I’ve been told that I seem to have an affinity for “ugly” covers, though I find this suggestion rather misleading. I prefer instead to think that I have a soft spot for covers with “character.” Truthfully, these can sometimes be one in the same- take the example shown here, for instance.

It is a well-traveled cover, franked with 3c KGV Admiral issue, addressed to Pte Gordon Parker, whose enlistment papers inform us was born in Newport, Hants, Nova Scotia but at his time of enlistment in 1917 was living in Whitinsville Massachusetts, USA.

The cover was addressed to him at Bramshott Camp, which, along with Bordon and Whitley, was one of the three camps in the Aldershot Command Area. As the Canadian Postal Corps apparently did not find Pte. Parker in camp, the cover was redirected to the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the British Expeditionary Force in France, finally makings it way back to Dudley Avenue, Whitinsville, USA. The notation “ADD[RESS] UNKNOWN” was crossed out and ENGLAND written over it, but it appears unlikely this letter ever reached its intended recipient. It bears two unclear backstamps and an oval Halifax marking on the front, though as there are no apparently DLO markings, it is possible that Pte. Parker was found after all.

Pte. Parker does not appear in Canada’s Book of Remembrance, and as the cover lacks the dreadful KIA or MIA acronyms, we can be optimistic that he survived the war and returned home.

Perhaps not the most aesthetically pleasing cover, with typical faults as expected, including missing piece at upper left, but for a collector looking for a striking example of the trials and tribulations that accompanied mail delivery during wartime, it is a lovely piece.

Price: $60