Unusual 1963 service suspended markings

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

Events abroad — wars, postal strikes, transportation problems and various disasters — have sometimes prevented mail from being sent beyond our borders. Usually, such suspensions would result in mail being returned to sender with a “Service Suspended” marking.

We see this most often with covers addressed to Europe during World War II, or more recently, addressed to Canada during one of its postal worker strikes.

Two examples from a much scarcer event are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

On the Figure 1 cover, a 1961 11¢ airmail stamped envelope (Scott UC35), “Return Service Suspended” is handwritten. “Service Suspended” was handstamped on the Figure 2 cover.

The precipitating event was a general civil service strike, including postal workers, in British Guiana that lasted 80 days from April to July 1963. Compared to larger countries, such as France or Canada, British Guiana would not receive high volumes of U.S. mail, so these markings are unusual, if not rare. 

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