William Barlow Jr.'s Award-Winning Exhibit on the History of the Machine Cancels of Boston, Massachusetts

Our Society's past president, William Barlow, Jr., produced during his life, 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. The contents referred to here are images of the exhibit pages created by the late William Barlow, Jr., and are reproduced and distributed to the public with his permission.

There are multiple sets of files, each for a particular format (such as web pages). The exhibit contains 7 frames in all.

Each of the PDF files listed below is approximately 6-9 megabytes in size. You should be able to read them on any computer that can handle larger files and images. See the web page with information about downloading and viewing PDF files.

The second entity is a web page that allows viewing of all of the frames of this exhibit. To view all of the frames, simply click on the HTML link below.

The third entity is a web page containing all of the text of the exhibit.

PDF Files

Online Viewing of the Exhibit

All Frames as Web Pages

Text of the Exhibit

All Frames Text

Previous Version of This Exhibit

The Machine Cancel Society posted an earlier version of this exhibit on its website. The PDF files are still present, and may be of interest primarily to researchers. However, most collectors will benefit from the latest content of the exhibit listed above.

Updated 13 December 2024