Today in Postal History

The addressee on this cover was the mail order firm Montgomery Ward.
For nearly a century their extensive catalog was a marketing wonder.
They were very successful in marketing to Caribbean consumers.
Someone in their mail order processing division saved many covers from their foreign mail.
The covers may originally have been filed as a result of their order
processing but ultimately the covers were diverted to collectors.
There are a ton of them around.

This cover came from Port of Spain on the northwest corner of Trinidad.
Trinidad is at the south end of the chain of Caribbean islands just off the coast of South America.

The cover bears two Port of Spain CDS.

The cover was received at Montgomery Ward & Co. in Chicago on September 9.
There is an order fulfillment stamp OUT FOREIGN SALES SEP 11 11.30.
It was then off to the files.

The cover is franked with two 1d. Britannia.
The first is a 1918 scarlet War | Tax overprint (SG 188).
The second is a 1918 carmine red (SG 150c).

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Pastnotes Index - The First 300 and the Next 208
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