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Author
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Topic: Space Cover 754: Metered postage
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micropooz
Member Posts: 1775
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-19-2024 09:35 AM
   
Space Cover of the Week, Week 754 (May 19, 2024) Space Cover 754: Metered PostageAbove is a cover metered at the Northrop Aircraft Plant in Hawthorne, CA (currently a SpaceX plant), where the M2F2 lifting body rocketplane was built, on the date of the M2F2's first flight, July 12, 1966. Northrop had customized the meter with a common mantra in the aerospace industry in the 1960's – "Zero Defects". The cachet was designed and applied by the Northrop Stamp Club. More SCOTW 648. So what's a meter? Per the USPS website: Postage meters are postage printing machines or systems leased by authorized providers for use in your home or office. Meters print postage directly onto your mail or onto a meter tape, which you affix to your mail. Postage meters can be used for all mail services except periodicals. Metered mail must have the actual date of mailing. Metered mail does not require a postmark as the postmark information (city, state, ZIP Code, and date) is included within the meter strip. So the metered postage represents both the stamp and the cancellation on a cover, like the above. And quite often, companies would customize their meter strips (like above) to fit their product line. These can really dress up a cover collection! Here are a couple other interesting meters: McDonnell Aircraft (makers of the Mercury and Gemini capsules) in St. Louis put out meters for the crewed Mercury orbital flights, Gemini flights, and some Apollo flights. The MA8 Sigma 7 cover is shown above. McDonnell customized the meter to include an artist's impression of a Mercury capsule in orbit, with the words "Project Mercury, McDonnell, Manned Orbital Flight". The cachet is a knockoff of the artwork from the Orbit Cachet for that flight, and I'm not sure if it was applied by McDonnell or someone else. More info on the McDonnell meters can be found in SCOTW 229.  The Manned Space Flight Network's Goldstone station in Barstow, CA had a spiffy meter that they applied to covers for missions they supported. The meter was customized with a drawing of the Goldstone antenna, and the words "Goldstone Space Communications Station, NASA/JPL, Deep Space Instrumentation Facility, Earth's Link With Deep Space". The cover above was metered at Goldstone for the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS) A (later designated LandSat 1) launch on July 23, 1972. I'm not sure why someone also applied the Goldstone cachet for Apollo support (in blue) to it as well. What other metered space covers are out there? If you have some favorites, let's post them! |
bobslittlebro
Member Posts: 267
From: Douglasville, Ga U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 05-19-2024 10:44 AM
Great post Dennis. Here are three of my favorite red meter covers. First is an Apollo 11 Dow-Unicover with a KSC Jul 20, 69 cancel. Next a MSCSC Houston Jul 24, 69 cancel and last an Apollo 12 Heritage/Craft KSC Nov 14,69 cancel  
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rvk
Member Posts: 40
From: Highlands Ranch, CO USA
Registered: Jul 2020
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posted 05-19-2024 02:57 PM
These are a couple of metered envelopes that were serviced at Goldstone when I worked there as a contractor with Bendix Field Engineering, one year after graduating from high school. I was not a cover collector at the time and was not familiar with the hobby, so I just used whatever stationary was available for these. The Apollo 14 envelope is signed on the back by the station director, George Fariss.  
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Axman
Member Posts: 459
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-20-2024 08:57 AM
Unlike postage stamps (and to a lesser extent, cancellations) which can be referenced to quality resources such as Stanley Gibbons in the UK and Scott in the US (for example), I have found meter marks to be a difficult subject to research. There is very limited information out there. If anybody can point me to a published work that catalogues meter marks for space issues I'd be very grateful.As a result I have been quite reluctant in the past to include meter marked covers within my collection. But for the ones I have included I am very glad I overcame my prejudices. Starting way way back in 1934 here are a few metered covers for Zucker's rocket-post trial firings in England. The 'stamps' are merely exhibition labels overprinted for the occasion. Even the 'postmarks' apparently cancelling the 'stamps' are just cachet marks. The postal and philatelic value lies squarely with the meter marks...  Moving forward, here are a couple of meter postmarks for the British Interplanetary Society in the early 60s... Unlike the 1930's meter marks, these both have a commercial box to the left of the franking which is used as an advertisement/logo.  But my absolute favourite is this metered airmail cover celebrating the Douglas Saturn S-ivB rocket stage...  |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3818
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-22-2024 12:34 PM
Space meter and slogan mail has always been an interest of mine, too, so I wanted to share the depicted meter mail display panels. I've tried to include issues not seen before by Dennis, Tim, rvk, and Alan — but — I did include another Sigma 7/Schirra meter slogan from Mercury spacecraft builder McDonnell Douglas in Saint Louis, MO, since it has a different postage rate amount (.04 cents instead of 0.3 cents). Does anyone know why?Here are a few dozen more in which most all have some sort of aerospace product tie-in slogan along side the main meter impression. Many are on #10 envelopes that I have gotten through the mail when writing to NASA at various field centers, space age companies, contractors, foundations, and working as a space vendor for KSC, and much more, but just too many to show for now.  
Of particular note at far top left is an Air Mail/Special Delivery letter container addressed to space author Lloyd Mallan of New York. Note the blue meter and slogan label at bottom left dated in June 1957 at Washington, D.C.. It was for the Golden Anniversary of the U.S. Air Force in 1907-57 that even depicts a rocket vehicle in flight from those early days. Are there any other rocket and/or space-themed meters before 1957? Others that I like are from Viking Mars (in red), Space Watchers with an Apollo Lunar Module slogan in Houston, the RCA Saturn 5 110A Checkout Computer for the Apollo 12 launch, and another from MDAC as the builders of Skylab, our nation's first manned space station in 1973.
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micropooz
Member Posts: 1775
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-22-2024 07:36 PM
Wow, everyone above, great covers! A whole lot wider array of meters than I dreamed when I wrote the article at top!And Ken, to answer your question about 3 cents postage vs. 4 cents on the Schirra flight McDonnell meter – My Mom taught me as a little kid (probably around 1962) that one could save a penny in postage on a letter by not sealing the flap (back then, no longer in effect). That may explain the 3 cents vs 4… Ken, since you threw down the gauntlet of pre-1957 meters, this rocketplane geek will gladly pick that gauntlet up! See below: Below is a meter from Bell Aircraft, makers of the X1 and the X2 rocketplanes. It was metered in Buffalo, NY (home of Bell) on July 13, 1954, just seven months after the X1A had set a speed record of Mach 2.44. The meter features an image of the X1A along with the words: “Bell X-1A, World’s Fastest Airplane”. Judging by the markings on the front, it must have been used to send a check to one of Bell’s suppliers for the (then) princely sum of $96.05 with a discount of $1.96. Seems a bit quaint today, eh? 😊  And another of my favorite meters is from Reaction Motors Inc. (RMI), in Rockaway Beach, NJ from November 2, 1954 with its customized “First in Rocket Power” slogan. Although it wasn’t metered on the date of a rocketplane event, at that point in time, RMI had built the engines for the X1 and D558-II rocketplanes, the Viking sounding rocket, and was busy formulating an engine that would eventually power the X15 rocketplane. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3818
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-23-2024 03:50 PM
Outstanding Dennis! You certainly called me out of this incredible find of an early X-1A used meter slogan mail from 1954 that I have never seen before. Thanks for sharing and I did note that it was referred to in the slogan text as the "World's Fastest Airplane." Correct me if I am wrong, Dennis, but those early rocket plane research flights I have always considered as "rocket powered air flights" and not as an "airplane" in the true sense of the word's meaning...your take on it?On top of that my friend, you showed another 1954 meter mail by Reaction Motors, Inc. Many years ago (can't even recall how many years it has been) that I acquired the personal collection of RMI founder, Lovell Lawrence, Jr., also known as "Mr. Redstone." As you know, he developed the first engine to break the sound barrier along with James Wyld. That had been the 4-nozzle 6,000-pound thrust rocket engine motor used in the Bell X-1 that Yeager flew in 1947. I still have most of his intact collection, however, while checking over his files and papers, I did run across a couple of mint RMI stationary #10 envelopes, similar to the one you showed, but none were stamped-up nor used in anyway. |
thisismills
Member Posts: 548
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 05-29-2024 07:34 AM
Great topic Dennis, I'll share a few McDonnell meters from Project Mercury and early Gemini flights. All are from Saint Louis, Missouri where the capsules were manufactued. There are three different styles represented: - PROJECT MERCURY MCDONNELL MANNED ORBITAL FLIGHT
- FIRST FREE MAN IN SPACE
- MCDONNELL 25TH ANNIVERSARY
 
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micropooz
Member Posts: 1775
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-29-2024 09:13 AM
Wow thanks Jeff! I've never seen so many of these together in one place before! Usually scattered about in onesies or twosies.And I didn't pick up, until now, on the fact that the meter for Cooper's flight was different than those used for the earlier Mercury flights. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3818
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-29-2024 10:41 AM
Same here Dennis! I can't recall seeing those meter types for Gemini either and what a nice set of all the Mercury manned flights, including MA-5/Enos, Jeff!
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