| By Stamp - 1930-1950s M-30 Lion Designs |  Top |
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US$ | ||
401424 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #164 [1932 50p blue green M-30 Lion design] (VF) solo use on cover from "Kähtäyä" with VF+ strike of straight-line cancellation, via YLIVIESKA with bridge-posthorn style 14 May 1936 cancellation, to Helsinki with 15 May 1936 receiving cancellation on reverse. 50 penni printed matter rate (few or no handwritten words in message; this non-commercial envelope probably contained a greeting card) was in use 1 December 1931 thru 30 November 1944. This style of straight-line cancellation were used at tiny, rural "postal stopping place" locations such as country stores, taverns, etc. Though the cancellation type was used at many different tiny locations, most are individually quite scarce! ACTUAL item. |
14.00 |
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401426 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #164 [1932 50p blue green M-30 Lion design] (F-VF) BLOCK OF FOUR on 4 August 1938 cover from KUOKKALA with Russian-Text-Removed bridge-style cancellation, to somebody at the University Library in Helsinki where it was received on 5 August. It then forwarded within Helsinki and again forwarded to VISBY, SWEDEN on the island of GOTLAND. Interestingly, for the forwarding to Visby, a Swedish-English notation was added directing it to the "Oxfordgruppens [the Oxford Group] House Party". Though the letter was forwarded outside of Finland, no additional postage had to be added to the 2.00 franking because, in that period (1 December 1931 thru 15 June 1940), the rate was the same for domestic letters and Nordic letters. Finnish covers forwarded outside the country are remarkably scarce and under-appreciated. ACTUAL item. |
12.00 |
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401428 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #164 [1932 50p blue green M-30 Lion design] (F-VF) solo use on ca.1939-1944 Christmas picture post card from "Kaltsila" with VF, fully-readable strike of straight-line cancellation. Sent to Vammala (16 miles / 13.6 km distance), without a dated side cancellation. Vammala was likely the supervising post office for tiny Kaltsila and thus this was probably delivered in Vammala before the it could even reach the Vammala post office. (This is a similar situation to same-route RFD delivery in the United States.) In addition to the postal rate, the "artist-signed; monogram" picture post card helps to date the use; the card pictures two tontut (plural) [tonttu (singular); gnome-like Christmas characters]. One appears to be eating bread pudding while the other is cutting out a coupon from a (WARTIME) BREAD RATIONING card. The card has two handwritten words, thus qualifies for the general printed matter rate was in use 1 December 1931 thru 30 November 1944 (the regular post card rate was much higher; there was no special even-lower rate for printed matter post cards). This style of straight-line cancellation were used at tiny, rural "postal stopping place" locations such as country stores, taverns, etc. Though the cancellation type was used at many different tiny locations, most are individually quite scarce! ACTUAL item. |
9.00 |
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401429 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #164 [1932 50p blue green M-30 Lion design] (VF) solo use on 23 December 1932 Christmas picture post card with VF strike of RAILWAY bridge-posthorn style cancellation "P. VANNU 18 / P. VAGN (18)". The card is artist-signed "FORSSTRÖM". The card has four handwritten words, thus qualifies for the general printed matter rate was in use 1 December 1931 thru 30 November 1944 (the regular post card rate was much higher; there was no special even-lower rate for printed matter post cards). This style of railway cancellation is often incomplete or hard to read; this is a nice example. ACTUAL item. |
12.00 |
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401427 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Scott #173 [1936 2 mk carmine M-30 Lion design] (VF) solo use on 11 March 1940 domestic CENSORED cover with nice RAILWAY cancellations: "POSTIL.J.V.I-Y. / POSTIL.J. KUP. I-Y" (bridge-posthorn style). This was sent two days before the end of the "Winter War" which spanned 30 November 1939 thru 13 March 1940. The return address is written oddly and I cannot parse it out (there may be an interesting story there). It is addressed to a puzzling address in KUPIO with a 15 March 1940 receiving postmark (bridge-posthorn style) on the reverse. I read the addressee as a woman at "Kupio / O.Y. SKT." which offers two possibilities [some information from Google AI]: 1) Suojeluskunta (Civil Guard): If the "O.Y." was a slight misread or a joke by the sender (and this was not the address of a commercial company), Sk.T. was a common historical shorthand for Suojeluskuntatoverit (Civil Guard Companions/Auxiliaries) or a localized branch of the Kuopio Civil Guard District. One function of this organization was to host foreign volunteers (mostly Swedish) that had come to Finland to defend against the Russians. 2) There was a far-right, ultra-nationalist Finnish political and paramilitary organization active in 1940 called Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työjärjestö (The Finnish National Socialist Labor Organization), abbreviated as SKT. Again there was also a potential Swedish Link: This group was heavily active in organizing ideological volunteers, recruitment, and anti-communist paramilitary collaboration across the Nordic region. 3) If this was addressed to a commercial company in Kuopio, the most likely are: a) Savon Kirja- ja Työ Oy (Savo Book and Labor Ltd.), a major regional printing house and newspaper publisher in Kuopio. b) 2. Suomen Kenkä- ja Nahkatehdas Oy (Kuopio Branch), another massive industrial employer in the region during the Winter War era, which commonly shortened its name to SKT in logistics paperwork. The factory operated around the clock and was overwhelmingly staffed by local women stepped in to fill industrial roles. c) Savon Kiinteistö- ja Tontti Oy, a prominent regional property, housing, and estate management cooperative operating in downtown Kuopio. In 1940, Kuopio faced a massive housing crisis as tens of thousands of civilian evacuees fled eastward from Karelia after the Winter War border changes. This company managed localized housing networks and emergency shelters, employing administrative staff to process displaced families. Why might this letter have been addressed to a company instead of to a residential address? During the air raids and chaos of 1940, residential mail delivery in Kuopio was highly unreliable. It was common practice for a woman to have family letters addressed directly to her workplace (c/o O.Y. SKT). The civilian mail carrier would drop the bundle off at the corporate office secure mailroom, where a standard military or civil censor would open, read, and stamp it before clearing it for hand-delivery to her at her desk or factory station. (If you can determine what the story of this cover is, I would enjoy knowing more about it.) ACTUAL item. |
16.00 |