How many times have you received mail heavily cancelled or bearing damaged stamps due to handling by the post office? This is a worldwide problem for stamp collectors, but is anyone really doing anything about it?

After hearing the outcry of philatelists in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, postal officials took matters into their own hands. They decided to test small clear plastic film overlays called pellicules. Each test label measured 134 mm long by 85 mm high. The outer edge of the pellicule (7 mm all the way around) had a sticky glue, allowing it to adhere to the envelope paper. The red dashed line roughly shows the "all's clear" area inside the glued rim.

Several hundred test envelopes were prepared and mailed to addresses of Hamilton Stamp Club members who agreed to return them. Each envelope was stuffed with a filler, addressed with a first line reading, "TEST MAIL ITEM - ### (process and deliver as usual)." A sample number replaced the ###. A regular street address followed. A stamp was applied, postmarked, and a clear test label placed covering the upper right corner of the envelope, thus protecting the stamp from harms way.

The example above has a bearly readable postmark in the lower left corner of the stamp from Stoney Creek, site of the region's major mail distribution centre. The date itself is illegible, but the year is clearly 1997. I've been unable to confirm over what period of time these were mailed. The pellicule did its job, as the cover did get additional markings. A sprayed-on marking at the top would have overprinted the stamp. It reads, "095 L8E 2R0 971001 01 41 ))))))))))/UNITED WAY / CENTRAID," thus dating the mailing on October 1. The lower edge of the front and reverse (not pictured above) both have the usual orange automated sorting lines on them. I should also note that the example I have was later enclosed in a shrink-wrap type plastic, taped at both ends.

Did the test work? Well, yes and no. The pellicule did prevent unwanted markings from the stamp. However, the film overlay proved too difficult to remove from the envelope.

Thus ended Hamilton's test. It's unclear whether postal officials plan on a similar test later or decided to pull the plug on the project. In any case, it's great to know that at least something is being done to preserve collectible quality stamps!