By Peter Griffin
Note. Unfortunately on page 14 an illustration of the Krag cancellation was left out, I have put it in at the start of part 2, and apologise for this omission. Editor
Part 2
Special Wembley publicity slogans of Great Britain 1924 - 25
During the period the Wembley Empire Exhibition was open a range of publicity slogans appeared promoting events to be held at the stadium. The first to appear, and the only one for 1924 was the Pageant of Empire slogan.
The Pageant of Empire was a three part production on the grand scale that depicted famous happenings in British History. Although the slogan was used on 34 machines throughout the country it does not turn up very often (fig 1).
Beside the double circle Hey Dolphin cancels a triangle containing the telegraphic codes appeared for London Eastern District Office and Newcastle-on-Tyne. These codes, E.D.O. and N.T. are particularly scarce but just the sort of thing that might turn up unexpectedly, as so few people would realise their significance. The slogans were in use from 10th July to 1st September 1924.
The only special slogan to appear that did not actually promote an event was the Fellowship slogan. During 1924 the Exhibition Fellowship was founded by the Prince of Wales as a patriotic fund -raising organisation to help finance the 1925 Exhibition. (1924 had not been the financial success hoped for so there were no profits to be re-invested.)
For the then considerable sum of two guineas one could become a member of the Fellowship. For this princely amount one received a special badge and a certificate signed by the Prince of Wales himself. Members were allowed certain concessions on entrance fees and tickets for events taking place at the Stadium. The slogans appeared from mid-march to August 1925 (fig 2). They appeared on Hey Dolphin machines only and at just two London Offices, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
The first special attraction of the 1925 season was to be the military display 'London Defended'. Originally planned to run from 6th to 27th May at the Stadium the slogans were issued to that effect and were already in use, when the starting date had to be put back due to last minute problems. The Exhibition, and 'London Defended' eventually opened on 9th May 1925, but the performances continued until 1st June to make up for lost time.
Single circle Universal machines were used at three offices in London, and at four Provincial Offices. Southampton had two, one of which was the very rare Paquebot cancel, apparently the only such date die issued.
Seven London offices used a total of 16 double circle Hey Dolphin machines and a further eight from Provincial Offices (fig 3). Triangles appeared from London S. E. 1 and Glasgow G. W. both scarce. PAID dies appeared from Paddington and Southampton, again rare and I'm still looking.
Probably the most interesting series to concentrate on collecting are the Torchlight Tattoo slogans.
The
Tattoo was an evening performance, actually lit by searchlights and
was planned to start on 24th August, which somewhat surprisingly it
did,and to run until 26th September. Warm dry evenings and favourable
publicity caused the final date to be extended four times. The
original slogan (fig 4) was used on 42 machines at 24 different
offices, nine of which were in London. This included Universal and
Hey Dolphin machines, again with the odd scarce triangle and Paid
dies being used. Three London offices changed their slogans to read
24th Aug - 10th Oct (fig 5) and as the dates moved ahead again some
offices removed the date altogether. Both of these types are
understandably difficult to find but are just the sort of rather
boring looking item that collector after collector would shuffle
through in a dealer's junk box without realising their significance.
When it was finally decided to let the performances run to the end of the Exhibition (31st October) many offices filled the date areas with various arrangements of blobs and bars. (figs 6, 7 & 8). Sheffield rather outshone the others by coming up with two very scarce types, totally different from anything else (figs 9 & 10)These are highly sought after and fetch good prices in any condition. (Hint, Hint!)
Some of these slogans exist in as many as three states so it is a real challenge to try and find matching pairs and trios bearing the same machine code from a particular office.
Another pair of cancellations that perhaps should fall into this range of publicity slogans are the very attractive machine cancels from Ulster. I have already listed them amongst the Empire cancellations, but as they were used within the British Isles and encourage a visit to the Ulster Pavilion they deserve a mention here. A number of philatelic items are around, usually on postal stationery, but genuine used examples are surprisingly scarce and very desirable in good condition (fig 11 & 12).
Though some of these special slogans are quite easy to find, to make a complete collection of each source and type would be a monumental task and I'm not sure anyone has yet attempted it let alone achieved it. They can be found for as little as 50p in good condition and as much as £50 for a scarce type even in poor condition.