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M A Y 2 0 0 3 |
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WHEN VOLLEYBALL WAS INVENTED ... |
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this ITEM OF THE MONTH was provided by GÜNTER PILZ, Guatemala |
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| This is the front side of the cover I told you about during last month. The first one I have seen in all the years I have been collecting Volleyball items. It was posted in HOLYOKE, MA, on Sep 21, 1895, the exact year when our sport was invented in that small city in Massachusetts. Note that the cancel was struck at 3:30 PM. It was sent by the "City National Bank" from Holyoke to the "Springfield National Bank" in Springfield, the place where the first official Volleyball game was held a year later (see ITEM OF THE MONTH of JANUARY 2003) and where the name of "Volleyball" was invented. There is also a steel duplex cancel (also called a numeral duplex) killing the indicum of this postal stationery entire. These duplex cancels were used at some large post offices between about 1890 and 1930. | |||
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| On the reverse side of the cover we can see three more cancels: There are two small cancels, one with a number "10" in the circle, the other one is hard to read (I guess it is the same as the first one). It is the number of the postal carrier who delivered the letter in Springfield. And then there is the arrival cancel from Springfield, MA, from the same day (Sep 21, 1895), struck at 5:00 PM. It is surprising that this cover only took an hour and a half to get from Holyoke to Springfield (although the distance is only about 15 kms). | |||
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| Postmark from Holyoke, MA, from Sep 21, 1895 (3:30 PM) | Steel duplex cancel (numeral duplex) | Number cancel identifying the carrier in Springfield | Cancel "received" from Springfield, MA, from Sep 21, 1895 (5:00 PM) |
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If you can give additional information about this cover, please be so kind as to
contact me, clicking here: |
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