67 - New Jersey Postal History Society

MORE ON OCEANFRONT FANCIES
William C. Coles, Jr.
In the January 1986 NJPH on page 13, there were illustrated two covers under
the above heading. Since there was no copy identifying them, this article
will give a little information on them.
Until these two items turned up, the writer had not known of any handstamped
hotel markings from New Jersey hotels, such as are listed for various cities
in the 1973 edition of the American Stampless Cover Catalog, on pages 243-44.
The post office at Ocean Beach, New Jersey was of short duration, having been
established June 22, 1874 and changed to Belmar, New Jersey July 16, 1889.
During that time, the Hotel Columbia used the red octagonal strike on the
reverse of its outgoing mail. At the post office, this cover received the
30mm strike with the shaded star, both in black
The second cover has a purple double circle from Spring Lake, New Jersey.
Close examination shows an additional 22mm circle marking, also purple,
and reading BEACH HOUSE/SEA GIRT, N ,.J. with a star in the circle. Based
upon the spacing of a second strike to the right and barely visible, it
appears as if the striking device had both markings firmly affixed to it
since the distance between the two circles is constant.
Note that one of the two hotels in the corner card is the BEACH HOUSE, SEA
GIRT, N.J. while the other two hotels shown are in Spring Lake. Sea Girt
did not have an established post office until 1899, at which time it was
spelled as one word, Seagirt. Spring Lake and Sea Girt are about four miles
apart. The Seagirt post office also had a short existence from 1877 to
1882, when it was changed to Spring Lake Beach.
This letter was addressed to Paris where it received the Paris marking for
incoming mail and the Drexel, Harjes & Co strike in blue.
The BEACH HOUSE strike is definitely a hotel marking, not a post office one.
This these two covers record the first two hotel markings noted for New
Jersy. If collectors will check their old covers of New Jersey, they may
discover others with these desirable strikes. They may not be particularly
valuable, but certainly are of interest.
-0-
Research Articles Needed
Readers are invited to contribute research articles in all areas of New Jersey
post history. If you have documented a study of your specialty, share it
with your fellow members by offering the manuscript for publication in NJPH.
Write to the Editor, outlining the manuscript you have prepared, or may now
have in the planning stages for assistance in assembling the work for publication.
Remember, one of the greatest contributions a member can make to the NJPHS
is to share the results of philatelic study with others.
NJPH 22
March 1986