Postage Meter Stamp Ramblings and Recent Discoveries  (Joel Hawkins)     1911 Coin-Operated Postage Machine - Thor Mandahl, Norway I recently acquired pictures and a few pages of typed correspondence about a coin operated postage meter machine invented by Thor Mandahl of Stockholm, Sweden in 1911. It is a mechanical device that is attached to a mail box and when a coin is inserted for the correct postage the machine cancels and pushes the letter into the mailbox. In an account of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Stockholm Postal Museum, it was mentioned that Thor Mandahl of Stockholm, Sweden had donated to the Museum an “automatic apparatus from franking and postmarking letters, invented by him in 1912” Also donated by Mr. Mandahl were the model, incomplete patent papers, and testimonials from a technical high school professor and four Stockholm postmasters. The postmaster’s testimonials were short and somewhat colorless, but the professor states the idea was a good one and worth postal encouragement with funds for building a real operating model.  It was noted, however, that the design of the machine was too complicated to stand up to prolonged usage.  The device, designed in 1911-12, was intended as a hand-lever operated coin-in-the-slot machine, to be mounted on the letter boxes. The mailer was to place the letter in a slot then turn the lever two or more times. The letter would be drawn in between two belts and finally stamped by two dies on separate levers; one being the postage indicia and the other, the postmark circle date stamp. No impressions or dies seemed to have survived. If anyone has additional information on this postage machine, please contact me.   Shown below are pages of the patent that accompanied the pictures of the postage machine. (Click on the image to see the full-size view, then use your Browser's 'BACK' button to return here)         Patent Information about Norway's First Meter Stamp 8 February 1900  (Invented by Christian Heiberg Kahrs)   Much has been written about Norway's first meter stamp, long thought to have been the World's first postage meter stamp.  A translated patent describes the details of this coin-operated postage machine.  Shown below is an image of the machine.   Shown below are images of the Kahrs postage machine patent.   Mail-O-Mat Pictures This machine was installed in Stamford, CT on 20 December 1937 and retired on 25 August 1938 and later installed in Toronto, Canada.     Below are a couple other Mail-O-Mat postage machine pictures.       Mail-O-Mat Press Release and Essay   (NOTE:  This is not Frederick Bowes Jr's real signature)   Below is an image of an ESSAY slogan for the one accepted.   Unissued City Names This meter number (5895) was never issued with HONOLULU / HAWAII as a townmark.   This meter number (5959) was never issued with ALBANY / N. Y. as a townmark. Meter number 5959 is only listed from New York (Dairymen's League, Bank of America, and Bank of Manhattan) Shown below is a new Specimen.     Shown below are images of a proposed postage meter machine drawn by Arthur Pitney, dated 1927.             Shown below are images a Pitney Bowes Model CV postage meter machine and a close-up of the key.   Shown below is an image of a Pitney Bowes 5200 Mail-O-Mat with a SCARCE slogan.  This is the latest known use of this slogan.   Shown below is an image of Pitney Bowes postage meter stamps using all the known colors for the period.   1927 Universal Postal Frankers ESSAY re-discovered after being stored in a stamp store in Sweden for more than 35 years. This is list in the US Postage Meter Stamp Catalog as Type ESY-B(DA1)1, however, the illustration is fuzzy. Shown below are several meter stamp items that are listed as RRR (Exceptionally Rare) and RRRR (Extremely Rare / Unique) RRR (Exceptionally Rare) TYPE CG1 TYPE DB9   RRRR (Extremely Rare / Unique) TYPE DE2 (14c denomination / M# 81447) TYPE DF2 (13c denomination / M# 01117)   RRRR (Extremely Rare / Unique) TYPE DE2 (M# 90016) TYPE DF2 (M# P.O. 90060) Shown below is an UNLISTED 16c denomination for TYPE DB1A TYPE DB1A (M# 10888) Shown below is an UNLISTED Friden SPECIMEN Very unusual townmark Shown below are three Pitney Bowes moistening bottles To see the below bottle installed on a postage meter machine, click on the image.   Shown below is an uninstalled Pitney Bowes "envelope moistening mechanism". The Desk Model brochure shows it installed (front bottom left) Shown below is a Mailomat meter stamp cover with Certificate. This cover was granted a Scientific Bureau of Philatelic Certificate and is ex-Whitebough collection.