Postal history is the part of the philatelic world that deals with the characteristics of the intact postal item. For postal history it is not enough to deal with isolated components such as an affixed stamp or a cancel that has been struck off. Postal history only becomes interesting when the overall picture of franking and postmarks, of the tariff used and the route taken can be considered as a whole. Social philately goes one step further, seeing an envelope or a postcard - even if intact and complete - first as a carrier medium for the message for which the letter or card was written and sent in the first place.
Joachim Helbig described postal history collecting as follows in his article on 'Ways to postal history' in 'Postgeschichte' No. 50 of May 1992:
[Quote beginning]
1. you need an idea:
When you decide to start a postal history collection, you also say goodbye to the well-trodden tracks that dictate catalogue numbers. You have to find your own theme, explore the ways to realise it and present it convincingly. Catalogues clearly tell you what you need to have a good collection. But this certainty also means boredom. Postal history requires independent thought and effort, but it is exciting and interesting. You don't have to be original to be a postal historian, you can use other people's ideas as a guide.
2 You need information:
By necessary information is meant historical knowledge of the chosen period, but above all knowledge of the respective postal regulations and contracts. With the current state of research, there are only a few areas of older postal history that are covered by literature. But postal history is not limited to the 18th or 19th century. Postal history begins yesterday, so to speak. Those who take care to work on the current postal situation save themselves many difficulties that arise when dealing with the 19th century. These problems result from the fundamentally differently organised postal systems. Postal history becomes comprehensible when one knows the logic of the respective postal system and connects it with the political-historical contexts.
Postal historians actually only differ from conventional philatelists in that they tell a (the) story to their covers.
Obtaining the information material to be able to tell this story(s) is indeed the real problem. The necessary archival materials are still largely undeveloped, postal contracts and postal regulations are only sparsely published and difficult for the beginner to use. Basically, there are two ways to "work" on postal history:
the inductive path (deducing the general from the specific individual item) and
the deductive path (deducing from the general to the individual).
It is undoubtedly the case that fruitful work can only be achieved through a combination of both paths. However, most people interested in postal history find themselves in the situation that they have letter material from which general conclusions could be drawn, or, to put it more simply, with which history(s) could be (inductively) told. But this way is very tedious, time-consuming and discouraging in the long run. Therefore, the acquisition of postal contracts and postal regulations (deductive material) and their reappraisal is unavoidable. I see the task of older postal history precisely in making these materials available step by step.
[End of quote]
Let us take the inductive path here. The following two letters may document this.
1. The franking and postmark on a letter tell us something about the route taken, the importance of the post offices involved and thus the local postal organisation.
Letter from Someo via Bignasco to Sornico, all located in the upper Maggia valley in the canton of Ticino, mailed in November 1866. The franking with a 'Seated Helvetia' was cancelled contrary to the regulations with a so-called ray cancel of the postal depot Someo.
This relatively simple letter answers a whole series of questions from the fields of rates and frankings as well as postmark lore:
What did it cost? The so-called local rate was five centimes for a letter weighing up to 10 grams and up to a distance of two hours or 9.6 kilometres. If the letter had not gone as far as the end of the valley to Sornico, but down the valley to Locarno, the sender would have had to pay ten centimes, the rate for the whole of Switzerland over two hours' journey. The tariff was thus dependent on distance and weight, a principle that is still applied today.
The second question is also about money. Who pays for the transport? In this case of a so-called Franko letter, clearly the sender who affixed the stamp. In the local tariff, the recipient could also have paid the postman five centimes for the transport when he received the letter. With such a postage paid letter, the postage would therefore have been identical, regardless of whether the sender or the recipient paid. In the case of an imaginary letter from Someo to Locarno, however, the sender would have had to pay ten centimes and the recipient 15 centimes.
This directly answers the next question. How does one pay the postage? In advance with stamps or other 'tokens', be it a postage paid stamp or a non-physical SMS stamp today, alternatively afterwards with an increased postage rate in cash by the recipient.
Stamp science comes into play with the next question. What conclusion can be drawn about the workmanship of this letter from the cancelled stamps? The ray cancel of Someo does not bear a date. From a purely geographic point of view, the letter must have come from the postal depot at Someo, running halfway up to Sornico through the 'real' post office at Bignasco, which also had a date stamp. The different types of postmarks also reflect the different functions of the post offices. The Someo post office was allowed to sell the stamp and should really only have put its jet cancel next to the stamp to make it clear where the letter came from. The actual processing and cancellation of the stamp should only have taken place at the 'real' post office in Bignasco.
Let us come to the question of the path taken. What does this letter say about the path? The path in a valley is clearly defined, without alternative and thus not very exciting.
2. the franking and postmark on a letter tell us something about the route taken, the postal administrations involved and their share of the postage paid
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