“Öppnadt af Krigscensuren”

The first days of censorship at Tornio, no labels for resealing the inspected covers were available, therefor the covers were bended and resealed with wax seals and by hand was written “Öppnadt af Krigscensuren”

All mail with this inscription were registered letters.

Here below a list of the covers known to me:

R-label
Date
Inspected
Tornio Wax Seal
Destination
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 829
10.VIII.14
15. VIII.14 6i
PO
London
Tykö No 635
13.VIII.14
17.VIII.14 9a
PO
SE Askessund
Turku-Åbo No. 298
5.VIII.14
15.VIII.14 ?
PO
Stockholm
 
 
 
 
 
Hangö-Hanko No 883
11.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl.9
PO A-1
SE-Stockholm
Turku-Åbo No. 297
5.VIII.14
15.VIII.14 9a
PO A-1
BE-Brussels
Turku-Åbo No. 356
7.VIII.14
15.VIII.14 kl 9a
PO A-1
SE-Göteborg
Helsinki H:o.I-Helsingfors F.I. No 69
10.VIII.14
n/a
PO A-1
SE-Stockholm
Urjala No 56
12.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl 9a
PO A-1
US-New York
Fiskars No 796
12.VIII.14
17.VIII.14 kl 9i
PO A-1
SE-Stockholm
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 216
7.VIII.14
15.VIII.14 kl 9a
PO As
SE-Rotabro
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 422
11.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 6i
PO As
UK-London
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 491
13.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 6i
PO As
DK-Copenhagen
Harlu No 308
10.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl 9a
PO As
SE Högsjö
Ås No 429
13.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl 11a
PO As
SE-Göteborg
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 939
13.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl 6a
PO As
DK-Copenhagen
Helsinki-Helsingfors No 457
12.VIII.14
16.VIII.14 kl 11a
removed
SE-Stockholm
 
 
 
 
 

the destination of the registered covers

10  to Sweden
  2 to Denmark
  2 to England
1 to Belgium (not delivered / returned due to the war)
1 to US

No suprise, that the majority went to Sweden, but investigating which Wax Seals were used showed a supprising result.

Tornio PO Wax seal
Tornio * Torneå * Торнео
Tornio PO A-1 Wax seal
Tornio * Torneå * Торнео / A-1
Tornio PO As Wax seal
Tornio As • Torneå B • Торнео Ж. Д

In the, upto now, available catalogues only the Tornio PO and Tornio PO A-1 wax seals have been registered. The Survey of the covers with the hand written text “Öppnadt af Krigscensuren” has supprisingly showed that the significient part of these covers has been closed with a third Wax Seal from the Tornio Railway Postoffice. A seal that has not been registered in any previous catalogue, and only found used the two first days of Censorship, 15 and 16 Aug. 1914..

PO
PO A-1
PO As
Not readable
Total
15 Aug. 1914
2
2
1
 
4
16 Aug. 1914
2
5
1
8
17 Aug. 1914
1
1
 
2
18 Aug. 1914
0
Not readable
1
1
total
3
6
6
1
16

If you know of any similar items not listed here, then please send an email with a image.

Revised: 12 Dec. 2022 / jiv