Nofukuji_Buddha_Scan_reverse_018

Postmarked Kobe, July; day and year are difficult to read. The full date appears to read "9-JUL-02." Fortunately hints abound:

 

--> The 1/2 sen chrysanthemum stamp was produced 1899 - 1907 and used until 1913.

 

--> According to PhotoGuide.JP (photoguide.jp/pix/displayimage.php?album=89&pid=24181...), the postmark style was used only in the Meiji Era (1868 - 1912), when it followed the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world.

 

--> The researchers who wrote the webpage "How to use personal papers of prewar Japanese politicians" (dl.ndl.go.jp/view/prepareDownload?itemId=info%3Andljp%2Fp...) found that the only time a half sen stamp was suitable postage for "an ordinary postcard" was 1873 - 1883. And the rate was valid only "Inside the city half sen (5 rin), outside the city 1 sen, 1 sen increased if the destination was inconvenient." We should also note that this date range was sixteen years before the stamp debuted. (Now THAT'S inconvenient!)

 

This postcard has several curious features that put it out of step with the rest of the collection:

 

--> While the postmark places the postcard in Japan's postal system, the 1/2 sen postage almost certainly would have been insufficient for the correspondence to reach its destination.

 

--> Not only did the sender not write a message, they did not sign the card.

 

--> The address was written in pencil, which was unusually informal. Then why was the address added? Did the purchaser intend to mail the card, but not actually do so? Was it a postal requirement to receive the cancellation? Another mystery.

 

Perhaps the stamp and cancellation were applied to make the souvenir more desirable and not to facilitate mail delivery.

 

Several features appear to confirm the 1902 date:

 

--> The design (photo, graphics, and blank space) on the front stands apart from most other cards in the collection. The closest is Nofukuji_Buddha_Scan_front_010, which was dated December 1900.

 

--> After March 28, 1907 postcard designs included a vertical dividing line to delimit sections for the address and the message on the same side. This one has no such line, implying an earlier date.

 

--> The address covers the entire postcard reverse--like the 1900-dated Nofukuji_Buddha_Scan_reverse_010. This was the standard format of the period.

 

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Thanks to Valerie Canapary for her analysis of this postcard and for rendering the addressee and address as:

 

Famille Vallet

Par Layrac

Lot et Garonne France

 

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For a view of the front side, go back to the previous image or click the scan in the first comment, below.

Done