Galerie

2 THE HARBOUR POST OFFICE

2.1 THE EXCHANGE OF MAIL WITH OVERSEAS COUNTRIES
November 1920. Overprinted Austrian parcel card for insured parcels used in Danzig for a 4½ kg parcel sent to Jedlinsk. In Danzig 3 marks postage due was
levied for harbour rights and 2 marks for customs clearance. A form attached to the back at the Customs Post Office Aleksandrów, shows further fees of 30
marks for onward postage, repackaging and customs charges. Boxed handstamp WOLNO OD CŁA, an official seal and a ALEKSANDRÓW cds 24 November
1920 of the Customs Post Office. Adapted Austrian JEDLINSK cds from which the German name had been removed dated 3 December 1920, the day the card
was sent to the addressee
In March 1920 the first Polish Post Office, Forwarding Post Office Gdańsk Nowy Port, was opened in the Port of Danzig. The office became
responsible for the exchange of mailbags and parcels between Poland and overseas countries. The vast majority of these parcels were from America,
which did not use the European system of cards to accompany a parcel. The Nowy Port Office, consequently, generated an auxiliary parcel card to
accompany the parcel to its destination. On these parcel cards the costs for transport, harbour rights, unloading, repackaging and customs clearance
were calculated. Initially, a wide range of postal forms was used as auxiliary parcel cards because no definitive Polish parcel cards were available.
Often the left part of the form was given to the addressee as a receipt at the moment of paying the dues and collecting the parcel.
In May 1920 the first two handstamps, with small characters, were
introduced for use in connection
with the exchange of parcels with
the USA. The handstamp Z
AMERYKI PRZEZ GDAŃSK NR...
indicated the origin and the number
of the parcel. The second
handstamp effectively served as a
proforma on which to calculate the
postage due that the recipient had to
pay for the parcel handling service
in Danzig.

June 1920. German parcel card used
in Danzig for a 5 kg parcel to
Opoczno. Boxed WOLNO OD CŁA
(Free of duty), an official seal and
manuscript date 16/6 920 of the
Aleksandrów customs post office.
OPOCZNO ZIEMIA RADOMSKA IIb
arrival cds 25 June 1920 on the
reverse and a PARADYZ OPOCZNO
cds used when the parcel was
collected.

Because of the
large quantity of
parcels that had to
be handled, an
additional handstamp was introduced in August
1920, now with
larger characters
and with all the
text together.

November 1920. Overprinted Austrian parcel card for insured parcels used in Danzig for a 4½ kg parcel sent to Jedlinsk. In Danzig 3 marks postage due was
levied for harbour rights and 2 marks for customs clearance. A form attached to the back at the Customs Post Office Aleksandrów, shows further fees of 30
marks for onward postage, repackaging and customs charges. Boxed handstamp WOLNO OD CŁA, an official seal and a ALEKSANDRÓW cds 24 November
1920 of the Customs Post Office. Adapted Austrian JEDLINSK cds from which the German name had been removed dated 3 December 1920, the day the card
was sent to the addressee