Monarch, AB, CAN - Monarch Butterfly Cancel

 

(2017-01-01/2024-02-21) Monarch, AB

Much to my dismay, after sending out my request for this pictorial cancel, I realized it was no longer in use, as of about 2017 (per this website). HOWEVER, much to my surprise, upon opening the envelope returned to me (which was canceled as in the top image, with the current date), the stamped cards had been beautifully canceled with the bottom image, bearing a date of 2017-01-01. So, at least as of February 2024, it is possible to request this stamp for non-official cancellations (i.e. not on in-circulation mail). Cool! (and so relieved to have not had the request go to waste.)

MONARCH PO

215 VICTORIA AVE

MONARCH AB, T0L 1M0

This cancel was released in 2006 and stopped being in use sometime in 2017 (unknown date), though it can still be requested.

Read more!

> Monarch AB Wikipedia

> "Monarch AB." (2014, July 12) In Canadian Stamps and Covers blog. https://canadianstampsandcovers.blogspot.com/2014/07/monarch-ab.html

FRA - La Poste Pokémon Stamp & Postmark

As a Pokémon fan and hobby deltiologist, this announcement is some exciting news!

On February 28, La Poste - partnered with The Pokémon Company International - will release a Pikachu postage stamp ("Lettre verte" rate) as well as a set of Pokémon-themed ("Lettre Internationale" rate) stamps. Images of these are shown below, taken directly from the Press Communication posted on WikiTimbres.

The release of these stamps comes in time for the February 27 anniversary of the release of the first Game Boy Pokémon games, in 1996. On February 27, 2024, there is an early release of these stamps at Le Carré d’Encre in Paris (postmarking until 5pm), while the general sale begins on February 28th (including in the online shop).

(image credits: Communiqué de presse, Janvier 2024 from WikiTimbres)

(image credits: Communiqué de presse, Janvier 2024 from WikiTimbres)

Additionally, there will be a release of 12 illustrated Pokémon stamps at Paris Philex 2024 from May 30 to June 1, 2024, with general sale of these stamps beginning June 3rd.

Read More & References!

> Communiqué de presse, Janvier 2024. (2024, January). In WikiTimbres. https://www.wikitimbres.fr/public/stamps/pdf/POSTE-2024-13.pdf
> Timbre : 2023 POKÉMON. (Undated). In WikiTimbres. https://www.wikitimbres.fr/timbres/13690/2023-pokemon

> Timbre : 2024 POKÉMON. (Undated). In WikiTimbres. https://www.wikitimbres.fr/timbres/13684/2024-pokemon

> POKÉMON. (Undated). In Le Carré d’Encre. https://www.lecarredencre.fr/timbre/pokemon/

> Pikachu en partenariat avec La Poste. (2024, February 20). In Pokémon. https://www.pokemon.com/fr/actus-pokemon/pikachu-en-partenariat-avec-la-poste

Mount Hope, ON, CAN - Postcard with Canadian Warplane Heritage Stamp Cancel

 

(2024-01-26) Mount Hope, ON

At the same time as I sent cards for cancellation at the Mount Hope PO, I included this postcard to get sent back to me as well. Given I've received and sent cards that make it to their (domestic/international) destinations without ever having had the stamp cancelled (with a pen or not), I'm a little disappointed this one, which had already been cancelled nicely with the pictorial one, also got machine cancelled...

Now that I look at this card though, I wonder if I should try to collect a few more pictorial marks in the rest of the blank space.

MOUNT HOPE PO

3055 HOMESTEAD DR

MOUNT HOPE ON, L0R 1W0

I've written more about the Mount Hope PO here!

CAN - Pictorial Cancel Collection Progress

With some help from the map created by Canada's Pictorial Cancels, I have begun tracking my own progress (using my own cancels) - check it out on my "Pictorial Cancel Collection Progress" page!

MISC - A Blast from the Past with Old Postcards

Inspired in part by learning a bit more about the postage rate history in Canada and in part by my recent interest in stamp cancels, I decided to dive back into my personal postcard collection and take a look at some of the older postcards, focusing on the stamps used and their associated cancels. Here's some of what I found...

United States

1949

USA to CAN - $0.02 - Oct 15, 1949
including a stamp (presumably) upon arrival in Canada, on Oct 20, 1949

1979

USA to CAN - $0.10 - Jan 31, 1979
with a stamp "ALWAYS USE / ZIP CODE"
(ironically this postcard was missing the postal code)

1996

USA to CAN - $0.32 - Dec 1?, 1996
with a stamp "MISSISSIPPI QUEEN / STEAMBOAT MA(??)"

2005

USA to CAN - $0.23 - Nov 07, 2005
including a "POSTAGE DUE" stamp, without a value...
($0.23 was the domestic postcard rate in 2005 but the international rate is unclear for me for this time. In 2005, letter rates were $0.37 and in 2007, "Forever" stamps were introduced, giving a Canadian letter rate of $0.69)

Canada

1958

Canada to Alberta - $0.04 - Sep 07, 1958

BC to Canada- $0.04 - Aug 1?, 1958

1962

BC to AB - $0.04 - Aug 23, 1962
with a stamp "DAWSON CITY / GOLD RUSH / FESTIVAL / JULY 1 - AUG. 25"

1971

ON to AB - $0.06 - May 24, 1971
with a stamp "JUNE 1 - CENSUS (??) / COUNT YOURSELF / 1 JUIN RECENSEMENT / SOYEZ DU NOMBRE"

New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand to Canada - $1.00 - Aug 27, 1990
with a stamp "FASTPOST (??) / FOR SPEEDY / DELIVERY-"

Other

This one wasn't written nor stamped but it does have an interesting "Posted Aboard Ship Date" stamp (without a date)

Read More!

Great for more images of this sort - 

> Postal History Corner: Canadian Postal and Philatelic History. https://postalhistorycorner.blogspot.com/

And more history -

> Rates for Stamped Cards and Postcards. (Undated) In Postal History. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/postcard-rates-since-1873.htm

> History of United States postage rates. (2024, January 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_postage_rates

> Postage stamps and postal history of New Zealand. (2023, September 29). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_New_Zealand

> Redressing the Balance – A brief history of Letter Balances and the Penny Post. In MOTAT. https://www.motat.nz/collections-and-stories/stories/redressing-the-balance-a-brief-history-of-letter-balances-and-the-penny-post/

CAN - Postage Rate History

With the announcement of another postage rate increase proposal, I thought it would be interesting to dive into the postage rate history in Canada, with a unique look at how it has shifted for postcard enthusiasts. I've put together a full page detailing this information on my blog here.

Mount Hope, ON, CAN - Canadian Warplane Heritage Stamp Cancel

(2024-01-26) Mount Hope, ON

I am in love with how all of these cancels turned out! Each of them turned out just a clearly as the one in the image and the worry I'd been having over using those stamps (which, at the time, I had no extras) turned out to be for nothing. I've since received some more airplane stamps though, so I'll be sending those off for additional (different) cancels!

MOUNT HOPE PO

3055 HOMESTEAD DR

MOUNT HOPE ON, L0R 1W0

The pictorial cancel image shown on the Canada Post site has a date of 2022-10-27.

Some news out of Mount Hope:

> The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has over 40 aircraft on display

> A flight aboard one of the last two remaining airworthy Lancasters is being auctioned off by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum for the four-day trip happening in August (Daily Mail article)

Read more!

> Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Wikipedia

> Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum History

Beeton, ON, CAN - Honey Festival Stamp Cancel

 (2024-01-26) Beeton, ON

This stamp cancel is super cute! I love that the outer circle has been dashed to represent the path of the two little bees.

BEETON PO

60 MAIN ST W

BEETON ON, L0G 1A0

An earlier version of this pictorial cancel is dated 2002-09-23, though this version was released in 2016 I believe.

Some fun facts about Beeton:

> the town name was changed to Beeton in 1874 or 1878, perhaps after David Allanson Jones, who was both a postmaster and "Bee King of Canada"

> the "Bee King of Canada" was Canada's first commercial beekeeper and, in 1880, was producing 70,000 lbs of honey from 400 colonies. He had grown to 1,000 colonies by 1890.

Read more!

> Beeton Wikipedia

> Alan Skeoch, “JONES, DAVID ALLANSON,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 13, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/jones_david_allanson_13E.html.

Ingersoll, ON, CAN - Cheese Museum Stamp Cancel

(2023-10-??) Ingersoll, ON

Throwback to one of the pictorial cancels that inspired my current endeavor to start collecting them - this cancel showing the Ingersoll Cheese Museum. Since I received this on a postcard from someone, I don't know exactly which PO they visited but have made my best guess. I hope to go back and get this one myself at some point

INGERSOLL STN MAIN

36 CHARLES ST W

INGERSOLL ON, N5C 0A0

I can't locate the stamp cancel image provided by Canada Post, though I've heard it may have been released in 2015.

Some fun facts about Ingersoll:

> in 1866, a giant wheel of cheese (7300 lbs  / 3311 kg) was made and transported to New York where it was exhibited at the New York State Fair

> there is an "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese" written by James McIntyre (known as 'the cheese poet') and four of the lines go: “We have seen thee, queen of cheese,/Lying quietly at your ease,/Gently fanned by evening breeze,/Thy fair form no flies dare seize.”

Read more!

> Ingersoll Cheese and Agriculture Museum

> Ingersoll Wikipedia

> Ingersoll's Mammoth Cheese and the History of Cheese Making in Oxford County "Virtual Museum"

Beaverlodge, AB, CAN - Beaver Stamp Cancel

(2024-01-25) Beaverlodge, AB

I had sent the cards out with just the beaver stamp and someone kindly included the 3¢ muskrat on one with the cancel - so fun! I wish it was easier to find these low-denomination stamp series' for collecting cancels.

BEAVERLODGE PO

1034 FIRST AVE

BEAVERLODGE AB, T0H 0C0

The stamp cancel image from Canada Post has a date of 2004-04-05 - so my own stamp cancel happened almost two decades later - cool!

Some interesting facts about Beaverlodge:

> a statue of a giant beaver (1500 lbs) on a log (1500 lbs) was unveiled in 2004, the same year Beaverlodge celebrated its 75th anniversary

Read more!

> Beaverlodge Giant Beaver Statue web archive

> Beaverlodge Wikipedia

> The Canadian Encyclopedia

Leamington, ON, CAN - Butterfly Stamp Cancel

(2024-01-25) Leamington, ON

This is the best of the batch I received back - the rest were smudged and there was even one that was missing the "eami" letters from "Leamington." But! The stamp pairs nicely with this moth (yes, I know) stamp... I'll have to get it done again with the 22¢ butterfly stamp at some point.

LEAMINGTON PO

25 JOHN ST

LEAMINGTON ON, N8H 0A0

The pictorial cancel image provided by Canada Post has a date of 2022-08-19.

Some interesting news out of Leamington:

> each autumn, for a few short days, Point Pelee hosts thousands of monarch butterflies, migrating across Lake Erie and down to the mountains in Mexico

> the Leamington Monarch Trail is a 2km trail with plant bed installations ideal for supporting monarch butterflies - including milkweed and nectar

Read more!

> Monarch Butterflies - Point Pelee National Park

> Leamington Monarch Trail, Monarch Conservation Toolbox

> Toronto Entomologists Association, including the publication Wormington, A. 2016. The Butterflies of Point Pelee National Park, Ontario.Ontario Nature Guide Number 2 of the Ontario Natural History Press: Leamington.

Falher, AB, CAN - Honey Capital of Canada Stamp Cancel

 

(2024-01-10) Falher, AB

This canceled stamp card is my first - I've just begun to collect them. Unfortunately, I had included 4 cards in the envelope for cancellation and only received 3 back... but for a first attempt it went pretty smoothly. There are quite a few bee cancellations to collect across Canada so I'm excited to expand the collection.

FALHER POST OFFICE

12 MAIN ST

FALHER AB, T0H 1M0

The stamp cancel image posted by Canada Post has a date of 2004-10-31.

Some fun facts about Falher:

> home of the world's largest honey bee statue (or, at least, a really big one)

> annual honey festival since 1990

> also home of the world's largest beehive!

> at one point, honey production in this Peace River region accounted for 40% of Canadian honey production

Read more!

> Town of Falher archived webpage, honey festival

> Falher Wikipedia