Interesting cancel I came across on one of my stamps

[Ebbo]

A few minutes ago, going through a box of stamps, came across a stamp that appears to have a carved pumpkin head cancel. Any one else come across these or have one? Yeah I know, this is my Saturday night!

[kacyds]

I have never seen one in hand but have seen them on ebay many times.

Here is a search of a few on eBay....

[cbavier]

Neat cancel. I sure have never seen a cancel like that.

[Ebbo]

Jan 4, 2015 12:28:13 GMT -5 cbavier said:

Neat cancel. I sure have never seen a cancel like that.

I am going to go through some more later today, I have put some cancels aside some time ago I thought were unique [to me, anyway]. I did find some back them I haven't seen. Will go through to find some more and post pics later on.

[Gordon Lee]

Greetings Mr. Ebbo
.
When postage stamps were introduced in the US in 1847, postmasters were required to deface them to prevent reuse, but it was left up to them to decide exactly how to do this, and not infrequently clerks would use whatever was at hand, including pens and "PAID" handstamps left over from the pre-stamp era.
.
A number of offices began to use cork bottle stoppers dipped in ink. These worked well, but would tend to blot out the entire stamp making it difficult to check the denomination, and so clerks began to carve a groove across the middle of the cork, making two semicircles. Further enhancements included two grooves cut crosswise (the four-piece "country pie"), and then two more, for the eight-segment "city pie", and notches cut out of the outer edge to lighten the cancel further. Thus, the creation of "fancy cancels."
.
The carving process seems to have sparked the creativity of clerks across the country, and soon thousands of designs appeared, ranging from shields to skulls to stars, geometrical shapes, animals, plants, and devils with pitchforks. Among the most common fancy cancel designs are stars and crosses of varying designs. The Waterbury, Connecticut post office was the master of the practice, and turned out new cancels for every holiday and special occasion. Their "Waterbury Running Chicken" cancel, perhaps a turkey since it appeared close to Thanksgiving of 1869, was in use for only a few days and is now the most prized of all 19th century cancels, with covers fetching very high prices.
.
You might have a Waterbury Holloween canx.
.
Respectfully,

Gordon Lee

[Ebbo]

Thank you, Mr Lee. I just found one which appears to be an apple [or something similar] cancel. Am going through my stash to see what others I have, pics to follow soon.

[Ebbo]

Although I have a gazillion cancel stamps, like we all do, this pits a new interest on looking to see what is out there that may be unusual, and I some that are unusual, to me, anyways.

[Ebbo]

And Mr Lee, thank you for your research and responds to things of these matters. Much appreciated.

[Ebbo]

This one looks like maybe an apple or something? Thoughts and opinions? Took 2 photos of it, one right side up and upside down to get a view of the cancel.

[kannik]

Ebbo, Posts like your first one often pique my curiosity!
So then I also had to check out Kacyds eBay search.
That pumpkin cancel seems to occur only on the U.S.
279B stamp, and it looks almost amateur enough to be
a potato stamp. I think maybe some postmaster of the
time got tired of initialling stamps or putting lines through
them. Maybe his post office was too small to have a
proper cancel, or maybe the postmaster just felt a little
seasonal! (Clue as to time of year it was posted?)
In any case, you seem to have found something quite
rare, and now I want to check all my US 279B stamps to
see if I have one - probably not though!
Enjoy it!

[Ebbo]

Jan 5, 2015 17:28:10 GMT -5 kannik said:

Ebbo, Posts like your first one often pique my curiosity!
So then I also had to check out Kacyds eBay search.
That pumpkin cancel seems to occur only on the U.S.
279B stamp, and it looks almost amateur enough to be
a potato stamp. I think maybe some postmaster of the
time got tired of initialling stamps or putting lines through
them. Maybe his post office was too small to have a
proper cancel, or maybe the postmaster just felt a little
seasonal! (Clue as to time of year it was posted?)
In any case, you seem to have found something quite
rare, and now I want to check all my US 279B stamps to
see if I have one - probably not though!
Enjoy it!

It is definitely one I intend on keeping, for sure.
Am also curious as to if different color cancels are a bit harder to come by. I found 2 blue ones so far. Also found one with a ship cancel on it, inadvertently tossed it into one of my boxes, and would you think I could find it now? Of course not! Why would it be on the top when I tossed it in one of the boxes? Still can't find it!

[kannik]

I know how you feel. Early in my current stamp collector incarnation, I found a,
Australian stamp on piece with a German cancel, and I thought I`d be able to
find it as I worked on my Australian stamps, but I can`t. I may have soaked it
off by mistake!

[cbavier]

Ebbo your cancel looks like a big fish to me. Maybe a Trout or Salmon.

[Ebbo]

Jan 6, 2015 19:31:36 GMT -5 cbavier said:

Ebbo your cancel looks like a big fish to me. Maybe a Trout or Salmon.

Thank you, I have no idea how to decipher some of these that I have.

[samb]

That's pretty cool right there. I've never seen the pumpkin face cancel before.... thanks for sharing