Swiss Airmail to the U.S.: a Rate Study

 

A Philatelic Exhibit by George Struble

 

An Introduction

 

This exhibit shows the various airmail rates from Switzerland to the U.S.  This is a rich history, with many nuances.  There are three main periods:

 

·         1924 to 1939: Airmail could not be flown across the Atlantic, but Swiss could pay for airmail within the U.S. with Swiss postage.  This is not well known, and examples are hard to find.  Especially in 1924-1926 when the Swiss rates replicated the U.S. rate structure by zones.  I would love to show an example of each zone in each of the six rate periods in those three years; I believe I am fortunate to have one cover!

 

·         1939 to 1981: Airmail was carried across the Atlantic.  Many things happened during World War II as routes changed by necessity; censorship is worthy of a study in itself.  This exhibit does not dwell on censorship or routing changes; its focus is on postage rates. 

During most of this period -- like the period 1924 to 1939, the airmail postge for a letter consisted of a base (surface) rate plus an airmail surcharge.  But in 1971 the structure changed to unified comprehensive rates: an airmail postage rate for the letter -- like the structure the U.S. and many other countries had always used.

 

·         1981 to the present: separate rates for airmail were abolished, and presumably all mail went by air.

 

There were other major changes.  In 1991 Switzerland introduced Priority ("A") and Economy ("B") levels of service.  And in 1996 Swiss Post differentiated rates by the dimensions of the item: higher rates for larger as well as for heavier items.

 

Those form the three major sections of the exhibit.  There are two smaller sections:

 

·         Catapult and Zeppelin flights

 

·         Mail to Hawaii, which until 1977 had rates from Switzerland different from those to the continental U.S.  I try to tell the story, but can’t begin to illustrate all the rates; Swiss mail to Hawaii is scarce!

 

I try to show all airmail rates, with examples of each.  I explain the franking of each cover, including the surface rates and the rates for auxiliary services: registration, express, avis de reception, “eigenhändig”, export declared, as well as post card and printed mater rates.  I do not try to show examples of each weight step in each period; your eyes would glaze over!

 

I do show anomalies – covers with U.S. postage, covers that looked like airmail but weren’t, but some were flown anyway, etc.  And other things around the fringes of the rules; we can often learn a great deal from the exceptional cases!  Some covers are frustrating because no markings or arrival postmarks show us how a cover was treated.

 

I want to acknowledge my gratitude to

            Steve Weston, who acquired the nucleus of this exhibit and sold it to me

            Mike Peter, who furnished many of the more recent covers

            Fritz Graf, whose knowledge of Swiss postage rates was invaluable to me!

 

May 30, 2020