What is a handstamp at the post office?

It's interesting:
"What about the bride then, ladies and gentlemen? How wonderful she looks today. And Paul has scrubbed up quite nicely too – it’s amazing what a flannel and a bar of soap can do. But it’s a bit rude of him to have copied my outfit eh!"

Handstamp is a term that usually refers to hand-canceling a piece of mail, as opposed to canceling it by machine. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and cancels the majority of mail today by machine. By special request you can still have items handstamped, or canceled. By canceling the stamp, the USPS is confirming that the postage has been paid by the sender and that the stamp cannot be used again. Although less common, a handstamp can also refer to any type of stamp or marking placed on mail by the USPS giving direction or additional information, such as Return to Sender or Address Unknown. The word handstamp originates from the German word handstempel, which means to hand cancel or hand stamp.

1. History of Handstamps

   • Prior to the 1890s, all mail was canceled by hand. Mail was marked with both a hand cancel stamp when it was sent and a back stamp, showing the date the mail was received until 1913. Handstamps are studied and collected by postal historians and collectors. Early handstamps were simply a large black smudge that obliterated the stamp almost entirely. These are referred to as Killer or Obliterator type handstamps.

   Other Types of Handstamps

   • In addition to the Killer handstamp, other categories of handstamps for canceling mail include the Fancy Cancel, First Day Cancel and Pictorial or Event Cancel. A Fancy Cancel was used in the 1800s as an alternative to the Killer cancel. It was an elaborate design, usually depicting a bird, animal or geometric shape. A First Day Cancel is a special cancel to be used on a new stamp on its first day of issue. It usually includes the wording "First Day of Issue." A Pictorial or Event Cancel is created to commemorate an event or the anniversary of an event. This type of handstamp will usually include a picture of the event. Current handstamps are usually 3 1/2 inches by 1 inch. Pictorial handstamps cannot exceed 4 inches by 2 inches.

   Current Handstamps

   • Today, special handstamps are usually created by individual post offices. These may commemorate a holiday, a local event or the town's name where the post office is located. An example would be Christmas, Florida, which hand cancels thousands of Christmas cards every year with a holiday-themed stamp. People often will bring their cards to this post office just to get them handstamped. Because it is such a small post office, volunteers from the community help stamp the Christmas mail every year. Another example would be custom handstamps created in 2009 for Valentine's Day by post offices residing in towns with names that played well with the holiday, such as Beauty, Kentucky- Loves Park, Illinois- and Hartville, Wyoming.

   Handstamping Timely Items

   • Handstamps are also used in situations where date stamp is critical, such as April 15 or Tax Day. Most U.S. Post Offices will stay open late on April 15 and will handstamp all mail that arrives before midnight. Many people want to see their tax return actually hand canceled since the date is so important.

   Requesting a Handstamp Today

   • Today mail is sorted and canceled by automated high speed machinery. This machinery can crush dimensional effects on invitations and cards and also cannot sort oddly shaped, non-standard envelopes. Wedding invitations are a common item where handstamps are requested. You must take your invitations into the local Post Office and request a handstamp.

Source: www.ehow.com

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