1913: Postcard with RPO stamp

Nov 1913, C.N.R. Bridge, Prince Albert, Sask, post card

The RPPC above is the front of a postcard Noah sent back to Ethel in November 1913.  See the Genealogy Notes below for information on Noah's embossing imprint, as well as the special RPO marked stamp.

Author of Postcard: Noah Clement Draper (26 yrs old)
Dated: Nov 14, 1913
Addressed to: Mrs. N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask.
Mailed from: Prince Albert (Sask)
Relationship: spouse
Profession:  Farmer 
Writing  instrument: Black ink
Stamp: 1 cent Canada postmarked Regina & Prince Albert RPO


People/places/things mentioned in this letter:

- Mrs. N. C. Draper - Ethel Nelson Draper
- baby - Mildred Audrey (Midge) Draper born Sep 17, 1913
- Jack - unknown at this time

- Prince Albert, Sask - 405 km/252 miles north of Grand Coulee

*Cliche/Phrasing:
O.K. 


* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this 
  person/place/thing or use the search box in the header
** see Genealogy Notes below 

Prince Albert
Nov. 14

Well we have got this
far all O.K. Met Jack
on the street this
morning he said
there is lots of game
up there so guess we
wont have to go home
with out any. there
is not much snow
here yet. Well Bye Bye.
Love to baby & you. N.C.D.

Mrs. N. C. Draper,
Grand Coulee,
Sask.    

 

Genealogy Notes

Railway Post Office

We don't know how long Noah was gone on this particular hunting trip, but since it's November in Saskatchewan and he's talking about game, he would probably be after moose or White-tailed deer. The following map shows the most-travelled route a person of today would drive the 405 km/252 miles to get from Grand Coulee to Prince Albert. 

This is an interactive map when clicked on the bottom to enlarge.

 Noah's postcard has a 1 cent King George postage stamp and a cancellation stamp from the Regina & Prince Albert RPO, except I can't make out all the markings. 

RPO stands for Railway Post Office - mobile post offices based on trains which enabled speedy delivery of mail until the 1960's. The trains didn't stop at each community on the line to pick up mail as it would have slowed them down. Instead, they left the mail bag hanging on a special post. As the train approached the hanging mail bag, the postal clerk would kick the sorted mail bag out the open door, while a long pole with a crook at the end snagged the new mail bag as the train zoomed past. This is shown in the video below...

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Inside the mail car, the railway postal office looked like the sorting room in any urban centre. The following photograph shows three clerks in a Canadian Pacific Railway post office. 

ca 1885-1900, Interior view of three railway of clerks aboard a Canadian railway post office. Courtesy of Collections Canada.

The following photo shows the restored railway post office of a Great Northern Railway  mail car. The top boxes are open and the railway clerk would toss letters into them and then when they got to the location, they'd slide the door up like the ones on the left side and slide the letters into a mail bag. 

An interior view of Great Northern Railway #42, a restored RPO on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Following  is an article from the July 1919 issue of Popular Science. 

Popular Science, July 1919

If you have any information about the Regina & Prince Albert RPO or the markings on this cancellation stamp, please leave a comment below or contact me.