Description
Unusual postal handling of returned mail as Poste Restante: undated JUNE 1948 era local TEL AVIV registered cover, franked 25m per period rate using rare 15m 10¾ perforated single (Ba #4e) & 10m (Ba #3), tied by single strike of reintroduced Mandate ALLENBY ROAD BRANCH OFFICE REGISTERED single circle postmark (Groten-I9; with mostly missing date head) + 2x strikes on the back (5 JU barely visible on one strike) + #1334 interim-era serial numbered TEL AVIV 1 registry label (numbers 0001-3202 were used during the interim period) on front; the cover was not claimed by the addressee and was returned to sender, with red crayon notations instructing the return on front & back + sorting number 502; the cover was subsequently re-routed on return as evidenced by a correction to the Post Office Box return address - and also unclaimed; the cover was stamped separately on front & back by English and Hebrew "unclaimed" instructional markings (the Hebrew Sacher-L53 IM being scarce on mail, here well struck) and routed to Poste Restante (eg. awaiting pick-up at the local post office and not at the specified address) as evidenced by the pencilled "PR" instruction on the front (and recognized as such by the manuscript - as seen on other period covers) and additional sorting number 236 in carmine crayon - this highly unusual and not seen by this cataloguer on unclaimed mail; doubly unusual as such a service on local city mail was charged a 10m fee. The additional pencilled comments on the back suggest the cover remained unclaimed and this may be the reason the cover was finally opened (torn at left) in order to try and return the mail. The Allenby Road branch office received the Israeli trilingual canceller on 1 July.