Great Lakes American Flag Canceling Machines, 1917-19

by Bob Swanson

Examples of the American flag canceling machine have been seen used from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during the First World War (1917-1919)
Each cancel type (per Langford) will be illustrated with dates of known usage
There is a major mystery regarding dates of usage for these flags vs the "Great Lakes" handstamp
Collector input is vitally important and always requested

American Flag Machine (Langford Type A-38) with 'Great Lakes Receiving Ship' in Flag

American Flag Machine (Langford Type A-38) with 'U. S. Receiving Ship' in Flag

The flag contains the lettering "U. S. Receiving Ship"
Seen used from 10/15/18 to 12/30/19
Note that Great Lakes returned to using the "Great Lakes Receiving Ship" cancel in 1920

American Flag Machine (Langford Type A-14) with Simple No-Diespace flag

Duplex Handstamp of Great Lakes, Illinois

A duplex handstamp was used before the American flag cancel
Seen or reported from (EKU) 5/4/17, through May, then July, August, and December, 1917
See the next slide regarding a major time gap in usages!

Mystery: A Great Lakes, Illinois, handstamp was used before the American flag cancel
Based on the usages seen or reported, there is a major gap in dates of mail from Great Lakes between the handstamp and American flag machine, roughly from August 1917 to May, 1918.
Tens of thousands of sailors were training there during this time.
Where is that mail, and how was it handled?

Flag types designated by the late Frederick Langford in his Flag Cancel Encyclopedia .

Cancelation examples from the collection of Bob Swanson

Mini-Presentation updated 11 March 2020

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