Author's Choice for 2024
Postal History Sunday #228
It is Sunday and it is also the last weekend of 2024. To close out the year, I am offering up what I feel are some of the best entries of Postal History Sunday over the past twelve months. Feel free to take the links to the original articles if the description moves you to do so. And, of course, if you think I've got it all wrong and there are others that should have made the list, submit a comment and let me know.
Also, I have provided you with “trivia” questions. If you are so inclined, see how many you can answer. Hint - one might find those answers by taking the link for each entry - who didn't see that coming?
I’d also like to thank everyone who has subscribed (we are at 307 subscribers now). Feel free to share these posts as you see fit with others. Maybe we can reach 400 by the end of the coming year?
Now, set the troubles aside, grab a favorite beverage and put on the fuzzy slippers. It's time for Postal History Sunday!
People’s Choice Award
I am going to start with the article that appeared to get the most traffic and response. While that is much easier with Substack, there are always issues with internet metrics (as they call them). But that’s okay, I can play the game by giving weight to the number of “likes” and comments along with the “number of visits.” And this year’s winner is:
The General Takes a Trip - PHS #201
Well done! This was a great choice. And if you haven’t read it yet, you need to catch up with the crowd. This PHS focuses on an 1860s letter that was originally sent to London but had to chase General William Bartlett as he traveled through Europe.
I like this one because I feel it has an excellent combination of social history along with what I think is a solid process for understanding the postal history of the cover. This is one of those times where I believe I succeeded in providing an accessible article to people with a wide range of interests without excluding those who have very little OR a lot of knowledge about postal history.
Quiz Question #1: In his letter to E.M. Stanton, what was General Bartlett asking the Secretary of War to do?
Author’s Choice List
And now, we get to the author’s choice picks. There were a few entries I “disqualified” for various reasons. For example, there were some rewrites of earlier PHS that didn’t undergo enough transformation (in my judgement) to be allowed to “compete” again. So, while I think Led Astray and Friends in Need are two very excellent entries, they weren’t allowed to play!
My yearly tradition is that I provide my list in reverse order, starting at number 11.
Yes, you heard me right. My lists always go to eleven.
#11 - It’s Worse Than That, Jim - PHS #204
I have been creating these end of year posts for Postal History Sunday every year since 2021 (PHS was too new to consider that in 2020). Each year there has been at least one article that stood out for me because the material was very different from what I was used to researching. That’s the strength of PHS #204.
While it is true that I have dealt with Dead Letter Mail in the past, I had not yet encountered envelopes or wrappers that were used to send dead letters back to the sender. In this case, I was able to work with two such examples!
And, yes, I have to admit that I am also a bit enamored with the title. I happen to think I was being clever. You may disagree and it’s likely you are correct. In the off-chance that nearly everyone other than me feels I am NOT all that clever, I left this one at the number 11 spot. You’ll likely forget your criticism by the time we get to the top three.
Quiz Question #2: When was the Dead Letter Office established in London?
#10 - Swiss Missed - PHS #225
When I do these lists, I tend to have a problem with reverse recency bias. I discount the most recent writings because I haven’t had much time to really settle on whether I like them enough to include them. But here we are at number 10 with a PHS from only two weeks ago.
As I considered this entry, I asked myself what there was to like - and I found many things. There is a Merry Chase - always a good addition. An educational institution makes an appearance and the covers in the article come from the 1860s. I had to put in detective work over an extended period of time for the article and there is even a shipping incident that delayed the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. It has most of the ingredients that the best Postal History Sundays have.
It didn’t hurt that many of you seemed to like it too! I know it’s supposed to be my list, but I’m looking at over fifty articles and your opinions can sway me - at least a little.
Quiz Question #3: The Mud March occurred at the time this letter was departing Boston Harbor and crossing the Atlantic. What was the Mud March and why did it happen?
#9 - Hot Crossed Merry Chase - PHS #212
There are covers in my collection that are favorites and this article features one of them. You might think that I would gravitate towards writing articles about items I like the most first, but that is actually not the case. Sometimes I delay because it doesn’t fit my current needs to balance PHS topic selections. Breadth provides an opportunity for a broader audience - which is one of my goals.
The other reason I don’t immediately write about some of my favorites is that they are often very complex AND I want to take the time that is needed to get it right. Did I get this one right? I think I did pretty well. That’s not saying I won’t try to re-write it in the future as I learn more. After all, the best writing is re-writing!
I think the biggest reason for this PHS to make the top 11 is that I actually figured out exactly why this letter was labeled as missent. There’s no hand-waving and magically contrived conclusions here. In my opinion, that’s a good reason to celebrate!
Quiz Question #4: What do the letters in this postmark stand for?
#8 - Building Knowledge - PHS #192
The variety of articles in Postal History Sunday is not entirely happenstance. I mean, yes, sometimes I just complete articles about things I am feeling like writing about in that moment. If you feel ready to write, you write. But there is an overarching plan to mix in teaching articles with Merry Chases, social history, and fine detail explorations. I try to mix in different eras and areas as best as I can.
I admit that I do some of the same planning with my yearly Author’s Choice lists too. My selections are influenced by my desire to give you a range of different kinds of PHS articles. But don’t worry. I’m not putting poorly executed posts into this list just to artificially fill some quota I have in my head. Each of them is clearly worthy.
Learning something new has been a theme of Postal History Sunday since its inception. This particular article celebrates that by sharing how I followed a learning curve with respect to French postal history. It starts with a simple letter that was mailed to a domestic/internal destination and progressively gets a bit more complex with each item. The last one required a fair amount of learning on my part to figure it out.
Quiz Question #5: How many Bureau de Passe locations were identified in 1864 by the French Post Office?
#7 - Remembrance and a Merry Chase - PHS #197
My next offering is actually a twice rewritten article. It had its origins as an experimental post for our farm blog several years ago. It was then adapted for Postal History Sunday very early (#41) in its existence.
While it was a good piece of writing before, it is now a very good article with much more interesting content (in my opinion) that I believe appealed to a much wider audience. This one has aviation in WW II, pianos, a place called Kodak House, a Merry Chase (that never hurts), and a story revolving around a young Australian who did not come home from the war. And, illustrated covers, like those shown above, are very attractive and easy on the eyes.
Quiz Question #6: There is a postmark that reads “Rebuts” on the cover featured in the article. What did that indicate?
#6 - Smoke and Mirrors - PHS #206
It’s not every Postal History Sunday that shows items that were mailed 150 years apart - and yet I managed it with this one! The attempted disinfection of the mail to prevent the spread of disease is a popular topic among postal historians and, it turns out, non-postal historians find it to be interesting as well.
This is one of those cases where I like the article as it stands, but the following week I came up with more material that would have fit nicely. I actually had to fight my own disappointment that I discovered information too late and forced myself to judge this one on its own merits.
Quiz Question #7: How did the US Postal Service respond to the 2001 anthrax poisonings to protect postal customers from potential harm?
#5 - The Case of the Doanwanna - PHS #218
When I started writing this October entry, I truly wasn’t feeling like writing at all and was sorely tempted to just grab an older article and republish it without changes. While I am fairly sure most of you wouldn’t have minded - in part because most of you hadn’t read the old article - it would have set a new precedent. Up to this point, I have not reposted an article without significant updating and/or editing. And I really don’t intend to break that streak.
This time, I surprised even myself. I started writing by sharing that I didn’t want to write. Then, suddenly, I had an all new Postal History Sunday that was… actually quite good. I even found that I was enjoying myself in the process and I didn’t begrudge the time later that Saturday evening when I did the editing read-through prior to publishing.
If only everything else in life worked out this well.
Quiz Question #8: What were the Volstead and Comstock Acts?
#4 - County Fair - PHS #210
Two or three times a year I allow my small-scale, diversified farming background to intermix with postal history. It’s another of those “variety things” that I believe keeps Postal History Sunday fresh and accessible to a wider audience. Sometimes, I think the individuals with the most postal history knowledge are the ones that like these articles the best. I suppose that makes sense because they have probably read numerous postal history heavy articles and getting something that is adjacent to the topic might be nice once in a while.
This particular article illustrates how one breakthrough can make the difference between a passable piece and an excellent piece. In this case, the discovery of Wendy Austin’s Tring Gardens, Then and Now provided connections and depth that turned an amusing and somewhat interesting article into a top eleven entry. These key resources rarely appear in the first, second or even third attempt to search for information. Like this one, they typically occur at the point where I am ready to give up finding what I am looking for - but I am willing to try “just one more thing.”
Here’s to trying one more thing.
Quiz Question #9: What is a Swede turnip?
#3 - Merry Chase in Place - PHS #187
It is no secret that I love covers that present me with a bit of a puzzle in the form of a Merry Chase. But no matter how much I might enjoy them, they do require a significant amount of concentration to untangle the thread that tells the whole story. As a result, these articles usually take longer to compose and they are not possible when farming or work demands sap my mental energy.
That also means writing time is longer. And when writing time is longer, there are usually more layers of quality control involved. So, the writing is usually better.
In any event, this is the best example for 2024 of a step-by-step reading of a very complex item. In my opinion, cover deconstructions, like this one, are one of the best ways to explain postal history to others - regardless of the skill level. They also leave me with no room to hide. If I don’t get it right, or if I miss something, there will be someone who will certainly let me know.
Quiz Question #10: What were the five main categories for letters sent to the US Dead Letter Office?
#2 - Edward Palk and the Packet Letter Mystery - PHS #198
I think most people have subject areas that appeal to them enough that they take delight in knowing or exploring details. Some people might think it is fun to know different grips for a curve ball or maybe they like knowing where each known creative piece in the Star Wars universe lands on the timeline. Meanwhile, those who do not immerse themselves into any given topic wonder if those who do are in need of counseling.
If you think you don’t have one of these subject areas in your life, I want you to reconsider that thought. These “inflictions” come about so naturally, we may not even notice we have them.
The Packet Letter Mystery is an example of a detail that is very interesting to those who delve deeply into the details of postal history. The trick was writing about it in a way that everyone might enjoy the journey, if not the significance of the discovery. At the same time, I had to provide enough substance for those who DO find this detail to be interesting.
I think this article threaded the needle nicely.
And yes, I still expect that many readers wonder if I need counseling.
Quiz Question #11: What official position did Edward Palk hold in Southampton?
#1 - Purple Fire Starters - PHS #178
A very strange thing happened on the way to writing this Author’s Choice list. Selecting the number one entry wasn’t difficult at all. Usually, there are five articles that are easy choices for inclusion. Then there is a batch of ten to twenty more PHS that could contend to be on the list. Once I have those identified, I have an internal debate about ordering the top five and then narrowing down the list to eleven.
Mail sent from (and to) the Japanese internment camps during World War II is an excellent example of how the surrounding social history makes an item important for postal history. In my opinion, this post does an excellent job weaving in the postal history perspective while also providing a succinct summary of a very important, and disturbing, moment in the history of the United States. It’s just icing on the cake that I was able to provide a human interest angle as well.
Quiz Question #12: What was executive order 9066?
This concludes our 2024 Author’s Choice list! I hope you enjoyed seeing my review for the year and I would be perfectly happy to entertain your thoughts on this year of Postal History Sunday. For those of you who have enjoyed / are enjoying the quiz questions, I will provide answers in the next Postal History Sunday.
And stay tuned for our first article for 2025! If you have suggestions corrections or questions, I am happy to receive them at any time. If I fail to respond, please try me a second time. Sometimes life gets in the way.
Have a fine remainder of your day and an excellent year to come.
Postal History Sunday is featured weekly on this Substack publication. If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with the most recent publication. If you think you might enjoy my writing on other topics, I can also be found at the Genuine Faux Farm substack. And, some publications may also be found under my profile at Medium, if you have interest.
Nicely done - a Spinal Tap and Star Trek reference right next to each other!! What's next? A Princess Bride quote?!