101 - Schweizerischer Ganzsachen-Sammler-Verein

canceled with the same ambulant postmark without a date.
Before he could return the card to Lyss, however, the sender needed to
find room for a fourth address on the front and the three additional stamps.
There was no more space on the front or back. To create more space he
carefully cut the four corners out of an envelope and sealed it like a wrapper
band around both the height and width of the card. He placed two of
the three stamps on the front of the band and the third on the back (Figure
2). On the back are also private handstamps for “return” (vuelvase) from
the Hacienda Mariara on April 26, 1905. The card arrived in Lyss on May
19, as the final postmark on the front of the band shows.
Fig. 2
What was the result of this partial use of an envelope? Because it left the
card exposed, it enabled the sender to pay only 15c Venezuelan card
postage instead of 50c (25c postage plus 25c seapost surtax) for a letter.
This highly unusual reuse of a one-way card in the international mails was
tolerated by the Venezuelan post office, probably because it realized the
Swiss correspondent did not expect the recipient to send back the card.
Normally members of the Universal Postal Union accepted one-way cards
only once since it was mandatory from July 1, 1892, for all UPU members
to issue international double cards with a prepaid reply half for use by correspondents
who expected a response.
My thanks to Brian Moorhouse, a well-known expert on Central and South
American stamps and postal history, for confirming the Venezuelan rates
and explaining the Venezuelan postal and private markings.
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