The Elgin National Watch Company was one of America's great watch companies; it closed operations in 1968. Occasionally cancels like those below show up in collections or dealer stocks, looking much like proper printed precancels. I've kept a page in my album of this material dedicated to the ENWCo cancels for years, figuring it important to have examples showing why these stamps were unambiguously not precanceled.
The first two stamps below look very much like precancels, and I initially assumed them to be. However, an examination of their stamps and cancels on document fragments leads to a different conclusion.
E. N. W. Co. - Elgin National Watch Company
Both examples below (and I have several others) show that the cancels were being placed on the stamps after they were applied to what were likely checks or drafts. The cancels tie the stamps to the fragments in both examples. What is almost certain is that the company had a canceling device that used metal type capable of applying a rather neat and clean cancel to a stamp on document.
I believe this type of device might have also been used by a few other individuals and institutions. I'll provide an example in the next post.
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