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Friday, 3 January 2020

January 2020 postmark slogans and other interesting postmarks

Happy New Year everybody!  I'm not putting the New Year slogan here unless somebody sends a (late) January usage, but we start off with a cracker from AS.


Rather than an ink-jet slogan, we start with a Universal machine at Cornwall Mail Centre, using the old REMEMBER to use the POST CODE slogan.

The Horizon label is dated 02/01/20, but the postmark die is 1 Jan -- 2020.  The Horizon label must be right (barring a systems error), and the error is in the postmark.  They probably changed it on 31 December and forgot that they wouldn't need it on 1 January.

But why were they using it anyway?  Their inkjet is usually good enough.  Perhaps they didn't want to fire it up for a low volume of mail.  Maybe somebody with inside contacts can find out?

UPDATE 17 January:
Half way through the month and no new special slogans, but KH has sent something we haven't seen for a while, a copy of the oversize Manchester Packet ink-jet used on 19.12.19.  We showed a similar one here.  These are most often seen (and even that's not often) with an additional set of wavy lines below the whole of the postmark shown, but this one is just what you see here. 


In the absence of any others, a reminder that this is the default slogan used when nothing special is happening.  My thanks to BM for this from Swindon Mail Centre on 06-01-2000




UPDATE 22 January
Royal Mail has announced A special ‘Stand Together’ Royal Mail postmark for Holocaust Memorial Day is to be stamped on millions of letters sent through the UK postal system from Monday (20th)
The announcement has been welcomed by Holocaust educators, given that the organisation handles more than 30 million letters per week. 

“We are proud to support the excellent work of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust with this special postmark,” a Royal Mail spokesperson said.
STAND TOGETHER
Holocaust Memorial
Day
27 January 2020
Visit www.hmd.org.uk



This picture of a specimen is taken from Royal Mail's press release.  More reactions.

No sooner had I put this on the blog, than member peterh put a real one on the Stampboards forum, so here is an example from SE Wales Mail Centre, 20-01-2020

UPDATE 3 February.  The other format shown here from Norwich on 27th January.  So it seems that the Burns Night postmark may have been used only in Scotland.?

UPDATE 26 JANUARY
The press release for Holocaust Memorial Day slogan said that it would run until 27th, but in Glasgow at least the Mail Centre was marking Burns Day with the usual slogan, on 24th.

Fair fa' your honest,
sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o' the 
Puddin-race!
Burns Night
25 January 2020
 

UPDATE 3 February.  I've taken this image from the Stampboards forum.  The CDS shows that it was posted on 31 January, and that it was posted in Northwich, so the Mail Centre was probably Chester.
World Cancer Day
4 February 2020
#IAmAndIWill


Update 4 February.  We're on an interesting cross-over now as some of the last slogans for January will continue into February, so I will show some of these in a new February post as well.  

World Cancer Day in the other format from Plymouth and Cornwall Mail Centre and Gatwick Mail Centre both on 03/02/2020.  I've also been sent examples of the above format from Norwich, and the one below from Bristol Mail Centres but both are so poor that they are not worth showing.


Also in use on 31/01/2020, at Tyneside and Bristol Mail Centres is this new slogan for LGBT+ History Month.  Again, Bristol's impression is poor with the source appearing to be DA, DG, GL & TA - which is a very wide spread of postal areas!

February is
LGBT+ History
Month



Inkjet slogans will appear here for the whole of January.  Any Universal usage will appear in a separate block after the slogans.   And as there may still be news to come from December when people examine their envelopes closely, don't forget to check back there from time to time.


UPDATE 10 February 
Reviewing the office mail for January, RS has found an example of the Universal machine used at Jubilee Mail Centre (the offset on the reverse was clearer) dated 21 I 2020. (See also Feb 10 post about High Wycombe.)



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