What was the first "dated precancel? That question might evoke any number of responses, but the first truly dated precancel was an integral and not even used on a mailing.
The following reprint from The Precancel Forum, Dec. 1940, p.237, gives the story. It was written by Thomas Quinn Beesley, President, National Council on Business Mail, Inc.
The "First" Dated Precancel
by Thomas Quinn Beesley
This integral precancel is definitely the progenitor of all the dated precancels issued under the Post Office Department instructions dated June 4,1938.
The story begins with the initials NCBMU. They represent "National Council of Business Mail Users", which was renamed "National Council on Business Mail" on January 1, 1940. The Council was organized at Chicago, Ill., in 1924, and incorporated not-for-profit in Delaware in 1932. It is a federation of the largest users of business mail approximately 1000 in number, with which are affiliated 14 trade associations in fields related to business use of the mails. The membership represents approximately one-third of the total postal revenues of the United States.
Until 1934 the Council's headquarters were in New York; from 1934 to 1939, in the Conway Building, Chicago, and since 1939, in Washington, D.C. It is supported entirely by voluntary contributions, no fee being charged for its services which are available to anyone who can establish a valid philatelic or postal interest as measured by Council requirements of members.
The Council's "Member's Service Letter" of June 19, 1938, was the first statement issued on the new precancel order of June 4th, which appeared in the "Postal Bulletin" on June 8th.
Without being mentioned by name, because of the Council's almost old-fashioned reluctance to take credit by names for its work, NCBMU was the organization hinted at on page 1 of Rolston Lyon's "Handbook of Dated Control Precancels", where he refers to "conferences between officials of the Post Office Department and representatives of the larger users of precancels", prior to June 4, 1938. As a matter of historical record, NCBMU offered the proposal which resulted in the present method of dated control precancels.
It was only Lyon's sharp eye and long memory which led to this history. We ordered copies of his "Handbook" and he associated the name on our letterhead with "NCBMU". So this article was practically forced out of us at the point of Rolston Lyon's pen!
NCBMU, as an integral precancel, was the first experiment ever made on methods of applying the new instructions to stamps. We knew that the order was about to be issued, and we bought a sheet of 1/2c Presidential's to be used as a "guinea pig". The sheet was divided into sections and laboratory experiments were made with rubber handstamps, rollers, and flatbed printing press, by arrangement in confidence with various of our members. At the conclusion of the experiments the stamps were burned in my office ashtray--every one checked in and accounted for, and entirely cremated in the presence of witnesses. From this experiment came the real NCBMU.
The experiments we made were continued by our larger members and affiliated associations, with the results communicated confidentially to those manufacturing equipment for such cancellation use. Our own decision was that the technique to be used depended entirely on the volume of mail to be handled. We chose printing for NCBMU only because of the length of our name--if one could get those initials, plus the month and year, on a stamp then any combination of letters and dates could be used. By a mere coincidence Franklin Gothic was the type-face selected for our 1/2c Benjamin Franklin stamp experimental printings.
The second stage came when we decided to use our experiment for educational purposes in a mailing scheduled for June 14, 1938, addressed to firms in the paper trades, 369 in number, who had expressed an interest in the Council and its work. To each letter we affixed one of the experimental NCBMU's, pasted flat to the paper with a special gum.
For this mailing 500 of the new 1/2c Presidential series had been purchased from a Chicago stamp dealer. They were printed by Buckley, Dement & Company in Chicago. Arrangements were made with the Chicago postmaster, Ernest J. Kruetgen, who obtained official approval of the experiment by a long-distance phone call to Washington, since the Council did not have a Chicago precancel permit.
Every copy of the 500 stamps has been carefully accounted for, and it is only fair to give the collectors this accounting:
 | 369 were used on the mailing mentioned above, enclosed in another envelope. |
| One is on the file copy of the letter, in our files. |
| Ten spoiled or torn, and destroyed by fire in our office ashtray. |
| 120 were left on hand, and disposed of as follows: |
| Two blocks of 4 were sent to the then-President of the Precancel Stamp Society, Henry 0. Nouss, in convention at the Melbourne Hotel, St. Louis, with a full summary of data on NCBMU in a letter. |
| A block of 4 to Third Assistant Postmaster General Black; similar blocks to Roy M. North and Robert E. Fellers. |
| One attached to a letter to Mr. Edward J.Vining, St. Louis, during the Precancel Stamp Society convention. |
| One in a letter to Stephen G. Rich, editor of the "Precancel Bee", Verona, N.J. |
| Two to T. J. Carney, president of Sears, Roebuck & Company for his sons collections. |
| One to Horace J. Donnelly, our General Counsel, for his collection. |
| One each to eleven individuals, representing our executive committee and office staff. |
| One each to the editors of "Stamps" and "Mekeel's". |
| A block of 4 to Miss Marguerite A. Lehand, personal secretary to the President. |
| A panel of 10 (five wide by two deep) to the President of the United States; Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes; Postmaster General James A. Farley; Arnett W. Leslie, president of the John Leslie Paper Company, Minneapolis; Richard S. Bull (now deceased); former president of Bradner Smith Paper Company, Chicago; Patricia Beesley, my daughter; and myself (plus a single and a vertical pair). |
| The vertical pair, last mentioned, has been presented to Rolston Lyon, Washington, D.C. for his reference collection of dated control precancels. |
| The remaining five copies were accidentally crumpled in the file and torn. They were thereupon destroyed by me personally. |
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