öre black/yellow-brown The Grödinge tapestry. Qty: 10,300,000
1969, 28 February. 55 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type III. 269,000,000

The 4 kr black the "Blood Money" Coins stamp is regarded as a single issue. Instead of series with several stamps the Sweish Post started in the beginning of the seventies to issue them one at the time but sometimes with a theme. The 4 kr stamp was one of the higher denomination definitive stamps with a medieval theme, the other ones were the 5 kr blue-green National Seal 1439, the 2.55 kr light blue Seal of King Magnus Ladulås 1285 and the 3 kr green-blue Seal of Duke Erik Magnusson 1306 from 1970, followed by the 4 kr stamp and in 1972 the 6 kr blue-grey Old Swedish Coin. All stamps did good services on parcel cards.

The 25 öre Grödinge tapestry was also of a medieval theme and there were two stamps issued a griffen with a brown-yellow background and the lion with a black background (the stamp above). The  two of them form two versions of se-tenant pairs.

Here is where the Post Office Hagfors 1 used to be.
[Note the Swedish Post vehicle at the left and the present Post logos on the building,  and the yellow mail box.]
(photo: Google maps)

Where are the places:
Hagfords is situated 257 km NW of Stockholm, the distance by road is 377 km.
Ytterby is situated 392 km SW of Stockholm, the distance by road is 492 km.
The distance between Hagfors and Ytterby is 327 km by road.

Read more about the Grödinge tapestry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%B6dinge_tapestry

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.

The blue stamps of Gustav VI Adolf type III

Why did they have to be blue?

When you look at the Gustaf VI Adolf type I, II and III series an observation is that  some denominations change in colours. The colour changes for type I is mostly connected to the UPU-colouring rules but another reason was that the Swedish Post thought that the colours were too light. They definitely abandon the UPU-colouring in spring 1953. After the UPU-colouring rules blue was the colour that became established for the stamps in the series that covered the postal rate for domestic letter  - 20 g, the most common postal rate. The first one to become blue was the 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type I from February 1954.

In April 1954 the first booklet for slot machines was issued. One batch of slot machines were configured for two 1 kr coins and hence the booklet contained eight 25 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf stamps. The other and bigger batch of slot machines were configured for one 1 kr coin and a booklet consisting of ten 10 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf was released for those machines. In addition a 1 kr booklet of the 25 öre Gustaf VI Adolf was released as well. As long as 1 kr could evenly be divided by the stamp denomination life was easy.

That changed from 1 July 1957 when the postal rate for domestic letter first weight class was raised to 30 öre. Three 30 öre stamps makes 90 öre - 10 öre is missing. The way the Swedish Post solved that was to add a 10 öre stamp to the new booklet. That 10 öre stamp had to be of the same colour as the 30 öre stamp. The reason is that the Swedish Post's printers at the time had no multi colour capability, but they could print different stamps at the same time. That is why the 10 öre blue New Numeral Type type II was created. They also made a booklet with five 15 öre red Gustav VI Adolf and five 5 öre carmine-red New Numeral Type type II, also a new stamp. The 15 and 25 öre Gustaf VI Adolf were new too since the Gustaf VI Adolf type II was launched at the same time. This was the first time the Swedish Post issued se-tenant stamps, which was regraded as pretty exciting by the stamp collecting community. Read more about slot machine booklets and the different varieties that occurred here.

Se-tenant pairs from slot machine booklets:

Booklet* 3: 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type II + 10 öre blue New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 3,550,000 (pairs)                        
Booklet 8: 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III + 10 öre ultramarine-blue New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 1,200,000 (pairs)    
Booklet 10, 11: 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III + 10 öre ultramarine-blue New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 1,270,000 (pairs)
Booklet 12: 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III + 10 öre ultramarine-blue New Numeral Type type II. Qty: 1,955,000 (pairs)  

Note that all pairs are vertically cut and the stamps are glued to the booklet cover on the Top Left format. (Facit: RH).
* Slot machine booklets issued by Swedish Post

The cause of the changes of colours for the Gustaf VI Adolf type III series is the mono colour printing capability and the slot machine booklets which value had to sum up to 1 kr. In 1961 the Gustaf VI Adolf series got a face-lift and the type III replaced the type II. The change was not caused by raised postal rates, Swedish Post just wanted a more modern design for the sixties. The blue colour of the old 30 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type II was passed down to the new 30 öre blue. Later in the year the 35 öre violet and the 40 öre green was issued. The green colour had became the colour for International letters  - 20 g (first weight class), but there were no booklets issued with that stamp.

That is basically the line-up in the beginning of the sixties. Now, lets have a closer look at the effects of the forced colour changes.

Overview of changes in colours

The mono colour printing capability and the slot machine booklets, which value had to sum up to 1 kr, caused the blue colour to follow the denomination for domestic letter during the first half of the sixties.
(The blue colour for the postal rate for domestic letter - 20 g was inherited from the older type II series.)

July 1962

The postal rate for domestic letters  - 20 g was raised in July 1962 to 35 öre. Then the blue 30 öre was replaced by the 30 öre violet. The colour violet was taken over from the old 35 öre violet which now was replaced by the new 35 öre blue.

Replaced stamps in 1962:
1961, 20 March. 30 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf  type III . Qty: 184,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
1961, 23 October. 35 öre violet Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 26,100,000 (2-sided perforation)

New stamps in 1962:
1962, 2 July. 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 366,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
1962, 2 July. 35 öre violet Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 123,000,000 (2-sided perforation)

July 1964

Two years later it was time to raise the postal rates again. The same procedure as in 1962: the 35 öre blue was replaced by the 35 öre grey and the existing green 40 öre (which earlier was primarily used for international letters  - 20 g) was replaced by the new 40 öre blue. The 45 öre orange was issued in the fall 1964 and the purpose was to cover the Collect On Delivey fee so the relase of that stamp had nothing to do with mono colour printing or booklets, but it would be affected later on.

Replaced stamps in 1964:
1962, 2 July. 35 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 366,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
1962, 23 March. 40 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 51,700,000 (2-sided perforation)

New stamps in 1964:
1964, 25 June. 40 öre blue Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 416,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
1964, 25 June. 35 öre grey Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 26,000,000 (2-sided perforation)
and
1964, 12 October. 45 öre orange Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 128,000,000 (2-sided perforation)

1966 and 1967

The Swedish Post invested in a new printer in 1965, a printer with multi colour capability and now the restrictions of mono colours was gone. They issued the first multi colour slot machine booklet in April 1966 with two colours, red and green. Two stamps was of red colour the 5 öre red New Numeral Type type II and the completely new 30 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf. That stamp is unique in the sense that it was never issued as a coil stamp which was the standard option for Swedish definitive stamps so far. The green colour was used for the 15 öre green New Numeral Type type II.

The postal rates were raised again in 1967 but unlike before the 40 öre blue was not replaced by a new non-blue 40 öre. A new ultramarine 45 öre stamp was issued though and replaced the 45 öre orange. This time the new stamp could be of a different blue colour as you can see. Keeping the 45 orange stamp was maybe to much of a change as the customers was used to the blue colour as the right colour for domestic letters. The next change in postal rates would introduce completely new colours, but that might be a topic for a future blog post.

New stamps in 1966 and 1967:
1966, 18 April. 30 öre red Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 2,750,000 (vertically cut pairs)
1967, 16 June. 45 öre ultramarine Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 364,000,000

As we have seen the new postal rates introduced new stamps of the blue colour and in that meaning replaced the old non-blue ones. However, they were still used here and there by the Post Offices as long as their stock of the old stamps lasted, an exampel of that can be found in the previous post before this one, look at the second address parcel card.

By the end of the sixties the rates were raised more often and the actual raise was relatively higher than in the beginning of the decade. Another substantial change was the new stamp issuing policy of Swedish Post that came in effect in 1967. More stamps were issued, often as single stamps or short series. The stamps were simply more short liven because of the frequent rate raises. That reduced the Gustaf VI Adolf type III series in to be only a provider of stamps for either domestic letter or international letter of the first weight class. Stamps of all other denominations faded away . . .


Some domestic postal rates [in öre]:

	Postcard	- 20 g	- 125 g	- 500 g	- 1000 g	Printed matter
1957	20	30	50	75	120	15
1962	25	35	70	105	150	20
1964	30	40	80	120	200	25
1965	30	40	80	150	230	25
1967	35	45	90	180	270	30

Remark: the New Numeral type in brown

The Swedish Post believed that there should also be slot machine booklets for domestic and international postcards as well. The problem was that before spring 1965 it was still only possible to print mono colour booklets, but in the summer of 1964 it was so urgent to release booklets for postcards that they changed the colour of the 10 öre and the 15 öre New Numeral Type. The 10 öre and 15 öre had to be printed in the same brown colour used for the 25 öre Gustaf VI Adolf. The awkward solution was the 13th slot machine booklet. By choosing two 10 öre, two 15 öre and two 25 öre stamps it was possible to cover both domestic postcards (30 öre) and international postcards (35 öre).

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

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.

Stamps in the back

The last post showed a domestic address parcel card where both sides of the card had to be used for stamps. This post's parcel card uses the back side of the card for the required stamps. There is more space there . . .

The amount 4 kr 80 öre is written where the stamps should be and the note in blue ink to the left says "stamps - turn", in other words: for stamps please look at the back of the card. 4.80 was in February 1971 the rate for domestic parcels weighing more than 1 kg, but less than 3 kg. The weight of this parcel was 2 kg.

Domestic Parcel Card, - 3 k g fee: 4 kr 80 öre.
1968, 21 February. 1 kr green-black Dancing Tranes. Qty: 140,000,000
1968, 21 February. 50 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 65,200,000
1969, 17 November. 30 öre multi-coloured 300th Anniversary of the Swedish Lighthouse Service*. Qty: 14,200,000
                                                                            *a commorative stamp

The parcel was handed over to the Post office in Österjörn on Wednesday 17 February 1971 by Mrs. Stenlund. It contained 2 kg of pillows, must have been pretty small pillows and heavy ones too. The Post Office clerk brought out four  1 kr Dancing Tranes, one 50 öre Gustaf VI Adolf type III and in addition, a commemorative stamp, the 30 öre 300th Anniversary of the Swedish Lighthouse Service. That last stamp should have been sold out by then, normally commemorative stamps were for sale six to eight months or so, not for well over a year like in Österjörn.

The pillows went from Österjörn to Gilleby, and arrived the following Tuesday. That is a pretty long time, six days. The receiver Mrs. Olsson picked it up the same day. Both Österjörn and Gilleby are rural places indeed. The village Österjörn is situated in the inland of the province of Västerbotten in the north and Gilleby village is on the island of Orust at the Atlantic coast of Sweden. The Gilleby Post Office was closed 31 March 1973 and the Post Office of Österjörn lasted three more years.


Some domestic parcel rates effective 1 January to 30 September 1971: (öre)

- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg	5 - 7kg	7 - 9 kg
380	[480]	580	900	1300

Where are the places:
Österjörn is situated 644 km N of Stockholm, the distance by road is 826  km.
Gilleby is situated 398 km SW of Stockholm.
The distance between Österjörn and Gilleby is 1,175 km by road.

A very local parcel

In August 1971 the postal rate for a Swedish domestic parcel weighing up to 1 kg was 3 kr 80 öre. At this time there was no specific definitive stamp with that denomination as it use to be in the sixties. The postal rates were raised much more frequently from the end of that decade and a specific stamp for parcels up to 1 kg would have been short lived. The 3 kr 80 öre rate was effective just a mere nine months.

But there was the 3 kr green-blue Seal of Duke Erik Magnusson 1306 from April 1970 and combined with the 80 öre blue/brown The Waxholm boat from January 1971 they would sum up to 3 kr 80 öre. Pretty convenient, but not at the Post Office Kungälv 1. They used one 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm at the front and five 70 öre red-lilac Gustaf VI Adolf type III at the back. The first one is a complimentary denomination but the 70 öre was aimed for international letters first weigh class (- 20 g). That worked too.

Domestic parcel card  - 1 kg; fee: 3 kr 80 öre.
1967, 16 October, 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm. Qty: 184,000,000
1967, 16 June, 70 öre red-lilac Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 26,700,000

The parcel contained blue prints and it was meant for Mrs. Karlsson living in Ytterby. Ytterby is situated about 4 km outside of Kungälv. The address of the Post Office Kungälv 1 was actually Ytterby Road (Ytterbyvägen) the road that went to Ytterby. Most likely the old road to Ytterby.

Yesterday . . .

The entrance to the Post Office Kungälv 1 where the parcel was sent from. (Photo: Swedish Post Museum - Postmuséet).

... today according to Google Street

Here is what is left of the Post Office Kungälv 1.

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

Plain and simple in '70 or is it '71?

Here is a plain address card. It was for a domestic parcel  - 1 kg, the most common weight for parcels. It was sent from a cloth making company in Gothenburg to nearby Kungälv on Friday 6 November 1970 and it was picked up by the customer Mrs. Gerd Åkerberg the following Monday. The parcels contained clothes of course. The postal rate for the parcel was in November 1970 3 kr 50 öre, and had been so since 1 January 1969.

Domestic parcel card  - 1 kg, fee: 3.50 kr
1968, 21 February. 50 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 65,200,000.
1970, 6 April. 3 kr green-blue Seal of Duke Erik Magnusson 1306. Qty: 95,500,000.

But have a closer look at the stamps, the cancellation stamp has the date "6.11.71", but it was sent 6 November 1970 not 1971! A year ahead I would say. The postal clerk at the Post Office Göteborg 2 made an embarrassing error and used the wrong year. Even a simple postal item might be interesting when you have a closer look.

Wrong year! The parcel was sent in the year of 1970.

Well, I did not notice that at first. The thing I noticed was that the fee was not correct for November 1971, by then the postal fee for the parcel would have been 4.60 kr since 1 October 1971. Not a mere 3.50 kr.

The 50 öre green Gustaf VI Adolf type III was the second 50 öre stamp in the series. The first one, the olive green came in July 1962 and then it covered international letter  - 20 g. When the rate was raised to 60 öre in July 1964 it was phased out. The 50 öre green on the picture was in addition printed on fluorescent paper so it could be sorted automatically by special sorting machines.

The 3 kr green-blue Seal of Duke Erik Magnusson 1306 from April 1970 was also printed on fluorescent paper until 1976. This was a typical definitive stamp in the beginning of the 70s. It is related to the 5 kr blue-green National Seal 1439 and the (less common) 2.55 kr light blue Seal of King Magnus Ladulås 1285 that were emitted the same spring. Even though the motifs were seals they are not regarded as a series, just single definitive stamps.

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.

Material for clocks and watches

Yet another parcel address card. This parcel contained metal, what kind of metal one might wonder? One clue is that the parcel was addressed to the horologist Mr. S. Ljungberg living in Dannemora a small mining community 45 km north east of Uppsala. Three kilos of metal - must have been a lot of of clocks and watches made out of that. The parcel was sent on Wednesday 4 July 1962. It reached the Post Office Dannemora the next day and the parcel card got into the hands of Mr. Ljungberg the same day since he signed it then, but it took him an additional eight days before he picked up the parcel. He was not in a hurry.

Domestic parcel 1 - 3 kg fee: 2.00 kr + Cash on Delivery fee: 45 öre
1952, 1 July. 2 kr red-violet Three Crowns. Qty: 84,800,000
1957, 1 June. 10 öre blue New Numeral Type, type II. Qty: 239,000,000
1957, 15 October. 25 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf, type II, Qty: 77,800,000

The postal rate for domestic parcels had been changed four days earlier but only two of the highest weight classes were affected. The C.O.D fee was however raised, from 40 öre to 45 öre.

A some what puzzling thing is that the older 25 öre brown Gustaf VI Adolf from 1957 was used instead of the newer 25 öre  Gustaf VI Adolf type III from October 1961. Maybe Uppsala 1 still had some stock of the older one?

The new domestic parcel rates effective 1 July 1962:   (öre)

- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg	5 - 7 kg	-10 kg	-15 kg	-20 kg
170	[200]	250	450	600	900*	1200*

*only these weight classes were affected by the raise

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.