The Machine Cancel Society past president, William Barlow, Jr. , has produced an award-winning exhibit (2008 Indypex GOLD, Napex GOLD, Postmark Society award, and many more) on the history of machine cancels used in Boston, Massachusetts. Most collectors of machine cancels will recognize that Boston was a major center for experimentation with new machines, and study of American flag machines used in this city alone offers an amazing variety. The exhibit goes well beyond the American company and is a useful education for both new and experienced machine cancel collectors. This web page contains text of the exhibit pages created by William Barlow, Jr., and are reproduced and distributed to the public with his permission.
This web page, published by the Machine Cancel Society, contains the text of Frame 5 of the Barlow Boston Machine Cancel History Exhibit.
To see all of the exhibit frame images, click on Frame 5 exhibit frame images.
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Despite the apparent success of the flag dies, there had been objection to the new dies as denigrating the American flag. On January 2, 1895, from about 2:15 to 8:00 PM, a new American Postal Machines die known to philatelists as the Eagle & Thunderbolts was tested. For some reason, the new die was rejected, and the Eagle & Thunderbolts never saw further postal service. About 10,000 letters are reported to have been imprinted with the new die, of which four covers, perhaps a half-dozen cancellations on piece, and a few off-cover stamps with partial impressions are now known.
Proof or trial impression of the Eagle & Thunderbolts at the time the test is believed to have started. Printed on a Boston routing slip. One of two known examples.
The second copy also with 2:15 pm time showing the routing slip side
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The test of the Eagle & Thunderbolts was run against another American machine, presumed to have been a flag. Of the six flag machines in use at that time, five are known with January 2, 1895 cancellations. The machines on which the new die was placed and its 'opponent' have yet to be identified. The dial with the Eagle & Thunderbolts has not yet been matched; so it may have been installed on a new machine. Additional January 2 covers may yet yield answers.
Only recorded example from machine E on this date. Shortly after the test.
Cover from machine 'H' immediately before the test period
Cover from machine 'F' shortly before the test period
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The curved—year dials (Type D) were doomed to extinction; in 1896 a new dial with a split year (Type B) was introduced. These began to be installed in the late summer of 1896 on machines going to new locations. Since American dials in this period had a year date built in, cities with existing machines generally received the new type of dial for use on January 1, 1897. Among the few dozen machines receiving the Type B dials in 1896, Haverhill and Salem, Massachusetts, have the earliest recorded usages: August 24.
Haverhill cancel with Type B dial, used for about a week
New machine with different flag die installed about September 1 with the same Type B dial
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Four covers showing the progression of a single flag die on machine 'F' during the course of a year, from the Type D dlal in 1896 back to a Type D dial in 1897. Since Boston had many machines in use, dials were often moved from one machine to another, possibly during cleaning operations.
Type D dial at the end of 1896
Type B dial January 2, 1897, with blank diespace for a few days
Same dial and die with its letter inserted
A return to the Type D dial at the end of 1897
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Another new dial, with the year date in a single unit (Type A), was similarly introduced. About 60 machines around the country received the new, and ultimately most prevalent, dial in 1908. A few may have been supplied as early as July, but most were installed toward the end of the year. As with the Type B dial, the Boston Main Office machines did not receive any Type A dials until 1909, and only one (machine 4) was changed from Type B to Type A in 1909.
A 1908 installation of Type A dial in Philadelphia (right); Boston machine 4: transition (below)
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Boston, which had led in the introduction of machines, fell behind the times in the twentieth century. It retained the locally-produced flag machines longer than any other major city and even used the only Type D dial produced in the twentieth century. It appeared on a no-diespace flag in July 1909 and was later transferred to machine 5.
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American postmark dials manufactured prior to 1905 were made in two parts. On rare occasions the top and bottom halves of different dial types were paired. The resulting errors were obvious enough to make it surprising that, for as long as several weeks, they could go undiscovered or tolerated.
Three covers from machine 6 with same flag die. Type D (above) and Type B (below) dials used intermittently in 1898. Mis-matching error (left) drops B in BOSTON, S in MASS and duplicates MASS in the base
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An identical error occurred on machine 7 a few weeks earlier. The problem was corrected almost immediately; the error is known for only a few days in September 1898. Type D dials had not been used on this machine since 1896.
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A Boston station error first reported in the latest edition of the Flag Cancel Encyclopedia (2008) had an unusually long life of nine months and was simply not recognized as an error by either postal workers or philatelists until recently. The top half of the dial is from an Imperial dial previously used in the Boston Main Office, and the only distinction is a Wider spacing of the letters in BOSTON.
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Only one mis-matched dial error was made among the spread-field flags. The error on machine 8 is identical with those on machines 6 and 7. In this case the erroneous dial had been used with an American receiving mark before being installed on machine 8.
Erroneous dial (above) used with receiving mark, In use: several weeks prior to August 20, 1898. Error dial with flag (left), In use: August 20 to early September, 1898. Cover showing the error flag used as a transit mark and with the previously erroneous receiving mark now corrected (below)
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A different type of error was created here, With a dial intended for use with the involute flags erroneously placed on a spread-field flag die, producing a cancellation Without a year date. In use: November 2-6, 1897.
Flag die on machine A with Type B dial (above) used before and after the error. Misplaced dial error (left). Same dial (below) the day it was restored to its involute flag
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Boston's 'North Postal Station' used a flag die labeled 'North Station' in late 1917 and early 1918. While classified as an 'error,' it may have been intentional. The flag die had been used in Providence, Rhode Island's North Station until 1913. North Postal Station had several machines operating in 1917, and the retired Providence die was probably a handy replacement for a worn North Postal Station die.
Flag taken out of service in 1917 and probably replaced by the error flag
Updated January 30, 2020