On eBay Now...1905 Coburn Institute-Waterville ME Postcard RPO Cancel Hall Have One Message For Sale
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1905 Coburn Institute-Waterville ME Postcard RPO Cancel Hall Have One Message:
$19.99
This early 20th-century postcard presents a view of the Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine, a preparatory school for Colby College. The sepia-toned image, published by W. W. Berry & Co. and printed in Germany, depicts the stately main academic building with a church steeple visible in the background and a prominent statue on a pedestal to the right, capturing the collegiate Gothic architecture typical of such institutions. The verso reveals this to be a high-quality Raphael Tuck & Sons Oilette series card, No. 2136, bearing the prestigious designation of Art Publishers to Their Majesties the King and Queen, indicating its production during the Edwardian era. The card was postally used in 1905, as evidenced by the clear circular date stamp canceling the one-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp. It bears a notable RPO (Railway Post Office) cancellation mark, signifying it was processed aboard a moving train, which expedited mail handling during this period. The card was addressed to Miss Ruth Prentiss in West Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, care of Chas. Prentiss. A handwritten message on the front from Ethel to Helen reads, Hall have one and I will get on to send the cards of first... next time I go down town, suggesting a personal exchange and the common practice of purchasing postcards from local stationers. The combination of a pre-World War I German printing, a Royal Warrant publisher, an RPO cancellation, and a personal message concerning the procurement of cards offers a multifaceted snapshot of early 1900s philatelic history, social custom, and educational architecture.