posted 03-09-2025 11:29 AM               

Space Cover 796: Astronaut Tribute Slogan Machine Cancels

During the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era, there were a number of U.S. Post Office slogan machine cancels that paid tribute to various NASA astronauts. These slogan cancels have only wording and nothing pictorial.

Pictorial cancels, as the name indicates, have some type of image displayed in the cancel and often are hand stamp cancels. Slogan cancels, on the other hand, are machine cancels and only have wording, which this enlarged tribute slogan cancel for John Glenn indicates well. It's always best when the slogan is mostly clear of the stamp and can be read well.

Presented here are six slogan cancels, paying tribute to John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Jim McDivitt, Neil Armstrong, Al Worden and Gene Cernan.

I have seen a slogan cancel for Buzz Aldrin from Montclair, New Jersey and am sure that there are a number of other astronaut tribute slogan machine cancels.

Any additional astronaut slogan machine cancels would be welcomed here and should be of interest.

posted 03-09-2025 02:57 PM               

The first postmark for Walter Schirra after his Mercury flight isn't ideally placed.

The second postmark, however, for Donn Eisele after Apollo 7 is a good one.

posted 03-10-2025 08:59 AM               

I assisted Ray with his post on astronaut tribute slogan cancels and made a space collector rookie mistake in stating that machine slogan cancels don't have images included with their wording. But they do occasionally, as anyone who collected KSC covers for the shuttle would have plenty of the "For/Benefits/on Earth" canceled covers, which were used for years. But the cancel on the cover above, "Beginning/New Era/Space Shuttle", is quite scarce, as it was only used for four months in 1977 and then retired.

posted 03-11-2025 12:03 AM               

Here is Swanson/SCC on Aldrin's landing and walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, but note that you can't make out the slogan text because of the affixed Apollo 8's stamp dark-black space background.

There is another different cachet design for astronaut Eisele of his slogan cancel's first day of use at Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 22, 1969, which I believe was his return home Apollo 7 post-flight celebration. Also note both the first and last day cancel uses of Armstrong's hometown from Sept. 6, 1969, to March 6, 1970.

While on this same related topic, how about astronaut hometown or same state meter slogan pictorial cancels? Here are a couple to start off with of Armstrong and McDivitt. There are others.

posted 03-11-2025 04:32 AM               

It is quite difficult locating verifiable dates for hometown visits - at first I naively believed the cancellation dates on the covers; that is until I realised I had three different dates on three different covers for Alan Shepard's welcome home to East Derry.

posted 03-11-2025 02:53 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
...we hardly never see any Aldrin slogan cancels for his hometown of Montclair

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