Date of Issue : 13 May 2011
On May 13th, Canada Post issued a domestic rate stamp to commemorate the history of mail delivery by dog sleds. The stamp design features a dog sled and its musher crossing a snowy wilderness, as well as images of some early pieces of mail sent by dog sled. The stamp represents the importance Canada Post has always attached to serving Canadians in remote rural communities.
Dog Sled Mail Run background
The Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run is living history. For the past 19 years, on the fourth weekend of January, dog teams and dedicated mushers who have been sworn in as official mail carriers have carried Canada Post mail in their dog sleds over the Gold Rush Trail. Special Mail Run envelopes are stamped "Carried by Dog Team" and are hand cancelled in Quesnel, Wells and Barkerville, the three post offices along the route. Once delivered to Barkerville, this mail enters the regular mail system for delivery anywhere in the world.
Throughout the northern half of Canada, sled dog teams transported the winter mail from the early 1800's to the 1920's, when airplanes piloted by returning daredevil WWI aces introduced what came to be known as air mail. This gradually displaced the sled dogs as these pilots opened up Canada's frontier, however in a few isolated locations winter mail was still delivered by dog team until the 1960's.
Permanent Pictorial Cancellations
Tamil Nadu
Permanent Pictorial Postmark – 9 - Velankanni
Date of Inauguration of PPP - November 29, 1976
Velankanni
Velankanni, also spelt Vailankanni is located on the shores of Bay of Bengal, 12 Km south of Nagapattinam. The town, once a port, traded with Rome and Greece, is also famous for the Roman Catholic Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. The shrine that started as a thatched chapel in the mid sixteenth century became a parish church in 1771 when Catholics in India were under persecution from the Dutch. Later in 1962 it was granted a Special status of a Minor Basilica by Pope John XXIII. The Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, also known as the "Lourdes of the East," is one of the most frequented religious sites in India. The Shrine is kept open from 5.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.
: Kasinath R.,Thanjavur email : kasinath80@gmail.com
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