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Marius
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NRGX - The Postmarks of Christiania
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This site presents a database containing images of postmarks from Christiania -- Norway's capital that changed the name to Oslo in 1925. It is a work in process.
For a stamp forum (frimerke-forum) in Norwegian, please visit Frank E Ring .
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Christiania PO is Norway's first PO, and was founded in 1647. The first evidence of a postmark points to the year 1845, exceptionally late in terms of postal history.
After the great escapes of the Norwegian vikings, the black plague wipeout left Norway in limbo. As long as the Christiania PO had existed, and until 1814, Norway was a satellite state in the Danish kingdom. The Napoleonic wars landed Norway in a union with Sweden instead. This union was declared defunct in 1905 (and today Norwegians are trying to purchase Sweden bit by bit, while Swedes are trying to invade Norway one by one, successfully filling every position available in the restaurant business).
Anyway, the suppression of a national identity and sovereignty is thought to have indirectly diminished the need for postmarks identifying Norwegian towns. Moreover, for Christiania, the price of a canceller may have been more than the stingy postmaster Løvenskiold would want to pay. And so it goes, that the first postmark was ordered after businessmen insisted on one.
Still, today, we do not know for sure what was the first postmark of Christiania. By date, a 7-1-1845 red-inked octagonal stamp on an entire to Schröder & Schÿler (négociant en vins de Bordeaux depuis 1739) has the rank.
Stortorvet, Carl Johans gate, Postgården (1918...) |
Branch offices (=underpostkontor) would come with various postal credentials... (Class I or II or ambulant). More to come on the subject...
Grünerløkken, Homansbyen, Oslo ...
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This covers the prephilatelic period up to January 1st 1855 when Norway's first stamp came into use. (Contrary to popular belief, the stamp had already been on sale for a month's time at the Christiania post office before becoming valid for franking. For years Norway No 1 was considered by catalogues and collectors alike an 1854 emission...)
The PO being closed for Sunday service, the last date of the prephilatelic period would be 30-12-1854. You'll find an entire sent that day in this section.
Octagonal cancel (1845), Type II (1845), Type III (1849) ...
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The Killers (1855/56), Single Circle Roman (1858), Single Circle Sans-Serif (1866) ...
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This was not really a "townpost" as we know the cinderellas from bookstores around the country. Moreover, it was introduced as Christiania Districtspost, and served a wide geographical area -- plus provided half rate postage in an even larger extent.
The Christiania Districtspost had its roots in the political arena (many prominent people detested the Lövenskiold family that the postmaster belonged to) as well as for practical purposes after the stamps were introduced and the amount of mail entering and leaving Christiania skyrocketed. The Oscar I 2 skilling stamp (NK2) was even printed for this purpose, and delivered for the opening of the Districtspost! (The grand opening had to be postponed by a month because the stamps were not delivered on time !!!)
Local mails became a popular collecting area at a relatively early stage, on a worldwide basis, and it appears that the word Bypost (=townpost) in the cancellers caught the attention of townpost collectors who thereby went looking for scarce rarities such as the ones they were used to finding in their own collecting field, duly manufactured by those who manufactured the cinderellas in most instances. The result is that there are a number of apparently "rare" items that are pure forgeries or otherwise dubious in nature associated with the Christiania Bypost cancellers. Bisects, handwritten notices, signatures, color variations, forwarding, uprating... you name it, they made it.
Most notable among the Norwegian forgeries of modern day collecting, was the 1990 Gold Medal exhibit at STAMP WORLD LONDON 90 belonging to, and largely manufactured by, Harald Aarbogh.
3-ring Number 364, Bypost Antique Type 1, Bypost Antique Type 2 ...
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Perpetual Date Octagonal Parcel Post (1877), Swiss (SYLVAN, 1877), Swiss (SYLVAN, 1878) ...
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INCOMPLETE
Swiss Time-Date (1888, Duncker), Swiss (1888, Duncker), Swiss (1888?, Duncker copy by Throndsen) ...
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I have chosen to treat these cancellations separately because numeral insets were re-introduced with the TUR postmarks. These would show the date and specify which mail delivery round they were brought out to the addresse. To begin with, a total of seven trips were made daily, allowing local businesses to negotiate fast action deals by mail. They were introduced in the summer of 1892. Either tests were carried out before the official delivery date from the engraver, or that date is noted incorrectly by Langangen. Most likely a circular from June or July 1892 will inform about this practice. Can anybody find it? In July the time-date cancels at the messenger dept. appear to have served as TUR-cancellers before they were delivered primo August 1892.
It has not been possible to establish the last date of use for the TUR-postmarks. Most likely some of them were kept until the 1924/25 name change. However, the three cancellers I have found struck in Hellik Rui's order books, were struck on brown paper. At the time of the name change, engraver Rui used a white surface treated paper, but had previously used, among other times the first half of 1923, brown paper.
17 bars, 18 Bars, 20 Bars ...
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Swiss P.A. (1900, Throndsen), Swiss (1901, Throndsen), Swiss Date-Time Roman Lettering (1901, Throndsen) ...
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Since these are a popular collecting area, I find it natural to reserve a separate category for them. Truth is, however, that the machines would take over for manpower, and the two cancellation types would live in symbiosis ever after... Happily?
It is difficult to trace the machines and their whereabouts, as well as which cliches and datestamps are in them.
Another Kristiania-collector, Helge Fritzen, has chosen to list them by appearance. [ http://www.periclymenus.com/filateli_K_maskin_utentekst.htm ] However, when first exhibiting a 5-frame of Xania, I tried to identify the actual machines when presenting the postmarks. Meeting with Ian Reed, a machine buff who also collects Krag-Hansen's Kristiania, at that exhibition, he assured me that following the machines themselves was the ideal way to go. This route is challenging at times, but let's see if it is NOT impossible after all...
That way we get a picture of how the changes occured, and possibly why the would happen. After 1907 Krag's machines would have interchangeable cancellation cylinders; guess if that has added to the challenge ;-)
Bickerdike (1903, CA/DE), Krag-Hansen (1904, NO) |
World War I leads to scarcity of materials. Combined with the increased amount of transit mail (hundreds of tons at a time when ships arrive or depart Bergen), the postal budgets are stretched to their limits. In Christiania, a name change and reorganizing of the departments warrant new cancellations.
Swiss (1910, Throndsen), Rolling Parcelpost (1910, Kjeldaas), Circular for Parcelpost (1911, Throndsen) ...
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By now there are so many cancels circulating that it is hard to keep up with them. Miniature cancels are truly in the wind, while re-engravings of Chr to Kr become a means to maintain supplies. Furthermore, many of the previously semi-retired cancels are in frequent use as backups for the cancelling machines. Short contracts with the engravers, and poorly documented changes, make the recorded material from this period very weak. MAny surprises are still to be found!
Swiss Br. (1920, Rui), Swiss SERIE A, B, A (1920, Rui), Swiss P.O. (1920, Rui) ...
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Cut down, re-engraved cancels got a new life as miniatures -- their intended use appears to have been for receipts and receipt books where space was scarce. Many types exist. A pretty thorough listing of all the Norwegian miniature cancels, authored by Jürgen Tiemer is published in "Det lille bibliotek, bind 2" by Norsk Filatelistforbund (filatelist.no), and available from Skanfil.no.
Raw Cut, Kra. Pktr. (Pre 1911), Kra: Pktr. (Pre 1911) ...
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The first philatelic club in Norway appeared in Kristiania towards the end of 1886. The next decade saw special postmarks used for certain short lived events. At first these were field post office postmarks cut in steel, but later special text and designs would appear (many of which were rubber stamps).
1918 National, 1924 International |
Travelling Post Offices, or Bureau Réexpedient de Christiania, or...
Christiania Omkarteringskontor, Bureau Réexpédiant de Christiania, Boats ...
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Uh, I don't really know if I want to collect this topic, but a few have been put aside over the years... Let's see how much luxury stamp leisure time I have in the coming year...
The Land Post, Vinderen i Aker (1901), Lian ...
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Hard to explain phenomena...
Spare Cancellations (reservestempler), Insufficient postage markings, Unresolved ...
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While some collectors of postal history make a big fuzz about the various colors rubber stamps come in, I'd rather like to think that the postal workers just used what was available at the time. If you had a one green and one purple ink pad open on the desk, you'd dip in either of them. And while you one month had a red, the next month you might get a blue at the supply office. "Be happy you get one at all," the stationery dude probably barked if you tried to complain. Somewhere under the rainbow was Kristiania PP ;-)
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INCOMPLETE
Buch, von Schwarzenhorn, Throndsen ...
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Various philatelic items up for swaps! If you have covers and such which clearly I do not, then naturally I would be interested in a swap. Here's stuff I hope you'll be happy to receive in return. Email me innmari@gmail.com your scans, and let's get down to sticking stamps on each others' addressed envelopes.
Norge, America-long, Europe-wide ...
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