Tuesday 20 December 2016

Slogan postmarks September-December 2016

A number of slogan postmarks were in use while we were away, and I've now found time to list and illustrate most of them here.  There have been two non-Christmas slogans used during the Christmas campaign period which is most unusual and hides another story - more later.

Organ Donation Week this was apparently used 3-6 September, both examples I have being used on 5th.   The two versions differed in layout which is often the case.  The Intelligent Letter Sorting Machine (iLSM) reads

Royal Mail supports
Organ Donation Week
organdonation.nhs.uk 


The Integrated Mail Processor (IMP) machine layout is:

Royal Mail
supports Organ
Donation Week
organdonation.nhs.uk


Reserves Day Was used on 7 September for delivery on 8 September.

Peterborough has the iLSM machine with layout on two lines.


The IMP machines had the slogan in 4 lines, with the date shown as '08 Septermber'.

Thinking of You Week As this website shows this 'event' promoted by the Greetings Card Association is now in it's 3rd year, and we can look forward to it again in 2017.  The layout on both types of machine was the same:
It's Thinking of 
You Week!
Send a card to
raise a smile

There is a difference, however.  The iLSM has the exclamation mark (!) after 'Week', and the IMP have it after 'smile' !  The week ran from 26 September - 3 October but I don't know yet what period the postmark was in use.



Although the Stroke Association slogan was the normal default on 18 August, at least, Gatwick Mail Centre had a Postcode slogan:
Please remember
to write the
postcode clearly
www.royalmail.com


The 70th anniversary of Mensa was marked in September.  Again I have only one example used on 30 September, from the Norwich iLSM, the slogan reading:

Mensa
The High IQ Society
70th Anniversary 1946-2016


UPDATE:  National Poetry Day (Thursday 6 October 2016) was marked with a slogan used on 5 October.  Thanks to MG for supplying this image from Dorset & SW Hants.  Website.

National
Poetry
Day




A continuing theme of Health Service slogans continued with the Stay Well slogan coinciding with the launch of the 2016/17 campaign (see website).  This slogan was simple and to the point but with no website, unlike others.  This is from the South East Anglia IMP:

 STAY  WELL
THIS WINTER


Royal Mail plugged the Man Booker organisation's literary prize winner as they did last year. Following the Australian and Jamaican winners, we now have the first American winner being marked on a British slogan postmark for no apparent reason.  So

Congratulations to 
Paul Beatty
winner of the 2016
Man Booker Prize

I have only one example used on 25 September, from the Norwich iLSM.


At the beginning of November Royal Mail marked the 80th anniversary of television.  The iLSM at Dorset and S.W.Hants had this on 1 November: I don't know the full period of use as it was not the subject of a Royal Mail press release.
80th anniversary of
broadcast television


The annual remembrance slogan was used again this year, almost certainly from all machines, although I only have this example from Home Counties North on 09-11-2016

Lest we forget
11.11.16

#GivingTuesday is the day to do good stuff for charity, straight after Black Friday and Cyber Monday - so says their website.  For this one I have both IMP and iLSM versions, the later coming in two sizes on similar-sized envelopes.

#givingtuesday
GivingTuesday.org.uk
29 November 2016

The IMP has the date abbrevaited to 29 Nov 16 for some reason: there is plenty of room for the same format as the iLSM.




We've had confirmation that the St Andrews Day slogan was used again on mail addressed to Scotland to arrive on 30 November so we can assume it was used on 28/29th.  (Image awaited)





And so in the middle of November we start the Christmas campaign, with the Post Early slogan, which used two quite different holly-adorned slogan layouts on the different machines, with different sizes in use at Exeter.
Remember to post
early for Christmas
royalmail.com/greetings





One of our contributors had tried to get Royal Mail to mark the Battle of Hastings with a slogan postmark.  One was lined up for use in October, which would have been good for first day covers using the stamps of the commemorative sheet.  In fact it was scheduled but suddenly pulled for no apparent reason:

The actual surrender was at Berkhamsted in early December 1066, so a slogan was suggested for this December, but the response was that no other slogans could be used during the Christmas campaign - absolutely not!

So..... on 6 December the NHS Blood and Transplant campaign was the subject of a further slogan!

                            NHS
Blood and Transplant
Sign up as an organ donor
organdonation.nhs.uk


I don't know the period this was running - surprise, surprise, no RM press release again.

UPDATE 23 December 2016
Quite accidentally I found an article about this campaign in get Surrey.  "A mother who campaigned for organ donation awareness to feature on postmarks on envelopes across the UK was thrilled to see her suggestion become reality." She wrote to Royal Mail in 2014 and heard nothing but was surprised to find 'her' postmark on a letter or her doormat.


The previous 'Post Early' slogan continued after, or alongside the above, but it was again interrupted on 14/15 December to mark the centenary of the Cub Scout movement.  The actual big birthday party was 16 December, and the slogan incorporated the Cubs100 logo, with the legend

100 years of fun, adventure
and skills for life

 

Note this last also has the wavy line handstamp struck for some reason, as if 11 wavy lines weren't enough!

After the international postal deadlines have passed the Post Early slogan is replaced by the Last posting dates for 1st and 2nd class mail, again with two slightly different holly-adorned layouts:

It's Christmas time!
Last posting dates
First Class 21 December
Second class 20 December

with the IMP abbreviating the month to Dec.



This may give rise to a further change tomorrow when the Second class date has passed - watch this space, and your post!

UPDATE 22 December:
At least two offices have reverted to the Royal Mail 500 slogan on mail received today, according to reports.




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