Yes, I admit to buying First Day Covers (F.D.C.) in the years of my collecting Australian covers, but not in the last 30 years, yet this one was an exception due to a low fixed cost price sale in 1999, plus an interesting display of postmarking. The cover was registered with a blue R6 registration label of CORINDA, S.W.4 Queensland label and the red crayon lines front and reversed. The complete Peace set of red 2½d, blue 3½d and green 5½d were each carefully cancelled CORINDA/ 18 FE 46/ QUEENSLAND, and the sender had typed at lower left ‘Official First Day Cover, Australian Peace Stamps. 18.2.46. It was addressed to a Mr. K.C. Robinson, 18 Boulder Crescent, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America. The prominent Pointing Finger Returned to Sender, with the purple handstamp instruction UNCLAIMED/ From Colorado Springs, had been applied with care, twice as well as another purple handstamp MAR 20 1946/ Second Notice, No Reply/ To First Notice Mailed… There was a pencilled ms., the meaning of which was uncertain (Figure 1).
The reverse has a neatly typed address of Miss J.T. Lawson, Hassall Street,Corinda. S.W.4, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, as well as 7 circular postmarks and 2 copies of the purple Pointing Finger, as seen on the front. There is a symmetry of the postmarks as if the various postal office workers were respecting the fact that it was a First Day cover! There was a CORINDA/ 18 FE 46/ QUEENSLAND [1] as on the front, a next day transit mark of REGISTERED BRISBANE/ 1030A/ 19 FE 46/ QLD. AUST [2], and there was a purple transit double circle SAN FRANCISCO/ CALIF./MAR/ 13/ 1946/ REGISTERED [3]. The cover arrived at its destination as shown by the faint purple double circle COLORADO SPRINGS/ COLO./ MAR/16/ 1946/ REG. STN [4]. With the failure to deliver the cover twice , it was sent back to Australia with a transit cancel again in SAN FRANCISCO/ APR/26/1946/CALIF. [5], which is a different cancellation than that on the inward journey. There is another faint black REGISTERED postmark which probably is that of Brisbane, on the cover’s return to Australia, dated ( )MY46 [6], and finally the black postmark of special interest, when it was returned to the sender, which is shown as CORINDA POST DEPOT S.W.4/ 27 MY 46/ QLD-AUST [7]. Once again, there were 2 examples of the purple pointed finger with ‘RETURN TO SENDER/ UNCLAIMED/ From Colorado Springs (Figure 2).
The CORINDA POST DEPOT S.W.4./ 27 MY46/ QLD-AUST is shown separately, and it is magnified (Figure 3).
I cannot recall seeing the use of ‘Post Depot’ in relation to Queensland postmarks, and on consulting my copy of Allan Cowan & Terry Dell’s Queensland Datestamps 1860-2000 published in May 2003, I found that there was an entry for Corinda, a suburb of Brisbane as well as for Corinda Post Depot, and the latter’s details were as follows: Type 1 postmark with no time marking, 30.5 mm diameter, CORINDA POST DEPOT SW4/QLD AUST, rarity rating ‘R’, earliest recorded date: 10 MR 56; latest recorded date: none given. The present cancel is now the earliest recorded date of 27 May 1946, with the latest recorded date now being 10 March 1956.
I found that the following post offices had similar ‘Post Depot’ cancellations (in alphabetical order): post office; date(s); rarity.
ALDERLEY 1936-58 ‘S’
ANNERLEY 1953-56 ‘S’
ASHGROVE 1938-57 ‘—‘
BULIMBA —————–
CAMP HILL 1954-71 ‘C’
CHERMSIDE ————-‘R’
COORPAROO 1950-51 ‘R’
CORINDA 1956 ‘R’
GAYTHORNE 1957 ‘R’
LUTWYCHE 1941 ‘2R’
MOOROOKA 1941 ‘R’
MOOROOKA 1950 ‘R’ Second type
MORNINGSIDE 1948 ‘R’
NEW MARKET 1950-56 ‘—‘
ORIEL PARK 1936-56 ‘S’
SUNNY BANK 1951 ‘S’
SUNNY BANK 1973 ‘S’ Second type
VINCENT 1970 ‘R’
It became obvious very soon that all the Postal Depots were in the suburbs of Brisbane, except for Vincent, which was a suburb of Townsville. Presumably these depots were opened to speed delivery of mail in Brisbane, in the time period shown. Only one of these postmarks was considered common ‘C’, the others being scarce (‘S’), or rare ‘R’ & ‘RR’.