Page 14 - Mick Bister - The Postcode Programmes of France
P. 14
PHILATEC
INTERNATIONAL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION, PARIS
5-21 JUNE 1964
The large bar codes employed in Programme N° 1 were considered to be too cumbersome and
therefore, while retaining the principle of a two figure alphabetical code, a modified version was
devised with smaller strokes. The start was reduced from 40mm to ?mm and the remaining
strokes from 32mm to 5mm. The two columns were placed side by side rather than above one
another and were applied to the front instead of the back of the envelope.
The new programme, a precursor of the Austerlitz language, was demonstrated at Philatec
(Philately and Technology) in the Grand Palais des Champs Elysees, Paris, from 5-21June1964.
•
The above cover, cancelled by a S.E.C.A.P. -----x ---y
{Societe d' Etude et de Construction d' Appareils
de Precision) cancelling machine, is from the --
demonstration conducted on the final day of the
exhibition, 21 June 1964. Special service covers
numbered 242 received an indexation but no
information was given on how to translate the
strokes into letters.
