Little has been written about emergency post marks. In searching the three major journals dealing with Canadian philately (BNA Topics, Maple Leaves and the PHSC Journal) only four articles were found.

Bibliography
- Lloyd, E.G. "Emergency Date Stamps", BNA Topics, March 1948 p3
- Whitehead, Alfred "Canadian Emergency Markings", BNA Topics, March 1951 p53
- Hanson, George T. "Letter", BNA Topics, Mar 1982 p7
- Lussey, Harry W. "Emergency Cancels", BNA Topics, Jul 1982 p7

According to the excerpted letter above, emergency marks should be found as early as the 1920s. The earliest mark shown here is 1938, the latest is 1972. And these are only from Toronto. Clearly there must be a great many marks yet to be discovered. And for the ambitious, other districts are known to have used emergency marks.

Emergency marks are erroneously listed as railway post office marks (RPOs) in the catalogs and handbooks. The letter reported by Lussey (1982) (see right) states the various reasons for issuing epos. No railroad connection is noted.

Many of the marks shown here were likely applied outside Toronto - so why would I shown them as part of my Toronto post mark collection. While these marks were not always used in Toronto, the hammers were sent or authorized from Toronto and returned to the Toronto District office when their use elsewhere was completed and the Toronto District office was in Toronto (see cover of Sep 17, 1953 below). This makes them a legitimate part of any collection of Toronto post marks.

Each type of handstamp (MOTO, Registered Box, Circular Date Stamp) has been assigned a number. I know of at least No 1, No 2, No 3 and No 4. It appears that as the use for these hammers passed the hammer was returned to the District Manager for use in other locations. Thus the handstamp numbers are no indication of the sequence of emergencies. An examination of the use of these devices below will demonstrate this last conclusion.

Covers are shown in chronological order

26 March 1938 -- no origin indicated
Emergency CDS No.1

Gelert ON
Emergency CDS No. 1
Used as a receiver.
(16 April 1942)

Envelope was first flight cover from Three Rivers to Quebec.

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Toronto Sub 65
Emergency CDS No. 2
(21 January 1947)

Address on back indicates a return
address of Fairview Ave in Toronto

Pays 13¢ postage. The drop letter rate was 3¢ for the first ounce, plus a 1¢ war tax plus 10¢ registration fee for items valued at $25.00 or less. The letter appears to be short-paid by 1¢.

Note the inverted month and day.

Cedarville ON
Emergency CDS No. 3
(17 September 1953)

A note on the back of the envelope indicates this letter is related to the Cedarville fire.

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Winston Park, ON
Emergency CDS No. 2
(3 March 1954)

Return address on back indicates: 44 Anthony Road, Winston Park PO, Ont. The Winston Park PO existed from approximately Nov 1951 - April 1955 at which time it became Downsview Sub 2

Cover pays 4¢ first class rate.

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The closeness of the dates on this group of envelopes suggests
they may have originated from the same office in the Winston Park
Downsview area. The various rates also suggests this area was close
enough to Toronto for people to THINK they were entitled to use the
the drop letter rate, they were actually entitled to use the drop-letter
rate or that they could get away with the drop-letter rate.

29 March 1954 -- no origin indicated
Emergency No. 2

The 2¢ pays the printed matter rate. Address indicates a contest entry form was enclosed, perhaps entitling it to this rate.

5 April 1954 -- no origin indicated
Emergency No 2

April 1, 1954 postal rates changed, 4¢ now pays the drop letter rate.

8 May 1954 - no origin indicated
Emergency No.2

April 1, 1954 postal rates changed, 5¢ now pays the first class letter rate.

9 August 1955 - no origin indicated
Emergency No.2

Possibly a letter indicating the emergency hammer had been received?

Scarboro ON
Emergency CDS No. 3
(10 June 1957)

EPO likely applied at Scarboro.
See location to right.

Pay 5¢ first class rate and 20¢ registry fee for values $25.00 or less

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9 August 1958 - no origin indicated
Emergency No. 2

14 August 1958 - no origin indicated
Emergecy No.2

Note that the dater now has month as a Roman numeral.

Toronto ON
Emergency CDS No. 2
(30 August 1958)

Note the closeness in the dates between this cover and the next one from Beaverton. Is it possible that this hammer 2 was used in both places? The "T"s in Toronto look very similar in both.

Compare the strikes
of the letter above and below. Looks as if they were applied
by the same person within a very short period of time.
Toronto 7 is what they have in common.

Is it possible Mrs Sisson mailed the letter from Beaverton,
or did M. Prophet forget to apply postage in Beaverton and
Toronto 7 caught it and applied the mark?

Beaverton ON
Emergency CDS No. 2
(?? September 1958)

Was this EPO applied at Beaverton?
See location to right.

Detail of CDS

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Toronto Sub 222 - 25 November 1966
Emergency MOTO No. 2

Note that the MOTO box has been used as a registered box and indicates sub 222. Acording to Smith Toronto Sub 222 opened in 1964.

The envelope pays 39¢ (4¢ drop letter rate & 35¢ registration rate for values $25.00 or less.

Toronto Sub 171
Emergency Registered Box Handstamp
(14 February 1968)

Feb 14 1968 with Emergency Registered Box.
The reason for the need of
emergency handstamp is not known.
Note that the regular Sub 171 CDS was used.

June 21 1968 with Emergency Registered Box replaced with its regular registered box handstamp

In each case the postage pays the 5¢ one ounce rate to the U.S. plus 50¢ registration fee for items of $50.00 or less.

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Waubaushene ON
Emergency MOTO No. 1
18 October 1972

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