08-11-2025, 08:55 AM
Here's an interesting cover on postal stationary from the USSR.
According to the single ring CDS, it was posted in СВЕРДЛОВС[K] [SVERDLOVSK]. This is confirmed by the Registration etiquette [Sverdlovsk Tz.] Tz. is the Latin letter equivalent for Ц which is short for central. In other words, it was registered at the Sverdlovisk Central Post Office [Свердловск Ц]. It was posted on December 31, 1933 [311233] and processed during the late evening shift as evidenced by the 0 on the bottom of the CDS.
It was sent by I. Popov [И. Попов], P.O. 161, Sverdlovsk. In 1924, the city of Екатеринбург [Yekaterinburg] was renamed Sverdlovsk to honour Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov shortly after his death. In 1991 the name was restored following a local referendum.
The cover was sent to A. W. Twiner, 187 Gough Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
As for routing, the various postal markings indicate that it was registered and mailed in Sverdlovsk. It would then have travelled by rail to Moscow and forwarded to a European port. From there, it would have gone by steamer (in Winter) to Halifax, by rail to Montreal and on to Toronto. There is a 9am, January 22, 1934 transit mark from Montreal and two strikes of an arrival stamp at Toronto's Registration Division, Terminal A on January 23rd.
Another hand-stamp indicates that it was then forwarded to Toronto's Station J on the same day. There is another Station J stamp dated January 24, probably when the item was sent out for delivery.
Total transit time was, therefore, December 31, 1933 to January 24, 1934. 25 days from the USSR to Canada and across the Atlantic in Winter sounds very reasonable.
The cover is a postal stationery envelope. Including the 5 kon indicium and two 10k definitives, the cover was franked with a total of 25k. I understand that as of February 25, 1933 the foreign letter rate was 10k up to 20g. The registration surcharge would have been another 15k.
The name A. W. Twiner shows up in WW1 casualty lists. In the April 3, 1917 edition of the Victoria (British Columbia) Daily Times he is listed in the Artillery section of the casualty list as Gnr. [Gunner] A. W. Twiner of Toronto.
As an aside, Canada had no diplomatic relations with the USSR between 1927 and 1942. However, as can be seen from this cover, mail still moved under UPU rules.
Cheers, Hugh
According to the single ring CDS, it was posted in СВЕРДЛОВС[K] [SVERDLOVSK]. This is confirmed by the Registration etiquette [Sverdlovsk Tz.] Tz. is the Latin letter equivalent for Ц which is short for central. In other words, it was registered at the Sverdlovisk Central Post Office [Свердловск Ц]. It was posted on December 31, 1933 [311233] and processed during the late evening shift as evidenced by the 0 on the bottom of the CDS.
It was sent by I. Popov [И. Попов], P.O. 161, Sverdlovsk. In 1924, the city of Екатеринбург [Yekaterinburg] was renamed Sverdlovsk to honour Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov shortly after his death. In 1991 the name was restored following a local referendum.
The cover was sent to A. W. Twiner, 187 Gough Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
As for routing, the various postal markings indicate that it was registered and mailed in Sverdlovsk. It would then have travelled by rail to Moscow and forwarded to a European port. From there, it would have gone by steamer (in Winter) to Halifax, by rail to Montreal and on to Toronto. There is a 9am, January 22, 1934 transit mark from Montreal and two strikes of an arrival stamp at Toronto's Registration Division, Terminal A on January 23rd.
Another hand-stamp indicates that it was then forwarded to Toronto's Station J on the same day. There is another Station J stamp dated January 24, probably when the item was sent out for delivery.
Total transit time was, therefore, December 31, 1933 to January 24, 1934. 25 days from the USSR to Canada and across the Atlantic in Winter sounds very reasonable.
The cover is a postal stationery envelope. Including the 5 kon indicium and two 10k definitives, the cover was franked with a total of 25k. I understand that as of February 25, 1933 the foreign letter rate was 10k up to 20g. The registration surcharge would have been another 15k.
The name A. W. Twiner shows up in WW1 casualty lists. In the April 3, 1917 edition of the Victoria (British Columbia) Daily Times he is listed in the Artillery section of the casualty list as Gnr. [Gunner] A. W. Twiner of Toronto.
As an aside, Canada had no diplomatic relations with the USSR between 1927 and 1942. However, as can be seen from this cover, mail still moved under UPU rules.
Cheers, Hugh
Hugh MacDonald, Wolfe Island
Member: BNAPS. PHSC, Auxiliary Markings Club, Postal Stationary Society, British Postmark Society,
AMG Collectors Club, China Stamp Society, France and Colonies Philatelic Society
ArGe Deutsche Feldpost: 1914-1918 e.V.