{{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=November 2016 Cover Bahamas 1929 front

A machine postmark or machine cancellation is a

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

or cancellation on

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

that is applied by a mechanical device rather than with the use of a

handstamp A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

. Nearly all machine-cancellation devices apply both postmark and cancellation simultaneously. While some mail is cancelled using handstamps, machine cancellation is ubiquitous, and in the industrialized nations the vast majority of mail is cancelled by machine.

United States

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the first successful postmarking machine was developed by Thomas Leavitt in the 1870s, with covers known from 1876. By 1880 Leavitt machines were in use in twenty cities. Cancellations were of a variety of forms, including horizontal and diagonal lines, as well as "football" shapes. The

American Postal Machines Company American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soon got into the business, with postmarks appearing from 1884, and became successful with a machine known for its speed of processing. APMC introduced the flag cancel in 1894, which used the wavy lines of the cancel to depict an approximate image of an American flag. During the 1890s dozens of other companies got into the business, although most were short-lived, and only about six, including

Pitney-Bowes Pitney Bowes Inc. is an American technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and services, and with expansions into e-commerce, software, and other technologies. The company was founded by Arthur Pitney, who i ...

, lasted past the 1920s. Slogan cancels also first appeared in the 1890s, initially to advertise the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

in Buffalo, New York, gradually expanding to include a wide variety of uses. Slogans are commonplace today, with the

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

still using them to promote special events, as well as to encourage better mailing practices (use of ZIP Code, proper addressing, etc.).

References

*Russell F. Hanmer, ''A Collector's Guide to U.S. Machine Postmarks 1871-1925'', 3rd ed. (David G. Phillips Publishing, 1989)

External links

International Machine Cancel Society Homepage
Postal markings