::: INAUGURAL TREATY PERIOD :::

November 2, 1850 - June 30, 1851

Postal rates were high during the Inaugural Treaty Period. A letter to a San Francisco resident cost 6¢, but a letter for the East via Panama cost 40¢ plus a 2¢ ship fee (the latter charged once per letter but the 40¢ charged for each half ounce). Once the Honolulu Post Office was created, Hawaii charged 10¢ per half ounce in addition to these rates making the postage of a letter from Hawaii to New England 50¢. The United States also assessed a 2¢ ship fee, but the application of that fee to Hawaii mail depended on how the letter entered San Francisco (whether as a separate incoming ship letter, or wrapped in a packet of multiple letters) or whether the letter was prepaid or collect. For a more comprehensive look at postal rates during the Treaty Period, go to Mail Rates.

Hawaii's first postal service began as a simple letter bag kept open at the office of The Polynesian, a newspaper owned by the kingdom of Hawaii. The public was invited to leave letters was promised the employees of the Government Printing Office would place them aboard a suitable vessel bound for San Francisco or Hong Kong. The letter bag was announced in a notice published November 2, 1850. Henry M. Whitney, the GPO employee taking responsibility for the letter bag, devised a simple postmarking device from printer's type and a printer's stick to mark letters left in the letter bag. The postmark, struck in blue ink, was Hawaii's first postmark. A first-day cover for The Polynesian letter bag is illustrated at Treaty Period. Eight covers are recorded with the blue straightline postmark, but the whereabouts of two of those covers has been unknown to the philatelic community for the past seventy years.

An envelope postmarked November 16, 1850, at the office of The Polynesian indicating it was handled in The Polynesian letter bag, Hawaii's first postal service. This letter was a double weight letter sent to San Francisco in a packet of letters addressed to an agent or friend in San Francisco who posted the enclosed letters as ordinary domestic letters so it was rated "80" to collect from the addressee. If it had been delivered as a separate incoming ship letter, the addressee would have been charged 82¢.

On December 21, 1850, Hawaii opened a post office at Honolulu and Henry Whitney was appointed Postmaster of Honolulu. The location of the new post office stayed exactly where it had been during the preceding few weeks, at the office of the Polynesian. At first, one may have been unable to discern much difference. Whitney continued to use the straightline postmark put in use by early November, but changed the ink color to black. He also published information concerning rates and handling arrangements for mail to the United States and Europe.

A first-day cover postmarked in black on the opening day of the Honolulu Post Office, December 21, 1850. The letter was carried to San Francisco on the Chameleon, sailing December 21 and arriving January 22, 1851. The red San Francisco postmark can be seen left of center. This cover was sent with United States postage collect. The blue "PAID" mark was applied at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to indicate payment on delivery, before being forwarded to New Haven. The "42" represents United States postage to collect at Harrisburg. The "5" was added at Harrisburg to indicate the charge for forwarding the letter to New Haven, Connecticut. In addition, the sender paid 10¢ to the Honolulu Post Office, but no rate mark was used to indicate the Hawaii rate paid.

COLLECT OR PREPAID? Allowing Hawaiian residents a convenient way to prepay United States postage in Hawaii was one significant aspect of the Treaty arrangement. Until then, prepaying United States postage meant sending a letter to a friend in San Francisco accompanied with sufficient cash so the friend could prepay the letter at the San Francisco Post Office. Once the Treaty arrangement was working, the sender could pay the United States postage in cash to the Honolulu Post Office. An accounting system between the Honolulu Post Office and the San Francisco Post Office allowed prepaid mail to be adjusted.

A letter sent with United States postage prepaid at the Honolulu Post Office and postmarked with the black Honolulu straightline postmark, dated May 8, 1851.

Private Express Service Between Honolulu and San Francisco:

Datelined January 11, 1851 at Honolulu, this letter probably was carried to San Francisco in the private mail bag of Gregory's Express, which had opened an office in Honolulu. At San Francisco, the Gregory's Express instruction, seen at the lower left of the image, was stricken and the letter was delivered to the post office to be picked up by Ellis & Crosby. If this analysis is accurate, the sender received little advantage by having the letter carried by Gregory's Express.

Other examples of Honolulu straightline postmarks:

END OF THE INAUGURAL TREATY PERIOD: The first change in United States domestic postage following implementation of the Treaty arrangement was effective July 1, 1851, when the 40¢ rate on via Panama mail was reduced to 6¢ for prepaid or 10¢ for collect. This change put an end to the Inaugural Treaty Period.

For a record of covers from the Inaugural Treaty Period

Please E-mail (scott312@earthlink.net) me if you have information about additional covers or can provide images of any recorded covers in the list.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wheeler, Frederic A., "The Honolulu Straight-Line and Its Historical Background", The American Philatelist, Vol. 99, No. 1 [1008], p. 21-35, January, 1985; untitled letter to editor, Vol. 99, No. 5 [1,012], p. 396, May, 1985; "An Addendum," The American Philatelist, Vol. 102, p. 873-874, Sept., 1988. A superb article with photographs of most of the 30 covers identified; quotes pertinent letters and newspaper notices; very well researched but ship rate analysis gets confused; essential for any student of early postal history.

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