July 1, 1898: First Day of Use for 1898 Series Tax Stamps

The 1898 War Revenue Tax Law officially kicked of the tax party on July 1, 1898.  The BEP quickly designed and began to print new stamps for that purpose, but also overprinted postage stamps to help fill the spike in demand as the taxes came in to force.  Today features a few examples of the I. R. overprinted postage stamps, cancelled on July 1, 1898.

H&H

July 1

1898

B&?

July 1/98

G. L. A.

JUL

1

1898

The Curtis

Jul 1 1898

Pub. Co.

July 1, 1898, First Day of the Tax Period

Farm. & Mec. Nat. Bk

JUL     1     1898

Georgetown,  D. C.

Langlois scan

Check of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Georgetown, District of Columbia from Joseph B. Bailey dated July 1, 1898, the first day of the Spanish-American War tax period. 

Completed in 1922 in the heart of Georgetown at the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, this neoclassical building was once the home of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank.  It became a branch of the Riggs Bank for years, and is now a branch for PNC Bank. 

*****

The user of this check, Joseph B. Bailey, was a dry goods merchant in Washington.  ArlingtonCemetary.net provides a few details about Mr. Bailey:

"Joseph B. Bailey was born in 1848 at Heathsville,Northumberland County,Virginia. He entered service at Richmond on November 23,1864 and served under Captain William Dement, Company D, 1st Maryland, Light Artillery. In the Battle of Dutch Gap and Drewry's Bluff on the James River, he was taken prisoner of war. Paroled at Appomattox on April 9,1865 and Oath of Armesty taken May 29th,1865.  After the war, he was a dry goods merchant in Washington, D.C. and the father of Ralph B.Bailey. Lived at 413 6th Street,Washington, D.C. SW and was a Member of Camp# 171,Confederate Veterans.

2 Cent Battleship First Day of Use

Bob Hohertz is searching for examples of the 2 cent battleship used on July 1, 1898, especially on documents and checks.  I do not have any examples, but I do have one interesting off document cancel, which combined with other dates does a solid job of confirming that the Michigan Central Railroad clearly was supplied with ample quantities of the 2 cent battleship prior to July 1.  Below is the first month of Henry Tolman's 2c battleship calendar, replete with Michigan Central cancels including July 1:

Michigan Central July 1898 cancels from this calendar include the following dates:

July 1

July 2

July 4

July 14

July 16

July 22

July 23

July 30

July 31

If you have examples of the 2 cent battleship canceled on July 1, 1898, especially on piece, please contact us at 1898revenues@gmail.com.

Battleship First Day of Use: The 2 Cent Documentary

Just a reminder that Bob Hohertz is searching for examples of the 2 cent documentary battleship on piece, especially checks, used on July 1, 1898.  His original post soliciting examples can be found by clicking here.  If you know Bob, email him directly; otherwise send a scan of your check/stamps or a notice of them to 1898revenues@gmail.com.  Thank you!

Battleship First Day Use

by Bob Hohertz

As readers of this blog may or may not know, I am a longtime editor of The Check Collector, the quarterly magazine of the American Society of Check Collectors.  Recently, a member of the ASCC sent me a picture of a check with a first day use of a two-cent battleship, asking if I would start an inventory of known uses.

As we know, first day use of the battleships are much harder to find than first day uses of the serif I.R. overprints.  My feeling is that they went to the smaller population centers, while the overprints went to the larger ones, but this isn't borne out by a rigorous study.  It might be useful to document the known first day battleship uses in order to get an idea of where they really were shipped. 

This first day use on a certificate of deposit hails from Virginia City, Montana.  This would be a population area large enough to get a shipment of stamps, but not a large one.  On the other hand, I have first day uses of overprinted stamps from Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford and Saint Louis, but I haven't seen first day uses  of battleships from those places.

So, please, if you would, send me listings (and 300 dpi scans, if you would) of any first day uses of the two-cent battleship and I will try to put together an inventory listing for the October - December issue of The Check Collector and link to it from here so you won't need to be a member of ASCC to see it.

Bank Checks with Proprietary Stamp Usage

We've reviewed the acceptance and rejection of postage stamps in payment of the two-cent documentary tax on checks in prior posts. Today we'll review the likewise improper use of proprietary tax stamps to pay the documentary tax on checks.

The War Revenue Law provided for two separate sets of stamps; stamps inscribed "DOCUMENTARY" were to be used only on legal documents with details provided in Schedule A of the Tax Act.

Stamps inscribed "PROPRIETARY" were to be used only on proprietary medicines and other items with proprietary formulas as described in Schedule B of the Tax Act.

The two sets of stamps were not to be used interchangeably. Because of the small odd fractional tax rates charged on proprietary items, use of documentary stamps to pay any of the proprietary taxes would have been highly impractical, and I'm not aware of any extant examples of such usages.

However, it is not uncommon to find proprietary tax stamps used on documents. Such usage was not legal, but generally it was condoned. While mis-use of postage stamps often was disallowed because the money for the stamps went to the Post Office Department instead of the Treasury, the use of proprietary stamps on documents was seldom challenged because the fees paid for them did accrue to the Treasury, albeit to an incorrect account.

Most such incorrect usage of the proprietary stamps occurred in the first few months of the tax period, i.e., July, August, and September, 1898. Confusion about the law and the initial inadequate distribution of the proper stamps both led to misusages.

However, to find a check such as the Teutonia National Bank check illustated below, written in 1901, more than two years into the tax period, bearing propietary stamps is unusual, and it is surprising that it was not questioned.

Teutonia National Bank Check

Dayton, Ohio, February 27, 1901

with two RB24 proprietary stamps

If you carefully look at the closeup detail of the two stamps below, it appears that they may have been reused. Looking closely at the area of the "01" in "1901" and the "00" in "15.00" on the bottom stamp one can discern what appears to be evidence of a prior cancellation. Perhaps the stamps were strategically placed so the amount of the check would help cover that prior cancel. I've viewed thousands of checks and never before have seen one placed in the area where the check amount would serve as a partial cancel. That the stamps feel unusually stiff and there are tell-tale signs of gum stains showing through on the reverse further suggests the probability that they were reused.

The person who wrote the check was an independent insurance agent in Dayton and thus would have had ample access to various denominations of documentary issues. But two-cents in 1898 was not an insignificant amount and one could easily be tempted to reuse a couple of lightly cancelled stamps on a check payable to a singing society. The penalty for reusing stamps though, was stiff; a conviction could have brought a fine of up to one thousand dollars and up to five years hard labor! That's a lot to risk to save two cents.

Detail of Possibly Reused Proprietary Stamps

The usage of a single 2-cent proprietary issue on the Arkansas Construction Company check below is much more understandable. It's a July 1, 1898 first day of tax period use and likely it may have been the only stamp available there on that day. Distribution of the tax stamps was uneven all over the country and not all the values were even available for distribution on that day. So even if the bank had wanted to challenge the usage of the proprietary stamp, it may not have had the proper documentary stamps available to do so!

Arkansas Construction Company Check
Kansas City, Missouri July 1, 1898
First Day Usage of 2-cent Proprietary Stamp, RB27

Detail of Arkansas Construction Company Check

Showing July 1, 1898 Handstamp Cancel of A. L. Howe

The September 15, 1898 usage of a 2-cent proprietary on this Brotherhood Wine Company check is also somewhat understandable. They likely would have had a large suppy of the 2-cent proprietaries as there was a two cent tax on bottles of wine exceeding one pint. So for Brotherhood Wine it likely was simply a matter of convenience to just stock 2-cent proprietary stamps rather than both proprietary and documentary issues. I've seen later Brotherhood Wine Co. checks with 2-cent documentaries, so at some point they probably were instructed to use the documentary stamps instead of relying upon the proprietary issues.

Brotherhood Wine Co. Sight Draft
New York City, September 15, 1898

The following Nebraska National Bank Check was submitted by JW Palmer. As he points out it's a bit taddy, but it's also the only example of a challenged proprietary usage on a check I've ever seen. The 2-cent proprietary in the upper left corner was affixed and pen-cancelled by N. R. Sagers on February 2, 1900, the same date as the check. However when O. M. Burrus cashed it on February 7, 1900, Nebraska National required a corrective 2-cent documentary be affixed and it was cancelled by the bank on February 7. Thanks JW, for sharing this nifty item; it 's the perfect piece to cap today's subject.

Nebraska National Bank Check Omaha, Nebraska
written February 2, 1900 (2-cent proprietary)
cashed February 7, 1900 (2-cent documentary)

Bank Check Tax

notice regarding the upcoming tax on checks and promissory notes
mailed to customers by Kingston, New York area banks
postmarked June 23, 1898

Beginning July 1, 1898 bank checks, drafts, or any orders for the payment of any sum of money, whether drawn upon or issued by any bank, trust company, or any person or persons, companies, or corporations at sight or upon demand were taxed two cents. As there had not been a tax on checks since the early 1880s, some banks sent out notices, like the one above, alerting customers of the new tax. As discussed in a prior blog about a cashier's check there were problems with the distribution of the tax stamps in some areas of the country.

The new tax stamps, however, did reach Fort Smith, Arkansas in a timely manner as evidenced by the July 1, 1898 Merchants Bank check pictured below. Note that both the check and the initialed stamp affixed to it are dated July 1. As shown by the double-ring Merchants Bank PAID cancel in the center of the check it also was processed on July 1, 1898.

As we'll explain in a future blog the most important element confirming that this is a first day of taxation check is the bank's dated PAID cancel, and not the date written on the check or the stamp.

July 1, 1898 First Day of Bank Check Tax Period

Merchants Bank, Fort Smith, Arkansas

June 30, 1901 Last Day of Bank Check Tax Period
Yellow Aster Mining and Milling Co., Randsburg, California

The documentary tax on bank checks, and many other legal documents ended June 30, 1901. Taxes on some other documents including shipping receipts and bills of lading continued for another year until June 30, 1902.

Last day usages of the bank check tax are scarce, especially so from a business, as June 30, 1901 was a Sunday. Likely this check was for a bill due at the end of the month, or was an end of month paycheck prepared prior to, but dated, June 30 so as to prevent it from being cashed beforehand.

check detail showing
Y.A.M. & M. Co. June 30,1901 cancel

Like many California gold mines, the Yellow Aster in the Randsburg Mining district had a colorful history. It eventually would produce more than $12,000,000 in gold.

Bank Checks

Cashier's Check The Merchants National Bank

Burlington, Vermont

July 1, 1898 First Day of Tax

Note the "IMPOSSIBLE TO PROCURE PROPER

REVENUE STAMPS FOR THIS INSTRUMENT"

endorsement above the stamp.

Bank checks, drafts, or any orders for the payment of any sum of money, whether drawn upon or issued by any bank, trust company, or any person or persons, companies, or corporations at sight or upon demand were taxed 2 cents. This cashier's check drafted on July 1, 1898, the first day of the Spanish American War Tax, illustrates how difficult it was for many to obtain the necessary tax stamps in time for use on July 1, 1898.

Presumably stamps were not available at the bank when the check was obtained as it was endorsed by the bank, "IMPOSSIBLE TO PROCURE PROPER REVENUE STAMPS FOR THIS INSTRUMENT". That the bank had this endorsement handstamp ready for use on July 1 indicates they knew stamps might not be available and had planned ahead for that possibility.

The stamp is pen-cancelled B.G.L.Co. and bears several handstamp cancels including one of JUL 1, 1898 tying the 2-cent I.R. provisional overprint issue to the check. It is likely that B.G.L. was able to secure the necessary tax stamps later in the day before dispatching the check. There is a faint July 5, 1898 "Teller Cashed" handstamp of the Merchants National Bank at the top above "Burlington".

Perhaps someone familiar with the history of Burlington Vermont can identify the B.G.L. Company for us.

The Merchants Bank was first organized in 1849 and became a nationally chartered bank in 1865. It's still in business today as a state chartered institution. For a more detailed history, go here.

July 1, 1898: First Day of the War Tax, and Time to Print Cancels!

Some proprietary product manufacturers cancelled many stamps with the date of the first day of the tax period.  The firms H.E. Bucklin and Dr. Jayne and Sons clearly cancelled enough stamps with the date July 1, 1898, that they were using the stamps with those cancels far beyond the actual date of the cancel. 

Again, from the former collection of Henry Tolman are examples from these two companies.  Each of the pages below show only cancels from July 1, 1898, with multiple types from each company for July 1.  Mulitples for the Dr. Jayne and Son cancels show how multiple fonts were used within the same sheet.  

H. E. Bucklin  July 1, 1898 cancels

Dr. Jayne & Son  July 1, 1898 cancels

July 1 1898, The Spanish American War: The Rough Riders Storm San Juan Hill

The first day of the revenue tax supporting the Spanish American War was also the date of the best known battle of the war.  The Rough Rider's charge up San Juan Hill, Frederic Remington's famous depiction of the scene, and Teddy Roosevelt's role in the charge have made the event almost as well known as the explosion and sinking of the battleship Maine.

Frederic Remington's famous painting of the charge

San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill (which is the subject of the title art of this blog) are part of the San Juan Heights.

The battle on this day made the career of Teddy Roosevelt.  When he returned to the United States he was soon elected Governor of New York, and soon after that, nominated to be McKinley's running mate. 

Battleship Revenues: 25 Cent Documentary 1st Day of Use

ST&amp Company handstamp cancelled 25 cent documentary for July 1, 1898.

Cancel for July 1: Part Roulette First Day of Use

July 1, 1898 First Day of Tax Period Printed Bullseye Cancels by Smith, Kline and French pharmaceutical company. The pair above is a part roulette pair and has no rouletting between the stamps. There is a bit of a scuff on the left stamp.

===

Smith Kline and French experienced numerous name and corporate changes, becoming SmithKline Beckman in 1982 and then SmithKline Beecham after mergers, the latter in 1989. In 2000, SmithKline Beecham merged with Glaxo Wellcome to become Glaxo Smith Kline, a UK-based company and one of the largest pharmaceutical firms in the world today.

===

Listing and Value: In the Scott Catalogue the 5/8 cent proprietary stamp is listed under Scott #RB23. The item listed as "horizontal pair imperf vertically" (actually part roulette) is numbered RB23b. There is a value given in the 2009 US Specialized Catalogue for this item in unused condition: $350. That value is italicized, meaning the item is difficult to value accurately. In the case of this pair there just is not much market activity. However, even the italicized value is for the unused pair, not a used or cancelled pair. For that item there is only a blank, and not even a dash. The dash normally indicates the known existence of an item but no value can be placed on the item. "Christopher West" in his series in Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News published nearly 90 years ago did not indicate he knew of the existence of the 5/8 cent proprietary without vertical rouletting, either used or unused. This is a very interest pair given the printed cancel, its date, and the nature of the part rouletting. This pair was a part of Henry Tolman's collection.

Cancel for July 1: 111 Year Anniversary of the First Day of Use of the 1898 Series

The first day of use of the 1898 series of revenue stamps was July 1, 1898, 111 years ago today. After the Battleship "Maine" was destroyed by an explosion in a Cuban harbor on February 15, 1898, President McKinley delcared war on Spain on April 25 and subsequently approved the War Revenue Law of 1898 on June 13. The Act of Congress would become effective on July 1, 1898. The handstamped 2 cent documentary immediately below was cancelled by the Michigan Central Railroad and was certainly used to pay the new tax on July 1 1898. The printed cancels on the proprietary stamps that follow were made in preparation for the first day of use, with use on that day possible but not a certainty.

Many companies understood that the law required only that the stamps be cancelled with company identification and a year date, so many proprietary printed cancels do not include the month and day, precluding a July 1, 1898 cancel for many companies.

Wayne Youngblood, Secretary of the American Philatelic Society, wrote a feature piece in the June 2009 American Philatelist on First Day Bullseye cancels. In his article he highlights first day "bullseyes" on battleship revenue stamps and calls them some of the earliest examples of such cancels, in which the cancel includes a clean and all inclusive strike of the date and cancel location or cancellor of the stamp. Two images of battleships cancelled this way include the two cent battleship and a one and one quarter cent proprietary with a Dr. D. Jayne and Son cancel. There are examples of first day bullseyes from these companies in this post.

Below are 14 examples of first day battleship bullseyes, proprietary and documentary.



Michigan Central Railroad handstamp cancel. The Michigan Central was controlled by Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Antikamnia pharmaceutical company handstamp cancel. Antikamnia is more famous for its use of printed cancels. Above is an example of a first day, July 1 handstamp. Antikamnia issued, along with several other St. Louis pharmaceutical companies, provisional, self printed stamps for use early in the tax period before they could acquire adequate quantities of the battleship stamps. This handstamp was used to stamp some of the provisional stamps in addition to the proprietary battleship stamps. It is likely that this stamp was used after July 1.

T.B. Dunn Company, the maker of Sen-Sen Gum, one of the most popular chewing gum products of the time. Thomas B. Dunn the businessman would become a 5 term Republican Congressman from New York, beginning in 1913.

The Centaur Company and Charles Fletcher's signature. My mother gave me some noxious concoction called Fletcher's Castoria when I was a small child in the 1960s. This is one of the fancier printed cancels on the proprietary revenues.

K&M Co stands for Keasby and Mattison Company, which produced patent medicines. However, by the time of the cancellation of this stamp, the company was heavily into the production of asbestos and asbestos products. The firm started out as a pharmaceutical firm but became involved in asbestos production after Dr. Richard Mattison discovered that milk of magnesia would cling to hot pipes. He combined asbestos with the stomach settler and guided the Ambler, Pennsylvania based business into the production of asbestos products. The name Keasby and Mattison is associated with extensive asbestos liability legal actions.

Printed cancel for the company McKesson and Robbins, which would become embroiled in one of the worst corporate scandals in US history in 1938 after the company was taken over by a professional bootlegger under an assumed name. These days though arguably from Enron to Madoff our time has bested the M&R scandal. McKesson is today one of the largest health care companies in the world.

Dr. D. Jayne and Son printed cancel. Dr. Jayne and his sons made a variety of noxious patent medicines.

McKesson and Robbins cancel.

Dr. D. Jayne and Sons block of nine. The six stamps on the right are of a single font different from the three stamps on the left.

McKesson and Robbins cancel.

Dr. D. Jayne and Sons cancels of two different fonts.

Sen-Sen gum printed cancel from July 1 1898. TB Dunn initials at the bottom. Many of the 2 and 4 cent proprietaries were used to pay the tax on chewing gum.

D. Jayne and son pair with two type of fonts.

McKesson and Robbins.