The Collectors Club Philatelist
September-Oc tobe r 2011 Volume 90 Number 5
111
Robert P. Odenweller, RDP, Editor
Editorial Board:
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Kees Adema
John D. Dowd
E.E. Fricks
Michael Laurence
Robe rt L. Markovits
Edward]. Siskin
Dr. Peter A. S. Smith
Advercising Manager:
Book Re view Editors:
Dr. Luea Lavagnino , Europe
Chad Snee, U.S.A .
Editorial Correspondence :
P.O. Box 401
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Irene Bromberg
Executive Secre tary
website:
www.collectorsclub.org
again,
,aofyJ
t Wetzel
A n Auth ors' Gu i d e for the
CCP is availab le from
e ither the editor or the
executive sec retar y
The Manuscript Town Cancels on Embossed
Postage Stamps of Natal
by Keith P. Klugman, M.D.
In the National Postal Museum:
G.H. Kaestlin's Zemstvo Stamps
by Thomas Lera .
Anomalous AR from the U.S.
by David Handelman .
Cover Story
A Long-Distance Local Letter
by Harlan F. Stone.
World War II: Severed Connections (part 1)
by Kees Adema ....
. 275
283
. 287
293
.299
DepartlnelIts
.267
In This Issue
Editorial ..
New Members .
President's Message.
.268
.268
.270
Programs .
Future show s .
.272
.274
Auditor's Report
Index to Advertisers .
Obituary: Bernard D. Harmer .
At the Clubhouse.
News from the Library .
Book Review .
.317
.318
.318
.3 19
.322
.323
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The opinions and statements contained in the articles are those of the author(s) only, and nOl those of The Collectors Club.
Collecto rs Club Philatelist, Vol. 90, No.5
September-October 2011
265
In the National Postal Museum:
G.H. Kaestlin's Zemstvo Stamps
by Thomas Lera
In 1862, Czar Alexander II freed forty-five million serfs from bondage and at the
same time , established a Municipal Government as an administrative framework for
the populace. Until 1917 there were only eighty provinces (gubernias) throughout
Western Russia, the Kingdom of Poland, the Caucasus and Siberia. These were divided into twenty-one oblasts, some okrugs (administrative division for oblasts and
selected governorates in Imperial Russia) and a possession (vladenie) or two. These
were further subdivided into municipalities termed zemstvos (Zem = land), consisting of a representative council (zemskoye sobranye) and an executive board (zemskaya uprava) nominated by the council. The executive board consisted of five classes of members:
• large estate proprietors - nobles owning 590 or more acres (2.4 km')
• delegates of the small landowners, including the clergy in their capacity of
landowners and proprietors
• delegates of the wealthier townsmen
• delegates of the less wealthy urban classes
• delegates of the peasants, elected by the princes.
The jurisdiction of the zemstvos induded municipal, economic, social, and educational affairs. They were to manage property, build and maintain roads, as well as
undertake measures for the improvement of agriculture, trade, and industry. In addition, they oversaw medical services, sanitation, public education , veterinary medicine services, insurance, and fire prevention.'
The zemstvos were also to maintain the ways and means of communication; however, Czar A lexander II refused to relinquish the postal service and kept it as his own
private domain. He also would not expand the areas served. Therefore, the Imperial
Postal system did not even offer service to the majority of the zemstvos.
The zemstvos, desperate for mail, began their own courier service to transport
vital documents between the various government agencies within their own jurisdiction. In the early years these documents were transported on a gratuitous basis
to circumvent the czar's edict regarding the exclusivity of the royal mail tariff. This
soon led to the inclusion of commercial and personal items among the dispatch riders' deliveries , which created the need for a system to indicate items on which the
tariff had been paid. Initially seals were affixed to the address area on the documents
to identify them.'
Within three years the zemstvos began issuing their own postal
stamps, beginning in 1865 with Sch.Iisselburg's 5k black on green
(Figure I).' Examples of these unique issues shown are from the
Smithsonian National Postal Museum 's G.H. Kaestlin Specialized
Collection of Russian Imperial and Zemstvo Stamps (Acc. No.
1984.1026).
By 1870, the issuance of stamps had spread to some 25 or more .
6
5
ulre lIb' 18 N
areas. The czar was ultimately forced to relent and , in August 1870, SF·g
Cl1 Isse urg
o. 1
sanctioned the Russian Rural Post; however, he imposed severe restrictions as to usage and areas to be served.
Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. 90, No. ;
September- October 2011
283
The Ministerial Decree stated:
Considering the limited means allowed the Post Office Depanment, w hich are
becoming insufficient to insure to all the inhabitants of the Empire the delivery of
their private correspondence, especially in localities w hich by their geographical
position are almost totally deprived of postal communication, or 3rc at a great
distance from the organized offices of the Imperial post, in order to facilitate to
the inhabitants of these localities the means of exchanging their correspondence
in an easier and especially cheaper way, in accordance with the laws of the Senate
dated August 27th of this year, J authorize the establishing of a private local post
office in localities where the necessity is felt on the following conditions:
The local post is authorized.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
To transmit from the post office the ordinary majJ as well as
newspapers and circulars, money orders, registered letters and
other mail matter to all points more or less distant of the district.
To transmit the various articles of mail matter of the district to
the nearest post office.
Also to transmit the local mail between the various localities of
the districts deprived of postal service.
The local post office is responsible for the regularity of the
mail received by it from the Imperial post office, and in case a
registered letter be lost this local post office will agree, upon an
order from the Postal Department of the lmperial administration,
to reimburse the sender a sum not to exceed 10 rubles.
The transportation of the local mail is only amhorized on the
cross· roads between the cities and viUages.
The local post office is allowed to have itS stamps, only on
condition that their design differs entirely from those of the
stamps used in the Empire.
The post men of the local post office may wear on their bags the
arms of the province or the district, but without the posthorn.
Notifying your Excellency of the measures taken , I have the honor of begging
you to transmit to the different offices the ordinances of the organization of the
local post so as to insure to the inhabitants of the districts the free exchange of
their correspondence.
TIle Governor of the Ministry of the Interior
(Signed) PRINCE LOBANOFF ROSTOVSKY
The Director
(Signed) BARON VELICO'
The one major restriction specified that mail destined beyond the Zemstvo required Royal Postage_
Figure 2. 1870 Tambov No. 1
284
September-October 2011
1871 Melitopol No.3
1891 Glazov No. 6a
Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. 90, No. 5
r
:h are
eryof
Jhical
great
ate to
knee
,enate
I p ost
Eventually about 165 zemstvos were recognized as having issued postal stamps
within the 52-year period of the Rural Post's operation, 1865-1917. One major portion of this collection focuses on selected and unique segments of this Rural Post
System, or Zemstvo Post.
In the beginning, the infrastructure and resources available to many of the zemstvos
were meager. As a result many of the stamp designs were very basic and their printing was done on whatever paper stock was on hand at the time. Some zemstvos perceived a need to control the initial issue of stamps; either as a means to ensure the
payment for service or to ensure delivery of the item. Whatever the determined need,
these zemstvos assigned numbers to the stamps, as they were issued, and/ or attached
a counterfoil or "talon," thus comprising a form of early registered postal delivery.
Examples of these somewhat unique issues of the zemstvos are shown.
Figure 3. 1869 Kotelnich No.1
~ing
)f the
ge of
Zemstvo re-
As the zemstvos became established and the Czar's dominance receded, the Russian
Rural Post became an integral part of the Russian mail system, and some zemstvos
contracted the printing and design of the stamps to the State Printing Office in St.
Petersburg. The Zemstvo Post was established to effect not only the delivery of ordinary mail but also newspapers , periodicals and the notices of insured , registered
letters and parcels.
Images are from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum 's G.H. Kaestlin Specialized Collection of Russian Zemstvo and Imperial Stamps and Covers (Acc. No.
1984.1026). This collection contains over 14,000 Objects, many from the Ferrari
and Faberge Sales of 1939 and 1940. If you happen to own a copy of the 1988 F.G.
Chuchin Catalog Russian Zemstvos, you will find that over 99 percent of the catalog
is represented in this collection.
The Smithsonian National Postal Museum Library is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. , and on the third Saturday of each month, 10:00 a. m. to
4:00 p.m. Please call Paul McCutcheon (202) 633-5544 for an appointment. To view
this collection or other Objects in the national collection , email Jim O'Donnell at
[email protected] for an appointment.
Endnotes
1.
c.c. Handford , one of the foremost present-day authorities o n the Zemstvo Post of Imperial
Russia, wrote in the British Journal of Russian Philately (Sept. 1958: 756-758) under the head·
ing "Status of Zemstvo Scamps."
2. C. Schmidt's major work on the Zemstvo stamps "Die Post wertzeichen der Russischen Land-
schaftsaemter" published in 1928.
3. All stamp numbers refer to the 1988 Reprint of F.G. Chuchin Catalog, Russian Zemstvos, J.
Barefoot Ltd. York, England.
4. \ViIliam Herrick, "The Origin and Status of Russian Rural Stamps," AmericanJournal oj Philately, 1897 , Vol. X, 72 - 76.
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