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| NOCLPA
National One Cent Letter Postage Association |
| Materials (click here) | Envelopes (click here) | Usages (click here) | Stampsjoann (click here) |
In the late 19th century and early 20th century the setting of postal rates was not only hotly debated, but also an extremely political issue.
When publishers of magazines and other periodicals won discounted second class rates, many mailers who used regular first class postage felt that their higher postage costs were subsidizing the mailings of magazine publishers. Booksellers were especially sensitive to the lower postage rates enjoyed by their major competitors, magazines and newspapers.
One such bookseller was Charles W. Burrows who spoke out against what he considered the unfair advantage the lower postage gave to periodicals which was not available to other merchants who used the mail to distribute their wares.
In 1904, George T. McIntosh, who had received information from Burrows, started a movement within the National Hardware Association for 1-cent letter postage. McIntosh retired from the McIntosh Hardware Corporation of Cleveland in 1910 and was urged by many business men to continue the work for 1-cent letter postage. He was willing if Burrows would be President.
Burrows agreed, and by 1912, an organization was formed to protest what Burrows considered subsidized lower postage costs enjoyed by magazine and newspaper publishers. The National One Cent Letter Postage Association (NOCLPA) was started and headquartered in Cleveland Ohio. (President Burrows and Secretary/Treasurer McIntosh served without compensation.)
The NOCLPA began its recruitment of members and its formal lobbying efforts to eliminate these postal subsidies. Mailings and literature were produced and seals were made for members to use on their correspondence. The seal used on the letter is a coil Type III perfed 10.7 on the left and 10.5 on the right.
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Many postal history collectors first learned of the NOCLPA through these small red seals attached to correspondences and covers. Six basic types of seals have been documented in various shades of red. To the best of my knowledge, Types I, II, IV, V, and VI were produced in sheets of 50. Type III was a coil.
The Type I seal has white lettering on tablets, top and bottom. On the lower tablet, the "A" of the word ADDRESS is directly over the "C" of the word CENT. The "A" of the word ASSOCIATION starts under the "T" of the word CENTS and the "N" extends to the beginning of the "A" of the word POSTAGE. This is called the large ASSOCIATION type.
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Type II seals are like the Type I except that the top and bottom tablets have a white background with "red" lettering. Two color varieties are shown below.
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Type III seals are coils similar in design to both Type I and Type II. The top tablet has a red background with white lettering; the bottom tablet has a white background with red lettering. Four different perforation varieties exist and to the best of my knowledge have never previously been fully documented.
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Type IV seals are similar in design to Type II with one exception. Both tablets, top and bottom, have a white background with red lettering. On the Type IV seals the "AD" of ADDRESS is over the "C" of CENTS.
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The Type IV also has a variety with an overprint. I do not know the reason for the overprint and would appreciate any information about it.
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Type V seals are similar in design to Type IV but have two differences. 1)The wording in the top tablet has been changed to say "2/3 YOUR LETTER POSTAGE IS A TAX" instead of "HALF YOUR LETTER POSTAGE IS A TAX" The change from "HALF" TO "2/3" occurred during World War I when the first class letter rate was raised from 2 cents to 3 cents. 2)The size of the word ASSOCIATION is smaller on these seals. The "A" of ASSOCIATION is under the "L" of LETTER and extends so that the "N" of ASSOCIATION is under the "O" of POSTAGE. This is referred to as the small ASSOCIATION type.
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Type VI seals revert to the motto "HALF YOUR LETTER POSTAGE IS A TAX" There are three varieties; each has the small version of the word "ASSOCIATION" like Type V. Type VIa, the pair of seals on the left, is rouletted instead of perforated and the color is reddish orange. Type VIb, the middle seal, is perforated and is a deeper red than either of the other Type VI's. Type VIc, the pair on the right, is perforated but the color is more like Type VIa.
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| VIa
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VIc
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And here is what may be a previously unreported type, produced by what appears to be a thermographic process...
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I would appreciate any information you might be able to share about the National One Cent Letter Association, its seals and activities.
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Examples of usages of the seals and the materials produced by the Association can be found by clicking on the links at the top and bottom of this page.
| Materials (click here) | Envelopes (click here) | Usages (click here) | Stampsjoann (click here) |
