Paper Shortage and Economy Labels
(Post 56)
War-time paper shortages continued into the immediate post-war period. Measures to reduce paper consumption such as the re-use of envelopes continued into the early 1950s. Gummed labels called "Economy Labels" allowed for the re-use of envelopes. This post shows economy label usages during the post-war austerity period.
1. On His Majesty's Service
Original Mailing
W. Dawson & Sons, Ltd., to the Imperial War Museum, London, October 5, 1951
W D / & S perfin on the 2 1/2d. stamp
Re-Use
Imperial War Museum to London address, Kennington, October 9, 1951
War Museum handstamp
2. Supplied By Tapp & Toothill Company
Original Mailing
Leeds to Bradford, May 6, 1948
Re-Use
Bradford to Galt, Ontario, May 24, 1948
3. War Economy Label
Re-Use
Manchester to Pittsburgh, October 31, 1945
4. "Carol" Envelope Economy Label
Original Mailing
Cheswick to Birmingham, December 4, 1945
Re-Use
Birmingham local correspondence, December 7, 1945
1d. printed matter rate
5. The "Justo" Envelope Economy Label
Original Mailing
Droitwich to London, April 23, 1948
Re-Use
West Brompton to Newburyport, Mass., June 17, 1948
6. I. & R. Morley Limited
Re-Use
London to Famborough, November 20, 1947
7. Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd.
Original Mailing
Liverpool to London, June 21, 1946
Re-Use
London to Montreal, July 5, 1946
8. Brunswick Envelope Economy Label
Original Mailing
London to Minehead, May 25, 1947
Re-Use
Minehead to London, November 26, 1947
9. Slogan : "PAPER ECONOMY A NATIONAL NECESSITY"
Re-Use
Dover to Toronto, November 25, 1947
10. Cox & Sharland Ltd.
Original Mailing
Deptford to Southampton, April 14, 1949
Re-Use
Southampton to New Britain, Conn., May 20, 1949
11. National Portrait Gallery
Original Mailing
St. John's Wood to London, June 23, 1950
Re-Use
London to New York, July 24, 1950
12. Label Without Printing
Original Mailing
House of Commons to Woking, June 1950
Re-Use
Woking to New York, May 18, 1951
I am fascinated by this article.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what real difference the use of economy labels actually made.
Is there any publications regarding 'economy labels' as I feel this is an area of postal history I would like to explore further.
It wasn't just the post. Books were made from War Economy Paper, which was pulped recycled paper, envelopes were made out of recycled paper too, but given the effort they decided labels would be a better use of material as it didn't remove them from circulation.
ReplyDeleteThere are many people to this day who recycle envelopes and packaging etc.
If you go back to early Edwardian and Victorian times, envelopes didn't actually exist as you simply wrote on a sheet of paper and then folded it so that it was it's own envelopes - saved a lot of paper but hard to open, or read, if ripped or wet.
You see a lot of the economy envelopes with gum label stickers have stamps from the original sender, but are stamped with postage paid for subsequent use. I guess with all the post marks and stamps it would get confusing.