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Cresswell

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 9:30 pm
by melchas
Can anyone give me a clear definition and image of what a Cresswell is, please? I thought I knew but keep reading that what I thought was a Cresswell probably isn't. Enlightenment would be much appreciated.

Re: Cresswell

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:54 pm
by admin
Belated answer (sorry): as I understand it, it was a "machine" that was fitted with unusually small datestamps, either on their own, or more usually part of a duplex. With "machine" being a bit of a grand term for what was basically a hand-operated gadget that automatically inked the datestamp, along the same lines as the ones they use at post office counters nowadays.

Called Cresswell after either the inventor or the official who introduced it, can't recall which! I suspect the confusion may be that a lot of small datestamps get called "Cresswells", when really they only count if they were made by one of those particular gadgets.

Mostly used in London as I recall, with some provincial ones (Exeter being a well known one).

Googling around, this page seems to have a few representative examples:

http://www.kcphilatelics.co.uk/Early_Machine.htm

and the LPHG books list a number of them too:

http://www.gbps.org.uk/information/down ... blications