“Sterilized,” is it a private or postal handstamp?

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

In my column in the Aug. 18, 2014, issue of Linn’s, I wrote about the cover shown here in Figure 1 with the handstamp “Sterilized” on it. The cover originated in France and is addressed to Waterbury, Conn.

A second cover from a different location in France, also to Waterbury, came to me shortly after. It is also shown in Figure 1.

More recently, a third “Sterilized” cover came to light. Illustrated in Figure 2, this cover was sent from England to Waterbury. It is shown courtesy of Steve Taylor, a dealer in the United Kingdom who specializes in United States postal history.

The three covers are addressed to the same family and were sent between November 1924 and June 1926. The markings are identical, and all are in light purple.

“Sterilized” is not a French word and is usually spelled as “sterilised” in Great Britain. So, I think we can conclude that the marking was applied at the place of receipt rather than points of origin.

The next question is, why? Internet searches did not come up with any unusual communicable disease outbreaks in Waterbury in that period. Nor did I find a nearby hospital specializing in communicable diseases.

The previous owner of the cover from England had included a note with it saying that the marking might be connected to an outbreak of mumps, but I have been unable to find anything to support that idea.

I am relatively certain that the markings are private, not postal. If the latter were the case, there should be more examples from and to a wider range of addresses.

One theory is that the addressees were stamp dealers or business owners, and the markings were to reassure buyers or employees.

But that is pure speculation. Perhaps if more examples are found there will be additional clues. In the meantime, this remains a mystery.

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