Last nights ZOOM meeting (6th February) proved to be very informative. 19 members were in attendance. Malcolm Coe began by giving a detailed account of the use of Talismanic numbers on Sudanese Postage at the beginning of the 20thcentury. They were written on the front to encourage all concerned to speed them to their destination without hold ups. Keith Wright showed 6 sent to Coffee Houses in the early 19thc. Including a rare cover to a Coffee House in Bristol. Among the covers shown by Peter Webb on the subject of the demise of Indian State airways, a very rare flown cover with an incorrect cachet that is highly sought after by collectors of Indian Airmails. Julian Tweed showed 6 from his collection of GB Express which had unusual messages. Including one where the recipient was encouraged to simply “Bring woolies”. I showed an entire sent overland from Bremen to London in 1814 via Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Harwich before reaching London. Napoleon was facing defeat, as his armies were being pushed back by the allies and this was a first attempt by an enterprising Merchant to begin trading with the Kingdom of Hanover once again. Writing to his brother, with tales of their nearly being shipwrecked, Cossacks passing through the Town on the way to the war, and much more. It was a fascinating document. Thankyou to all who took part. The Displays will be published on the Society’s Facebook page in the next few days, for those who were unable to attend last night.
Our next meeting is on Monday 4th March at 2.15pm for 2.30pm. Watch this space for more details.
Marc Oxley
Secretary Postal History Society