I was going to call this unusual, but the fact that I have four examples of one I'll show probably means that it isn't so much 'unusual' as 'uncommon'. Places that you rarely find covers or cards going from and to.
Of course such traffic may not be unusual in the destination country especially if, as is or was the case for Pitcairn and Norfolk Island, they are popular with collectors.
And they may not be uncommon in the sending country if the addressee of a correspondence takes them back to the country of origin, being where they came from.
But they are uncommon anywhere else. And more uncommon are covers NOT associated with collectors and philatelic bureaux. I'm going to show some here that I think are uncommon.
Malagasy Republic to Cyprus, 1971. A variety of stamps totalling 67fr sent airmail to from he Bank of Madagascar and Comores to Commissioner's Office Famagusta, Cyprus. The journey time was 8 days.
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| 1971 airmail cover from Malagasy Republic to Cyprus. |
The Banque de Madagascar et des Comores (Bank of Madagascar and the Comoros) was a historical French colonial bank established in 1925 as the Banque de Madagascar and renamed in 1945. The bank closed in 1977. Majunga (the French name) is known locally as Mahajanga, the capital of the Boeny Region. I've not been able to find anything about the addressee but evidently he worked in one of the administration offices in Famagusta, Cyprus.
Poland to Bahamas, airmail 1977, prepaid 9 złoty 60 this has a machine sorting mark on the reverse indicating it passed through the USA. I can't find anything about the addressee except that she was part of a large family - I have found entries of a lady of this name attending three different funerals in the Bahamas.
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| 1977 airmail cover from Warsaw, Poland, to Long Island, Bahamas. |
Bermuda to Thailand. This is what we call a 'busy' cover!
Sent in 1981 by registered airmail costing $1.40. The handwritten address is to
The Manager,
Thai Silk Shop,
near The Weaving Shop,
Changmai,
Thailand.
There are quite a few in Changmai, which is Thailand's second city, so they didn't stand much chance of delivering it. It was returned as undeliverable this piece has so many Thai post office markings that it's not easy to separate them. It's endorsed in manuscript '33' in a circle, and (separately) 'no such number'.
At the right an arrow in Thai probably indicates 'Return to Sender'. There are at least three strikes of the French 'RETOUR / ADRESSE INCOMPLETE' and a larger box in Thai showing the reasons for non-delivery.
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| 1981 registered airmail cover from Bermuda to Thailand. |
Lebanon to Sudan 1970s. These are all addressed to Bishop Oliver Allison in Khartoum.
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| 1976 from the Near East School of Theology to Khartoum |
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| 1975 from the Near East Council of Churches to Khartoum |
Oliver C. Allison (1908-1989) was a missionary with a long record of service in the Sudan – a total of 35 years serving in various capacities.
The son of an English clergyman, Allison was the second of four boys. He spent one year at Cambridge University Mission in Bermondsey
where he gained experience in Christian education by teaching the Gospel, before seeking theological training for the ordained ministry.
He was ordained in 1932 and served for three years as a part-time curate in Boscombe. Allison offered to join the Church Missionary Society (CMS). His desire was to serve in the Nuba Mountains region in northwestern Sudan.
In 1938 he traveled to Sudan. After three weeks at sea, he arrived Port Sudan and continued his journey on a train to Khartoum where he met Bishop Gwynne, the first Anglican and CMS missionary to set foot on Sudanese soil. (Wikipedia and others)
He also survived a plane crash into the Red Sea, and a hijack in which his plane was diverted to Benghazi, Libya!
Whatever you collect, covers such as this can make a nice sideline - you can compete with your collecting friends - or yourself - to find the most unusual cover, as long as it's non-philatelic (ie, not contrived) of course.
If you have an Uncommon Journey Cover, tell me about it: the best ones will be added in another blog post.
