The One-and-one-half-cent Prexie
Forwarding issues
Third class mail normally could not be forwarded without additional postage.
This cover contained printed matter sent to a recipient in the United States from Guatemala. The addressee had moved to Costa Rica, so the card had a one-and-one-half-cent Prexie added and was censored in Chicago before being sent on.
Paragraph 10, Section 769 of Postal Laws & Regulations of 1932 provided that, "All mail, no matter what the class, addressed to persons in the United States service (civil, military, or naval) serving in the United States or any of its possessions.... whose change of address is caused by official orders, shall be transmitted as rapidly as possible until it reaches the addressee; the actual location of the addressee for the time being shall be considered as the destination of the piece of mail matter. Such transmission shall not be considered as 'forwarding' in the sense that the word is used by the postal service, and no additional postage shall be required."
The item above was forwarded without charge since the addressee, in the Soil Conservation Service, had been transferred by official order.
By 1943 the volume of mail being sent abroad severely strained available cargo space, and restrictions were tightened. No third class postal matter was to be sent to APO's, with some strict exemptions. Mail that was returned received a sticker or handstamp citing Order #19687, as on this cover.
