U.S. Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations 1907-1927 - Steven R. Belasco

Guide to United States Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations 1907-1927 by Steven R. Belasco

The goal of this book is expressed in the title. It is a guide to the U.S. vending and affixing machine perforations made by private companies between 1907 and 1927 to enable them to use imperforate stamps in their proprietary vending and affixing machines. The guide will, I hope, make this complex area more understandable and accessible to collectors. The guide covers more than 250 major varieties of coil stamps that were made by the six companies (seven if Schermack and Mailometer are treated as different companies) that created these perforations. These 250 varieties include both the coils made by the companies to be used commercially in their machines as well as the many varieties made to satisfy the requests of stamp dealers and collectors for these coils.

The guide is organized along two simple principles. The first is that vending machine perforations should be grouped separately from affixing machine perforations. Vending machine coils are generally different in nature and use from those made for affixing machines. Affixing machines were developed for large businesses that needed to mail tens of thousands of letters. The stamps used in these machines, with one exception, needed to have perforations strong enough to stand the stress of being fed through the machines at high speed. The postal uses of these stamps evidence their large scale commercial origin.