Page 32 - Delcampe Collections classiques EN-006

Stamps

Discovering collections

of cancellations and pictorial cancellations

By Jeanmarcel33 from AS. CO. FLAM. ES

For decades, the cancellation of postage stamps
was performed by hand. This operation became
more cumbersome as mail developed, especially
since in 1876, a French ministerial regulation re-
quired postmen to affix two date stamps to each
letter: one on the vignette, the other elsewhere on
the envelope (fig 1).
The French administration looked for a way to
simplify this task, and in 1884 a cancellation ma-
chine was put into service, invented by French en-
fig 1
gineer DAGUIN, which made it possible to achieve
both prints in a single stroke (fig.1). Although it
was operated by hand, piecemeal, this machine
was to last until 1967. It was gradually relegated
to small offices or used for events of shorter du-
ration. From the end of the last century onwards,
it was replaced by electric machines which offe-
red increasingly rapid throughputs.
fig 2
But with this mechanisation, came the issue of
cancelling the stamp. A postage stamp is not
always stuck in the same place, whereas the ma-
chine always strikes in the same place, meaning
that the stamp could escape being struck. In or-
der to avoid this drawback, cancellation power
fig 3 was increased by combining the date stamp with
either cancellation lines (fig.2) or a graphic (fig.3).
This setup was called “FLAMME” probably be-
cause the first prints reproduced a flag or banner
(known in French as an “oriflamme”) (fig.4).
The postal administration soon realised that it
could make the most of this print by adding ad-
fig 4
vertising on its own behalf (fig.5) or for selected

32 Delcampe Magazine