Card of the Day - 2021-12-14

O100-452 [tobacco : UK] Ogden "Royal Mail" (1909) 41/50
Ogden Ltd [tobacco : UK] "Royal Mail" (1909) 41/50 - O100-452 : O/147 [RB.15/147]

The subject of this card, the “Christmas Traffic Supplementary Van” is fascinating, for it tells us that at Christmas “About four times the normal weight of mails has to be transported”.

So what did they do? Well this card tells us that they called for cart drivers to help out for a few days, and “hundreds of private vehicles” were given a large ROYAL MAIL placard to display on the side of their vehicle, as shown here, whilst they carried this extra mail. And after they had done their duty, they returned the placard, and returned to carrying their usual cargo.

This set is listed in our original Ogden`s Ltd Cartophilic Reference Book No.15, published in 1949, as :

  • 147. 50. ROYAL MAIL. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in blue with descriptive text. Home issue, 1909. Similar series issued by Clarke. The series of the same title issued by Wills in Australia contains entirely different subjects.”

 

Now I have a list of the subjects in both the Ogden/Clarke printing and the Wills Australian version - and here it is, with the British version first, and the Australian version bracketed in italics, second. 

  1. The Post Office Stone, South Africa - [Sorting Letters, GPO London]
  2. Ralph Allen, 1693-1764 - [Loading Mails on Ocean Liner]
  3. John Palmer, 1741-1818 - [Old English Mail Coach]
  4. Sir Rowland Hill, K.C.B. - [Mail Coach, Western Australia]
  5. The Old General Post Office in Lombard Street - [Carrying Mail to Kiandra WA]
  6. The G.P.O. in Mail Coach Days - [Post Office at Gold Diggings, Australia]
  7. Mail Coach Attacked by a Lioness  - [General Post Office, London]
  8. A Mail Coach in a Flood - [South African Letter Carrier ]
  9. A Mail Coach in a Snow-Drift​​​​​​​  - [Sir Roland (sic) Hill]
  10. Hurrying on the Mails After a Breakdown  - [Fast Modern Turbine Mail Steamer]
  11. Taking up Mail Bags Without Stopping​​​​​​​  - [Transhipping Mail Under Steam]
  12. The Mail Coach Guard​​​​​​​  - [Collecting Letters from Pillar Box]
  13. An Early Travelling Post Office​​​​​​​  - [Sleigh Post in North-West Canada]
  14. Royal Parcel Post Coach​​​​​​​  - [Sydney (NSW) Postman, City Uniform]
  15. The St. Kilda Mail Bag​​​​​​​  - [Loading Vans (GPO London) for Railway Transport]
  16. Postman With Catamaran​​​​​​​ - [The Last Mail Coach Guard (James Nobbs)]
  17. The Mashonaland Zebra Mail Team​​​​​​​  - [Wolverhampton's Solitary Postman (1834)]
  18. Native Postman, Natal - [Auckland (NZ) Post Office 50 Years Ago]
  19. Native Postman, Calcutta - [Analysis of Mail London to Edinburgh showing Free and Payable Packages]
  20. Native Postman, Trinidad - [British Guiana Postman]
  21. Postman, Sydney, N.S. Wales​​​​​​​  - [Old London Two Penny Postman]
  22. An African Postal Runner - [A Letter Woman, 1769]
  23. English Postman​​​​​​​  - [Manchester Postman]
  24. Mail Day in the Bush​​​​​​​ - [English Rural District Postman]
  25. The Mails Icebound in Canada - [First London Pillar Box]
  26. A Primitive Post Office, Matabeleland​​​​​​​  - [River Postman]
  27. Rural Post Office India - [Receiving and Delivery Mails Train in Motion]
  28. Mail Train Exchange Apparatus​​​​​​​  - [Parcel Hospital]
  29. Royal Mail Motor Van​​​​​​​  - [Custom Section Examining Parcels]
  30. Disembarking Mails at Sea​​​​​​​  - [Sorting in Train]
  31. Shipping American Mails at Southampton​​​​​​​  - [English Military Post Office]
  32. Loading Mail at Riverside Station​​​​​​​  - [London Postman Delivering Letters]
  33. Interior of a Railway Post Office​​​​​​​ - [Inauguration of Pneumatic Tube]
  34. Loading Parcel Van at Mount Pleasant​​​​​​​  - [Newcastle Postman, 1824]
  35. Unloading and Opening Parcel Mails - [Sorting School at GPO London]
  36. Despatching Letter Mails at the G.P.O.​​​​​​​  - [Field Post Office]
  37. City Postman Arranging Letters for Delivery - [Loading Mail Train at Paddington, London]
  38. Despatching Parcels from Chief Office, London - [Conveyor Discharging Newspapers on Stamping Table]
  39. Cancelling and Date Marking Machine - [Public Post Office in England]
  40. Unloading Parcel Vans At Mount Pleasant​​​​​​​ - [Parcel Coach for Short Journeys in Gt Britain]
  41. Christmas Traffic Supplementary Van​​​​​​​  - [Conveying from Tender to Train]
  42. London Postmen Starting on Delivery​​​​​​​ - [Postman on Skis, Scotland]
  43. Sorting Parcels at Chief London Depot - [GHR Mail Train Snowed Up]
  44. Sub-Sorting Mail Parcels​​​​​​​  - [An Out Station Post Office, Cape Colony]
  45. "Blind" Letter Division G.P.O. - [Parcel Motor (Replacing Horse Coaches)]
  46. Opening a Colonial Mail​​​​​​​ - [Aerial Post (Hendon to Windsor, England)]
  47. Newspaper Sorting At The G.P.O. - [Type of London Mail Van]
  48. Unloading a Mail at the G.P.O.​​​​​​​ - [General Post Office, Calcutta]
  49. Christmas Pressure at the G.P.O. - [Motor Collecting from Pillar Box]
  50. The General Post Office - [Parcel Post, Achil Island]