Page 222 - Collection

World Scout Jamboree 1957

1957: Poached Eggs at the Scout Jamboree.

Th e Post Office expected orders for two (some say
three or even six) milli on first day covers fo r the
I957 Scout Jubil ee Jamboree stamp issue.
Two mac hines were made by Vacuumatic Limited
of Harwich , England , and were ab le to servi ce
120 covers per minute with the set of three stamps.
Despite sav ing untold ho urs of Post Office staff
time, just 60,632 covers were serviced .

Vacuumatic staff and Post Office e ngin eers were
given co il s o f testing labe ls (known to collectors as
poached eggs due to th eir des ign) in a special
fo rm at that would simulate the issued stamps.
Comm emorative stamps were the width of two
definitive stamps and so th e ex isting For Testing
Purposes On ly labe l was prepared in horizonta l
pairs, imperforate between . Printin g was in
grey-black by th e photogravure process of
Harri son a nd Sons Limited o n E2 R St Edwards
Crown watermarked paper so as to close ly
resembl e the issued Scout stam ps.

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~ ~~K.11~~ Mr A. H. Rhodes ,
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Harpenden,
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SUTTON COLDFIELD

AU C 11 .,. 12 ~" 1917

Many tri als with dummy covers were made to adjust the fl ow of water reaching
eac h enve lope and to dete rmine the correct enve lope thi ckness usin g these labels.