Philately

Turkey’s first Postal Stationeries

by Kaya DORSAN

Materials such as cards and envelopes with stamps printed on them by the Post Office are known to philatelists as Postal Stationery.

The use of this type of material in postal services is as old as the history of stamps. In Turkey, the first postal stamp was used in 1863, while the first envelope with a stamp printed on it was put on sale in 1869. In line with the custom at the time, the stamp was not printed on the front of the envelope but on the reverse, like a seal. Issued in three different values, these envelopes were the first Turkish postal stationery printed by the Ottoman Post Office.

Postcards and bands

The first postcard with a postal stamp printed on it was issued in 1877. This card, which cost 20 para, carries texts in Ottoman and French. It was so popular that new postcards were subsequently put on sale every three or four years.

“Double post cards” went on sale for the first time in 1881. Each double card consisted of a set of two cards, one of which was to be used by the sender, and the other of which was provided for the receiver to reply. Cards of this type continued to be used in Turkish postal services up to the 1950s.

The creation of the first “letter-cards” in 1895 was followed in 1901 by the issue of the first “newspaper wrappers”. These long paper bands with stamps pre-printed on them simplified the posting of newspapers.

The first aerogramme

The first registered postal envelopes were used in 1914. These envelopes were printed in three different sizes in order to carry various valuable documents by registered post.

The postal Stationery tradition continued after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. In 1963, the aerogramme was put on sale for the first time.

Aerogrammes are made from thin paper, so as to be very light. One side is written on, and the paper is then folded to take the form of an envelope. The aerogrammes were printed with three different prices for internal mail, foreign mail and mail to distant countries.

Collecting postal stationery is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the philatelist’s endeavours.