HAWAII [AN] POSTAL SERVICE

 

Member Countries of the UPU when Hawaii joined on January 1, 1882 were: Aden, Antigua, Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, British Burma, British Colonies on Africa West Coast, British Guyana, British Honduras, British India and Hindoostan, British Virgin Islands, Ceylon, Chile, Columbia, Denmark and Iceland and Danish Colonies, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Falkland Islands, France, French Colonies, Germany, Gibraltar, Great Britain including Malta, Greece including the Ionian Islands, Greenland, Grenada Island, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Labuan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Montenegro, Montserrat, Netherlands, Netherlands Colonies, Nevis, Newfoundland, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Portugal including Madeira and Azores, Portuguese Colonies, Romania, Russia including Finland, Serbia, Seychelles Islands, Spain including Balearic and Canary Islands, Spanish Colonies, Spanish North Africa and Morocco, St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Straits Settlements, Sweden, Switzerland, Tobago, Trinidad, Turkey, Turks Islands, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zanzibar. Dates of entry are set out in Starnes, Charles J., United States Letter Rates To Foreign Destinations 1847 to GPU-UPU, rev. ed., 1989, pgs. 60-62.

 

Countries joining after Hawaii were: Nicaragua (May 1, 1882), Costa Rica (January 1, 1883), Siam (July 1, 1885), Bolivia (April 1, 1886), New Zealand and Australian Colonies (October 1, 1891), Natal (July 1, 1892), Cape Colony (February 1, 1895) and St. Helena and Ascension (October 1, 1896). Information is from Starnes, supra.

 

United States rates in the Pre-Postal Period varied according to the distance a letter was to be carried from the post office where it entered the mail. These "zone" rates were stable from 1816 (with a minor change in 1825) to 1845. United States zone rates were substantially modified in 1845 to reduce the number of zones to just two. Rates were adopted in 1847 for mail to or from the Pacific Coast and in 1848 for mail sent from one place in the West to another place in the West.

 

United States Postage Rates, 1816 To December 21, 1850 - The Pre-Postal Period:


YearDistanceSingleShip Fee per letterTotalDoubleTriple
1816Delivery at port of entry6¢6¢6¢6¢
Not over 30 miles6¢2¢8¢14¢20¢
31 to 80 miles10¢2¢12¢22¢32¢
81 to 150 miles12½¢2¢14½¢27¢37½¢
151 to 400 miles18½¢2¢20½¢39¢57½¢
Over 400 miles25¢2¢27¢52¢77¢
1845Delivery at port of entry6¢6¢6¢6¢
Not over 300 miles5¢2¢7¢12¢17¢
Over 300 miles10¢2¢12¢22¢32¢
1847From the Pacific Coast40¢2¢42¢82¢$1.22
1848From the Pacific Coast to East Coast addresseesdittodittodittodittoditto
To San Francisco addressees6¢6¢6¢6¢
To other California places12½¢2¢14½¢27¢39½¢


  • A single letter was defined by the number of letter sheets until 1827, and thereafter by weight, one ounce being a single letter until 1845, and one half ounce thereafter.

  • The 18½¢ rate was changed to 18¾¢ effective June 1, 1825.

  • The ship fee, including the ship rate on letters for delivery at the port of entry, were on a per letter basis, rather than weight. This feature of the ship fee remained constant until the ship rate became irrelevant to Hawaii mail in 1870.

  • In the period 1849-1850, rate marks shown at San Francisco on letters originating in Hawaii sometimes include the ship fee and sometimes omit it. This difference arises because of the way the letter was delivered to the San Francisco Post Office. If a letter was delivered by the captain as a ship letter, the ship fee was added to the rate. If a letter was enclosed in a letter packet and addressed to a friend or agent at San Francisco, the letter packet was delivered as a ship letter with six cents ship fee due, regardless of weight, but the friend or agent posted the enclosed letters at the San Francisco Post Office where they were received as ordinary domestic letters, on which no ship fee was due. The letter packet system lasted until Hawaii adopted a ten cents per half ounce rate on letter packets.

 

Summary of Letter Rates, December 21, 1850 to June 30, 1851:


Type of LetterHawaiian PostageU.S. PostageShip Fee Per LetterTotalDouble
U.S. East prepaid or collect10¢40¢2¢52¢$1.02
Port of Entry prepaid or collect10¢-6¢ per letter16¢26¢
West Coast prepaid or collect10¢12½¢2¢24½¢47¢


  • The Honolulu Post Office opened December 21, 1850 and began to charge postage on foreign mail leaving or entering Hawaii. Hawaiian rates are per ½ ounce.

  • United States rates changed, effective July 1, 1851.

  • Henry Whitney's early published rate notices for prepaid mail omitted the ship fee and listed 50¢, instead of 52¢, as the rate for a single letter to go via Panama, including Hawaiian postage. Whitney absorbed the two cents ship fee paid to the United States in the ten cents Hawaii postage until September, 1851. He may also have been unfamiliar with the two cents ship fee at first. Also, Hawaii never included the Hawaiian postage in rate marks applied to paid letters at Honolulu. Thus, Honolulu rate marks on paid letters in this Period always show a "40" rate. Further, on paid letters, San Francisco omitted the ship fee in rate marks shown, although it charged the ship fee to the Honolulu Post Office account. That omission was due probably to a lack of any perceived need to show it since nothing was due from the recipient on delivery. Collect mail was unaffected because postage was paid by the recipients and the San Francisco office included the ship fee in the rate to be collected. The United States charged the ship fee on all letters arriving at San Francisco by non-contract vessels, regardless of whether it actually paid anything to the captain, so San Francisco rate marks on collect letters always include the ship fee.

 

Summary of Letter Rates, July 1, 1851 to May 16, 1855 - The Early Treaty Period July 1, 1851 to September 12, 1851


Type of LetterHawaiian PostageU.S. PostageShip Fee Per LetterTotalDouble
Prepaid to United States, East Coast10¢6¢2¢18¢34¢
Collect to United States, East Coast10¢10¢2¢22¢42¢
To San Francisco, or other port of entry; rate includes ship fee 10¢6¢ per letter -16¢26¢
To Other West Coast Destinations, Prepaid10¢3¢2¢15¢28¢
To Other West Coast Destinations, Collect10¢5¢2¢17¢32¢


  • Effective September 13, 1851, Hawaii reduced the rate on foreign mail from 10¢ per half ounce to 5¢ per half ounce.

 

September 13, 1851 to May 16, 1855


Type of LetterHawaiian PostageU.S. PostageShip Fee Per LetterTotalDouble
Prepaid to United States, East Coast5¢6¢2¢13¢24¢
Collect to United States, East Coast5¢10¢2¢17¢32¢
To San Francisco, or other port of entry; rate includes ship fee 5¢6¢ per letter -11¢16¢
To Other West Coast Destinations, Prepaid5¢3¢2¢10¢18¢
To Other West Coast Destinations, Collect5¢5¢2¢12¢22¢


  • United States domestic rates changed effective April 1, 1855, but Hawaii was unaware of the new rates and continued using the old rates until the mail of May 16, 1855.

 

Summary of Letter Rates, May 16, 1855-August 30, 1863 - The Middle Treaty Period:

 

United States domestic postage rates changed on April 1, 1855. They became known in Hawaii in time to be applied to the mail of May 16, 1855. Until then, the 1851 rates continued to apply.


Type of LetterHawaiian PostageU.S. PostageShip Fee Per LetterTotalDouble
Letters
To U.S. East Coast paid or unpaid5¢10¢2¢17¢32¢
To U.S. under 3,000 miles paid or unpaid5¢3¢2¢10¢18¢
To U.S. East of Rocky Mountains after 27 Feb 18615¢10¢2¢17¢32¢
To U.S. West of Rocky Mountains after 27 Feb 18615¢3¢2¢10¢18¢
To San Francisco5¢6¢ per letter-11¢16¢
To SF after 27 Feb 18615¢5¢ per letter-10¢15¢
To Inland California and Oregon5¢3¢2¢10¢18¢
From the U.S. East Coast (before Nov., 1856)5¢10¢-15¢30¢
From the U.S. East Coast (after Oct., 1856)5¢10¢2¢17¢32¢
From SF and the West (before Nov., 1856)5¢3¢-8¢16¢
From SF and the West (after Oct., 1856)5¢3¢2¢10¢18¢
Newspapers - 1852 rates stayed in effect2¢1¢1¢4¢

 

Summary of Letter Rates, August 30, 1863 to June 30, 1870 - The Late Treaty Period:

 

United States postage rates changed, effective July 1, 1863. Those rates were first applied to mail from Hawaii on August 30, 1863, after news of the rate change reached Hawaii. Several sub-Periods exist in the Late Treaty Period because of mistakes made by postal authorities in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Honolulu in attempting to apply the 1863 rates. On July 1, 1870, a Postal Convention between Hawaii and the United States took effect and controlled postage rates.

 

A drop letter rate was introduced in the United States along with the other rate changes of July 1, 1863. Drop letters were defined as letters dropped for recipients at the office where mailed.

 

Prepayment of the drop rate with United States stamps was required. Hawaii mail for San Francisco addressees qualified if prepaid in stamps because they were deposited in the United States mail at San Francisco. Until April 30, 1865, the proper prepaid drop rate was 2¢ plus a 2¢ ship fee for a total charge of 4¢, all to be paid in United States stamps. Prepayment without stamps might also have been tolerated but no such covers have been discovered to date. Collect mail to San Francisco addressees should have been rated at the normal double domestic rate, or 6¢. Surviving collect letters from Hawaii for San Francisco addressees show some were rated at 6¢ due and others at 4¢ due with no apparent pattern. Moreover, prepayment in Hawaiian stamps rather than United States stamps apparently was tolerated

 

On May 1, 1865, the United States reduced the drop rate to 1¢ in cities (such as San Francisco) without a free carrier delivery. However, Hawaiian letters addressed to San Francisco appear to have been charged 2¢ plus a 2¢ ship fee despite the 1865 reduction. The authority, if any, for that rate has not been found. Finally, there was no drop rate for contract mail. All mail for United States delivery was charged 10¢ per ½ ounce regardless of where it was to be delivered.

 

August 30, 1863-August 23, 1864:


Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaidPrepaid or Collect
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee-2¢2¢
U. S.6¢3¢2¢
Total11¢10¢9¢

September 3, 1864-September 30, 1864:


Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaidPrepaid or Collect
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee--2¢
U. S.10¢10¢2¢
Total15¢15¢9¢

September 21, 1864-November 9, 1864:


Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaidPrepaid or Collect
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee-2¢2¢
U. S.10¢10¢2¢
Total15¢17¢9¢

November 23, 1864:


Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaidPrepaid or Collect
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee--2¢
U. S.10¢10¢2¢
Total15¢15¢9¢

December 3, 1864-September 12, 1867:


Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaidPrepaid or Collect
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee2¢2¢2¢
U. S.6¢3¢2¢
Total13¢10¢9¢

September 25, 1867-June 30, 1870:


Contract Vessel (the same rate applied regardless of where the letter was delivered and regardless of whether paid of collect)
Hawaii5¢
United States10¢
Total15¢
Non-Contract Vessel
Via San FranciscoSan Francisco Delivery
UnpaidPrepaid
Hawaii5¢5¢5¢
Ship Fee2¢2¢2¢
U. S.6¢3¢2¢
Total13¢10¢9¢

 


July 1, 187018721874Oct. 1, 18751876Aug. 1, 18781879
Hawaii
First Class
To U.S.6¢ per ½ oz.******
From U.S.-------
Newspapers2¢+****1¢+*
Pamphlets, circulars, printed sheet music4¢+****1¢/2oz.+*
Books, patterns, samples2¢/1oz.+****1¢/4oz.+*
Registration15¢+******
U.S.
First Class
To Hawaii6¢ per ½ oz.******
From Hawaii-------
Newspapers
From publisher2¢/pound+*****4¢/pound or 2¢/pound ex-advertising +
Transient2¢/4oz.+1¢/2oz.+*1¢/1oz.+1¢/2oz.+**
Other printed matter4¢/4oz.+******
Samples, patterns-------
Registration15¢+*8¢+10¢+***

* means the rate was unchanged from the previous column

- means there was no charge

+ means both the Hawaii and United States rate were charged