El Salvador Philatelist, Year VIII, No 3

El Salvador Filatélico – El Faro

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El Salvador Filatelico –

El Faro Official Journal of the Salvadorian Philatelic Association - ACES

Year VIII, Number 3 January - March 2012


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INDEX The Director’s Column ............................... AFISAL’s new Board of Directors…………. Adlets ………………………….................... Salvadorian Stamped Paper (1875-1890)…. Grace Line Santa Rosa Maiden Voyage… The “Casa Blanca” on the stamps of El Salvador…………………………………….. Show-n-Tell .............................................. New Issue Services ………………….………

The Director’s Column Some Words from Our President, Santiago Yudice Dear Colleagues, It is an honor for me to address you as the first President of the Salvadorian Philatelic Association (AFISAL). Its creation under new by-laws and our membership to FIAF mark the start of a new period in the promotion of philately in the country and of Salvadorian postal history abroad. Our new Board of Directors is composed of honorable and experienced philatelists combined with new individuals full of enthusiasm and new ideas. Guillermo Gallegos will also continue with his valuable collaboration as Editor of the “El Salvador Filatelico- El Faro”, which is now in its eighth year. We are all committed to continue actively collaborating so our journal continues to be of interest to all of you. My best regards to all! Santiago

Board of Directors President: Santiago Yudice Vice-president: Robinson Cruz Secretary: José Luis Alonzo Treasurer: Manuel Antonio Menjivar First Vocal: Guillermo F Gallegos Second Vocal: Carlos Quintanilla Third Vocal: Iván Zelaya Honorary Presidents: Ramon de Clairmont Dueñas Pierre Cahen Jose Luis Cabrera Honorary Member: Joseph D Hahn

On The Cover. 1899 New Year Card sent by the General Director of the Salvadorian Postal Service to his peer in the Netherlands.

(Carlos Quintanilla)

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About the Journal. El Salvador Filatelico – El Faro is the on-line, quartertly journal of the «Salvadorian Philatelic Association – ACES», Instalaciones del Museo Nacional de Antropología El Salvador, Av. La Revolución, Col. San Benito, San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America. Requests for reprinting articles can be sent to [email protected] .


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AFISAL new Board of Directors Last January AFISAL elected its new Board of Directors according to its new by-laws: The Board is composed as follows: President: Santiago Yudice Vice-president: Robinson Cruz Secretary: José Luis Alonzo Treasurer: Manuel Antonio Menjivar First Vocal: Guillermo F Gallegos Second Vocal: Carlos Quintanilla Third Vocal: Iván Zelaya Doctor Santiago Yudice collects stamps since 1953, when his father bought him packages of 1,000 worldwide stamps and 3,000 German stamps plus a Scott Global Stamp Album. He has continued the collections of his father, Dr. Luis Yudice, also President of the Salvadorian Philatelic Society in the 1970s, who was mainly interested in Latin America and Europe. Santiago currently specializes mainly in El Salvador and Germany to a lesser extent. Doctor Robinson Cruz started collecting stamps as a teenager and was a member of the Salvadorian Philatelic Society during the 1950s. Twenty-five years ago he returned to the hobby, collecting El Salvador and the US, especially stamps, first day covers and full sheets. He is becoming interested in the freemasonry thematic. Jose Luis Alonzo has collected since 1972, motivated by his father. He started as a worldwide collector, but later specialized in El Salvador (new, used, postal history), Spain,

(used), the US (used), and several thematic subjects as Religion, Trips of Pope John Paul II, Owls, Birds, Flowers, and covers sent to his name from every postal administration in the world. Jose is also a member of the Cover Collector Circuit Club. Manuel Menjivar has been a philatelist for 26 years. He got started in school when he saw the collection of a classmate, and currently he collects besides El Salvador, Germany and Spain, Transportation and Space Exploration thematic, among several other subjects. Manuel also collects coins, stamped paper, banknotes and belongs to the Association of Scale Modelers. Guillermo F Gallegos started collecting in 1986 and specializes in El Salvador since 1998. He collects prephilately, classic issues, proofs and first flights. Member of the APS, The Collectors Club, ISGC and Jalisco Filatélico, participates in FIAF´s Postal History Commission. He is currently working in the Handbook of Salvadorian Postal History and is the Editor of El Salvador Filatelico-El Faro. Carlos Quintanilla has liked stamps as long as he can remember, although he has specialized in El Salvador since 2000. He collects prephilately and classic issues until 1954 including essays, proofs, cancels, and covers; he enjoys reconstructing the history of the issues with contemporary


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documentation. He also collects Salvadorian antique engravings, postcards up to 1945, coins and paper money. Ivan Zelaya has been collecting stamps for a little less than a year. He got into the hobby motivated by his love of the country, its history and the possibility of safeguarding a piece of it for future generations. He is interested in stamps prior to 1950, cancellation types, full sheets, forgeries, proofs and stationery; he also collects Salvadorian coins. Ivan is the Salvadorian National Delegate at FIAF’s Thematic Commission. During the same meeting, the members decided to honor four long standing collectors with honorary positions in the Association. In recognition of their work for the development of organized philately in El Salvador, the Association appointed Ramon de Clairmont Dueñas, Pierre Cahen and Jose Luis Cabrera as AFISAL Honorary Presidents. Ramon de Clairmont Dueñas started collecting at an early age influenced by members of his family that were philatelists. Although he stopped collecting for several years, he returned to the hobby in 1980 motivated by the problems that Central America suffered. Ramon collected Spain, France, Monaco, the Vatican and the Victorian period in the UK, all of which have been sold. Currently he collects only El Salvador. Ramon was President of the El Salvador Philatelic Society from more than 20 years.

Pierre Cahen has collected since he was 10, when he lived in France. Although this collection was lost when he had to leave France, once settled in El Salvador in 1943 he started again and soon joined the Salvadorian Philatelic Society. Realizing that a worldwide collection was an impossible task, he kept only a few countries of Europe and America, and by the late 70s, he decided to concentrate only in El Salvador (regular stamps, cancellations, errors, minor varieties, proofs, essays, specimens, fakes and postal history). Former member of Iberia Cultural Filatelica, Socorico and the APS, for quite some time he has run the auctions of the Association. Jose Luis Cabrera became a philatelist at a young age and considers collecting as an innate activity of man. He has specialized in El Salvador over the years, but is also interested in Central America and the Archeology Thematic (again especially related to Central America). Jose Luis was President of the El Salvador Philatelic Society during the 1980s and was Vice-President for almost two decades. Finally, in appreciation of his vast investigative labor for Salvadorian Philately, the Association named Joseph D Hahn as its first AFISAL Honorary Member. During the 1970s, Joe Hahn had what was then considered the finest El Salvador collection in the world, and together with other philatelists founded the Associated Collectors of El Salvador in 1975. Since then, Joe has extensively studied Salvadorian


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stamps, publishing several dozen articles about the subject in different magazines and he is one of the authors of the forthcoming Handbook of Salvadorian Postal History.

Please join us in wishing the best to our new Board of Directors and in congratulating our Honorary Presidents and Member!

AdletsOur adlet service allows members to publish their philatelic interests on each ‘El Salvador Filatelico – El Faro’ so they can buy, sell, or exchange with other collectors. Every member is eligible to place one adlet in the journal. In order to send us the adlet you want published, please access the ‘Adlet’ page on the member’s section of the website. Looking for El Salvador stamps Scott #'s: 57, 229, 247, 252, 257, 293, 558, C31, O223, O224, O226, 1 of (O227, O228, O230, O231), O355. If you have any of these, please e-mail price to [email protected] -- will respond promptly. Wanted: Errors, proofs, oddities of El Salvador. If you have any of these for sale or exchange, please send an e-mail to: [email protected] . Looking for Scott #’s: 25E, 190, 191A, 211, 212A, 225, 227, 230B, 232, 237H, 240A, 297 y 311B; Officials O66, O67 y O68/O72. All of them either mint or used. Please contact at [email protected] . Wijesena, a lawyer from Sri Lanka & a keen philatelist, interested in contacts with fellow collectors from El Salvador and other Latin countries for the exchange of stamps, fdcs, s/s, m/s, etc. Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Essays, Color Trials, Proofs, Freaks, Fakes, Oddities. Your offers most welcomed to Pierre Cahen: [email protected] or POB 483 San Salvador, El Salvador. Interested in trading revenue stamps of El Salvador. Bryon Batjiaka, e-mail: [email protected] WANTED: Multiple copies of Scott #452 to 455 and 457 to 467 for a study. Unused, used, no gum, poor centering, slight thins are of use to me provided they are priced accordingly. I am NOT interested in shifted overprints. I can use up to 50 copies of any of the mentioned Scott numbers, including varieties. Of course, pairs, strips and blocks are worth a premium. Please write first to Joe Hahn, [email protected]


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Salvadorian Stamped Paper (1875-1890) Ricardo Recinos

In the previous article we mentioned that no stamped paper laws had been reported between 1824 and 1891. However, our colleague Carlos Quintanilla has recently found several decrees related to stamped paper that we will briefly cover in this article. Thanks to Carlos for his help! Our preliminary guess that the stamped paper law was modified sometime around 1875 was actually true. Carlos found a reference published in 1880 about an administrative law dated May 25, 1875 that effectively introduced eight new stamped paper classes. Further research lead us to think that this same law was included in the “Codificacion de las Leyes Patrias” (Codification of National Laws) prepared in 1879 with the existing laws up to 1875. As such, we now know that in 1875, eight stamped paper classes were created:

Class 1: 16 pesos Class 2: 12 pesos Class 3: 8 pesos Class 4: 4 pesos Class 5: 3 pesos Class 6: 4 reales Class 7: 1 real Class 8: ½ real

The law also stated that stamped paper had on its upper left side a legend stating the biennial, its class and rate. The first five classes had the legend only in the first page, while the remaining classes had it on

both sheets so they could be sold by half. It is interesting to mention that the law allowed the use of the previous stamped paper until the end of 1875. Two “Sesta Clase” (Class 6) items from the 1875-1876 biennial are illustrated in this article. They have a rate of 2 reales, so they could be half sheets, although we do not know for sure. On November 16, 1876, the Government issued an amendment to the 1875 law decreeing that from then on all IOUs and private contracts of any nature had to be drafted in stamped paper specially created for this purpose. As such, four classes of Stamped Paper for Private Contracts were created: “Primero”, for contracts between 5 and 100 pesos (1 real rate), “Segundo”, for contracts exceeding 100 pesos but below 500 (two reales rate), “Tercero”, for documents exceeding 500 pesos and below 1000 (4 reales rate), and “Quarto”, for all contracts exceeding 1000 pesos (one peso rate). Four years later, on March 18, 1880 two more decrees were issued to further regulate the use of stamped paper. The first decree established new stamped paper tariffs for private contracts and IOUs according to the following classification:


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For contracts with values: > 25 & < 100 pesos: 2 reales > 100 & < 500 pesos: 4 reales

> 500 & < 1000 pesos: 8 reales > 1000 & < 2000 pesos: 2 pesos > 2000 & < 5000 pesos: 4 pesos > 5000 & < 7000 pesos: 6 pesos > 7000 & < 10000 pesos: 8 pesos > 10,000 pesos: 10 pesos The second decree reformed the tariffs for general stamped paper classes to improve the proportion between them:

Class 1: 16 pesos Class 2: 12 pesos Class 3: 8 pesos Class 4: 6 pesos Class 5: 4 pesos Class 6: 1 pesos Class 7: 2 reales Class 8: 1 real

From what it is known so far, the following change to stamped paper laws was during 1887, when the government decreed a new general tariff of approximately 0.1% for all transactions, paid by the joint use of stamped paper and fiscal stamps. As this variable rate depended on the value of the transaction, stamped paper classes served as the base rate which then had to be complemented by the use of fiscal stamps to cover the required 0.1%. During this year, the maximum stamped paper rate (presumably Class 1) was reduced from 16 to 10 pesos and more intermediate classes were introduced although no stamped paper was prepared for the 1887-1888 biennial. On the following pages you will see a selection of stamped paper between the years 1875 and 1890. Again, any comments would be gladly welcomed!


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Left: Stamped Paper class 6 with a value of two reales for the years 1875-

1876

Right: Stamped Paper class 6 with a value of two reales for the years 1876-

1877


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Left: Stamped Paper class 6 with a value of four reales for the years 1882-

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Right: Stamped Paper class 7 with a value of one real for the years 1882-

1883


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Left: Stamped Paper class 6 with a value of two reales for the years 1886-

1887

Right: Stamped Paper class 6 with a value of two reales for the years 1888-

1889


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Left: Stamped Paper for Private Contracts with a value of one real for

the years 1889-1890.

We would appreciate if you could send your comments, suggestions, and contributions for El Salvador Filatelico – El Faro to our e-mail address: [email protected]

Right: Ad from June 1876 published in the Gaceta Oficial announcing that

stamped paper is sold in the store of Feliciana de Orellana located at the

“Big Square” of San Salvador


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Grace Line Santa Rosa Maiden Voyage Jose Luis Alonzo

The origins of the Grace Line start in Peru in the mid-XIX Century when the brothers William and Michael Russel set up a navigation company to commerce guano to the US. In 1865 William moved to New York City and created the company W.R.Grace & Co. By 1880 the company had started a steamship service from New York to the West Coast of South America, first under British Flag and after 1913 with American-registered ships. In 1932 Grace Lines launched a passenger service from New York to San Francisco and Seattle via Panama with four liners: the Santa Rosa, the Santa Paula, the Santa Lucia and the Santa Elena.

The trip, called “The Romance Route” lasted 20 days and included stops in Havana, Port Colombia, Cartagena, Canal Zone, Punta Arenas (Costa Rica), La Libertad (El Salvador), San Jose (Guatemala), Mazatlan (Mexico), Los Angeles, San Francisco and Victoria (Canada). The Santa Rosa was the first liner to do the journey, departing on November 26, 1932, and the last one to be placed in service was the Santa Elena on April 4, 1933. Despite a promising start, the service soon had financial issues. By 1934, the Seattle extension was shut down and the Santa Lucia was transferred to the New York – South America itinerary. Two years later, in 1936,

Santa Rosa Postcard


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the service was discontinued and the three remaining liners were assigned to Caribbean routes. In this article we will show some covers of the Santa Rosa Maiden Voyage from the Pacific Coast to New York City done between December 1932 and January 1933. Covers are known for most of the stops, and also covers were prepared for the maiden voyages of

the Santa Lucia and the Santa Paula. Up to the author’s knowledge, no covers were prepared for the Santa Elena. Oddly enough, it seems that all these covers were prepared for the California-New York voyages and not for the “real” maiden voyages, which would have been in the opposite route. More information about this would be appreciated!

Announcement of the creation of the Grace Line

California to New York route at The Literary

Digest, November 1932.


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Departure from Victoria, Canada on December 20, 1932

Stop at San Francisco on December 26

Stop at Los Angeles on

December 27


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Stop in Mazatlan, Mexico on

December 30, 1932

Stop in San Jose, Guatemala on

January 2, 1933

Stop in La Libertad, El Salvador (Cancel

is from San Salvador) on

January 3, 1933


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Santa Paula and Santa Lucia Maiden Voyages. In both cases, the

voyage was from the Pacific Coast to New York. The Santa Paula cover was posted on February 11, 1933 and the cachet depicts an allegory of the Izalco Volcano. The Santa Lucia cover was sent on March 25, 1933;

its cachet depicts the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in San Salvador.

Want to be updated in the New Issues of El Salvador?

Ask for the New Issue Service of the El Salvador Philatelic Society – ACES! Check terms and conditions at the members’ section of www.elsalvadorphilately.org

Visit us at: www.elsalvadorphilately.org


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The “Casa Blanca” ...on the Stamps of El Salvador Ivan Zelaya This section presents a short study about a specific topic that has appeared on the stamps of El Salvador.

During the first years of the Republic, Salvadorian Presidents did not have a permanent office, so most of the times their own houses served as seats of the Executive Power. It was not until the construction of the first National Palace in 1870 that the President had its own permanent office, but the building was destroyed by fire in 1889.

The “Casa Blanca” (White House) was a building constructed in 1884 during the administration of Dr. Rafael Zaldivar as the residency for Salvadorian Presidents during office. It was constructed on the site where Jose Matias Delgado (considered the Founding Father of El Salvador) was born and where it had been located the previous House of Government of the Central American

The “Casa Blanca” (White House) in

San Salvador, late XIX Century


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Federation. Both the architect and the supervisor were Americans (Hunter and Mc Ilwain, respectively). President Zaldivar lived in the “Casa Blanca” from 1884 to May 1885, when he relinquished power to General Fernando Figueroa. Figueroa inhabited there during his Provisional Presidency from May 14 to June 18 1885, when he handed power to Jose Rosales, who was also briefly Provisional President (June 18 to 22, 1885). After General Francisco Menendez took power in June 1885, he moved with his family to the “Casa Blanca” and lived there until the tragic night of June 20, 1890, when he was deposed and killed by General Carlos Ezeta in a coup d’etat. Menendez had been Ezeta’s protector and considered

him almost like a son; but that’s another story that will be told in the future, as both of them have been honored in stamp issues. After this dark episode, no other Salvadorian President lived in the “Casa Blanca”. The building was then used as the Palace of the Executive Power, and, during the Gutierrez, Regalado and Escalon administrations, it was the seat of the State Secretaries. When General Rivas rose against General Ezeta’s Government, armed fighting broke in the streets of the capital. The “Casa Blanca” was used as a fortress and was the scenario of brave fighting, ending ridden by bullets and with corpses all around it.

Postcard sent on August 17, 1910 franked with a 2 cents stamp from the National Palace Issue (Scott 356) – Pierre Cahen Collection

El Salvador Filatélico

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Afterwards, the “Casa Blanca” was used as the seat of the Supreme Court of Justice and other Government offices. It was also used by the General Postal Service, the Parcel Post Customhouse, the Political Governorship of San Salvador and the General Court of Treasury.

The “Casa Blanca” was burnt to the ground on March 20, 1918 when it held the offices of the General Direction of Posts, the General Court of Treasury and the Governorship. Currently, the ruins of the former Libertad Cinema stand in its place.

The first time that the “Casa Blanca” was depicted in Salvadorian postage stamps was in 1896. This stamp is part of one of the Seebeck sets for the year printed by the Hamilton Bank Note Corporation of New York and exists both with and without watermark. As usual with these sets, it exists both in original and reprint papers.

The “Casa Blanca” is depicted in the following Salvadorian stamps: Stamps 1896 2 centavos Lake - Scott 147 with watermark Scott 157C without watermark 1897 2 centavos Green - Scott 160 with watermark Scott 170B without watermark Originals and reprints follow the guidelines stated by Joe Hahn in his studies. Postal Cards 1896 2 centavos Brown - HG 32 HG 40 with paid response Postal Envelopes 1896 2 centavos Red - HGB 53

“Casa Blanca” - 2 Centavos 1896 – Scott No. 147


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1896 2 centavos Red - HGB 53b with “Retun to Sender” legend HGB 59 for visiting cards

1897 2 centavos Green - HGB 61 HGB 61b with “Retun to Sender” legend HGB 66b for visiting cards 1912 2 centavos Green surcharged 5 centavos - HGB 105

Postcard sent on December 4, 1900 from San Salvador to Durham, England. Pierre Cahen collection


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Show-n-TellThis section presents an illustration of an interesting item from the collection of one of our member or collaborators.

Cover sent on May 27, 1941 to Davos, Switzerland with two Scott C31 stamps (40c value of the Columbus Airmail Issue) with shifted perforation.

(Jose Luis Alonzo)


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New Issues Service Collectors interested in having all recent issues of El Salvador can subscribe to our New Issues Service. The general conditions are as follows:

a. The Society will provide the members subscribed to the "New Issues Service" all the stamps issued by El Salvador from the date of the subscription onwards until the collector requests the end of the service or leaves the Society.

b. The stamps will be sold at face value + 10% commission to the Society in order to cover administrative costs.

c. Shipping costs will be based on current postal rates to the country of residence of the collector. In order to save on shipping costs, the new issues will be sent every three months in a single package.

d. In order to subscribe to the New Issues Service, members will have to send US$30 in cash or check from US or Salvadorian banks made payable to

Pierre Cahen (checks from other countries are not accepted), along with the new issue service agreement filled out and signed ( New Issues Service.doc or New Issues Service.pdf ) to the following address:

Pierre Cahen Vipsal 1342 POB 02-5364 Miami Florida 33102 USA

The payment is a deposit in the Society which is debited every time a new issue is purchased or sent to the collector. Every member will receive a statement of his deposit along with each New Issues package. When the deposit reaches a level of US$5 or less, the Society will request a further advance to increase the deposit.

e. Members may cancel the New Issues Services by sending a letter or an e-mail to [email protected] at least a month in advance from the date they wish to end the service

Some of the articles that will appear in Year VIII, Number 4 are:

“Catalogo de Todos los Sellos Postales de la Republica del Salvador”

Visit us at www.elsalvadorphilately.org and become a member!

El Salvador Philatelist, Year VIII, No 3

Documents

Transcript of El Salvador Philatelist, Year VIII, No 3