In the last decade postal officials in many countries have experimented with and eventually placed into operation a new type of "machine" cancel: SPRAY-ON CANCELS. These cancels are not applied in the usual manner but rather applied when ink is sprayed through a special printer head onto the letter.

In my collection I have four different examples of such cancels used in the last few years which mention the Olympics:

The earliest is from EL Paso, TX and declares:

"798" is one of the postal codes assigned to the western Texas city. The slogan was used during the 1992 United States Postal Service's (USPS) Olympic sponsorship era, specifically during the Barcelona Games. In the United States spray-on messages are quite common from a number of postal centers and run the gamut from commemorating holidays to just using nonsense letters. Usually, they are entered into the canceling machines by the technicians running the machines. The examples that I have in my collection are from July and August 1992.

The next occurrence of Olympic spray-on cancels publicized the Manchester, England bid for the 2000 Olympics, eventually awarded to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The spray-on reads: "ROYAL MAIL SUPPORT THE BRITISH / OLYMPIC BID MANCHESTER 2000". The cancel was used in mid-1983.

In 1996, the USPS may have been shut out of Olympic activities in Atlanta since United Parcel Service was an official sponsor, but in Australia, Australia Post was a sponsor of the Australian Olympic Team. The spray-on from Canberra read "AUST POST PART OF THE OLYMPIC TEAM."

In 1997, a number of cities was vying for the 2004 Olympics. Athens, Greece was awarded the games. However, in South Africa, post offices used spray-on cancels to push the bid of the local city, Capetown.

During August 1997 at least 3 postal centers used such spray-on's. And, as well, one of the spray-on's had a spelling error substituting "OF" for "IF". Another variation occurs with the word "CAPETOWN" sometimes being one word and other times two words:

This article appeared in the Journal of Sports Philately (January/April 1999) (published by Sports Philatelists International) and in the Torch Bearer (published by the Society of Olympic Collectors).

Information concerning earliest and latest use of any of the above cancels would be most appreciated as well as any new Olympic spray-on cancels. Direct information to Glenn A. Estus, PO Box 451, Westport, NY 12993 USA (gestus@westelcom.com)

Information posted on January 1, 2000

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