The Progression of the New York Foreign Mail Cancellation 1870 - 1878

Introduction
New York Foreign Mail (NYFM) cancellations were designed for use in the Foreign Mail Department of the main New York City Post Office. They were first identified by J. Murray Bartels in 1926 as "...attractive canecllations used in New York City from 1870 to 1876 on outgoing foreign mail". This was later qualified by William R. Weiss, Jr. in 1990 as "...a group of cancéllations usually applied to mail which usually originated in New York City and was usually destined for a foreign country (other than Canada)". He extended the period to 1878.

The aims of this exhibit are twofold
By treating N.Y.F.M. cancellation production 1870 - 1878 chronologically the exhibit demonstrates:
a) that hand-carved designs sequenced logically from grids and wedges to basic fancy designs to classic intricate fancy designs leading to the eventual replacement of all types by the steel ellipse,
b) that production of the classic intricate N.Y.F.M. fancy designs commonly associated with the period 1870 - 1878 occured in the narrower timeband Feb 1873 to Sept 1875.

Material on display
Whilst highlighting cancellation production the exhibit shows a wide range of NYFM such as Supplementary, mail originating outside of New York City but attracting a N.Y.F.M. cancellation, mail leaving New York City by train for transit throught San Francisco or New Orleans, Postal Cards, Entires, mixed issue frankings, adverisement, propaganda, mourning and steamship usage.

Numbers of cancel types
After excluding under/over-inked or broken varieties of one umbrella design, numeral and other cancellations designed for domestic use or cancellations proven not to have originated in New York City the exhibitor believes there arecurrently 165 distinctive N.Y.F.M. cancellation designs. He ilustrates 147 of these with emphasis on the classic intricate fancy cancels which so became the hallmark of the period (55 of the reported 58 are displayed). Classification numbers are shown, when recorded, according to Vlissingen/Waud (VW), James M. Cole and William R. Weiss, Jr.

Dates of cancel use and numbers of covers
Dates for first and last cancel use (seen below each tracing) and numbers of covers are based on existing evidence and can change as new material emerges.

Exhange Office datestamps, where indistinct, are replicated as originally intended. They were used exclusively in the Foreign Mail Department and conveniently show dates of departure from New York.

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