Most collectors will be familiar with Tin Can Mails which is fascinating due to its nature of carrying method. The cover I want to share with this post is a registered Tin Can Mail sent from doughnut-shaped Niuafo'ou Island of Tonga to Rangoon, Burma. It was redirected to Rangoon Cantonment upon arrival to Burma.
The cover bears many handstamp cachets made by Walter George Quensell and postmarks. Quensell created varieties of cachets in different languages and applied to the mails. These can be seen on the example shown above. It took about 11 months to deliver the mail to the addressee. The datestamps on the covers read
- 10 Aug 1939 Put in the sea
- 28 Aug 1939 Niuafo'ou, Tonga
- 6 May 1940 GPO Sydney
- 20 May 1940 Perth, West Australia
- 12 Jun 1940 Rangoon GPO Registration Dept
- 14 Jun 1940 Rangoon Cantonment
The cachet on the upper left corner tell when the tin can containing this letter is dropped into the sea. It reads "This letter, enclosed in a water-tight tin was put into the sea from the Union Line Cruise Steamer "Maunganui" off Niuafoou or "Tin Can Island", in the Tongan Group - Lat 15° 33' South. Long 175° 39' West. on the 10th August 1939. G.B. MORGAN, D.S.C. COMMANDER"
Three stamps, recessed-printed by De La Rue, affixed on the cover depicted Queen Salote of Tonga and were issued to commemorate 20th anniversary of her accession. One of the cachet reads "Jubilee Cover, HM Queen Salote of Tonga, 1918-1938, 11 Octb 1938". HM Queen Salote Tubou, D.B.E., ascended the throne in 1918. Regardless of being the philatelic cover, it is lovely and still hard to find one sent to Burma.
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