Private Perforation Companies
Stamp machines at the post office were supplied with rolls of coiled stamps by the Bureau of Engraving, these were pre perforated by the Bureau. Around 1901-02 stamp machines started to appear in hotel's, convenience stores, drug stores and suchlike. The machines at these established were supplied by private companies, come examples of these are shown below. The establishments then had to buy stamps with perforations that were made specifically for those machines.
Coiled stamps, whether rolled "sidewise" or "lengthwise" are attached in consecutive strips of 500 or 1,000 stamps and rolled upon a small paste-board cone (one-half inch in diameter) ready to be placed in the machine for immediate use. These rolls are then enclosed with oiled paper. Each roll is marked with the name of the employee who is responsible for the count and the whole endorsed with a printed label.
Rolls of coiled stamps were purchased by companies engaged in mass mailings. Shown below are two machines employed by these companies by which the stamps in the rolls were magically applied to envelopes.
The Automatic Envelope Sealing and Stamp Affixing Machine.
A stamp Affixing Machine for stamps rolled sideways.
The Elliott Postage Stamp Affixer and Envelope Machine.
A stamp Affixing Machine for stamps rolled lengthways
The Schermack Company
Schermack's Mailing Machine
The Hyphenhole Perforation
Originally the Detroit Mailing Machine Company, later the Schermack Mailing Machine Company and finally the Mailometer Company, this company made the most extensive use of coiled stamps. This was in large part due to it supplying most large Detroit firms with its machine early in its life.
The logic behind punching theses spaced holes or slots, versus the Post Office's perforation's was that the additional spacing would strengthen the strip. However, there were problems with the operation on their own Schermack machine, as the device that fed Schermack's 6 hole (Type I) stamps could not easily sync with the hole. 70,000 of these Type I's were printed by Mr A Shermack and his assistant over a period of several days at the Rose Printing Company in Detroit (still in business today), during October of 1907 only to find more than a few being returned to them. So the company tried a different pattern of holes, Type II.
This hyphenhole perforation (Type III) was introduced in January, 1908, when the first tool for the production of this special perforation was made in the shop of the Schermack Mailing Machine Co., Detroit.
In preparing the stamps with this perforation, sixty thousand are put through the perforating machine at one time. One hundred and fifty unperforated sheets of 400 each are attached sideways and run through the machine, which perforates and strips the stamps, rolling them into coils of 3000 each sidewise. In this way they are supplied to the users of the machine at an advance over face value of 50 cents per coil of three thousand.
In Mr Schermacks own words, here is his description as to how the hypenhole perf came about;
"The hyphen-hole perforation that we now use is the final result of experimenting extending over a period of several years, trying to make a mailing machine handle the regular governmental perforations. We tried them in every possible form, singly, in strips, in sheets and in ribbon form, all with the same result, that the ordinary perforation made the stamp too weak to handle with any degree of safety or rather certainty in a machine. A perforation of some kind has been found absolutely essential in order to insure accuracy in feeding. You no doubt know that the extreme variation in the size of a sheet of four hundred stamps as they are printed is as much as five-sixteenths of an inch. This on a length of twenty stamps would of course make one sixty-fourth of an inch in each stamp, thus you can readily see how impossible it would be to feed an unperforated strip with any degree of accuracy. For after feeding but a few stamps they would cut into the design, no matter how positive a mechanical feed was used. So that while a perforation of some kind was needed the stamp must still be strong enough to handle. This led us to adopt in the first place a system of round-hole perforations in the center of the strip."
"The first ones used were of the regulation size, same as the government perforation, consisting, however, of only six or seven holes in the middle between the stamps, leaving an unperforated margin above and below to strengthen the strip. Upon finding that the openings were too small for practical use six larger sized holes were adopted."
"While this style answered the purpose very well, the round holes did not permit easy entrance of the small hardened steel fingers used in feeding. This suggested the use of slots and the so-called hyphen-hole perforation was adopted. This we find to be thoroughly practicable, and in my opinion is the beginning of its universal adoption for use in stamps to be used in mechanical devices."
One of Schermacks more common stamp dispensing machines, note the simple mechanics of the operation, the money box is at the bottom.
U.S. Automatic Vending Company
The "U. S. Automatic Vending Co." in New York employ what is known as the "Notched" roulette. Set up in 1902 the company installed their first machine (shown above) in the foyer of the Plaza Hotel, New York.The adoption of the notched approach, versus the perforated hole approach was explained by the company president in this manner
"We like this kind of perforation for several reasons: First of all, it delivers through the machine more accurately; next, it does not disfigure the stamp when severed; third, you will find that all our stamps are perfectly centered, which is not an easy matter when you take into consideration the irregularity with which the perforated stamps are sold to the public."
Unfortunately the first stamp vending machine was not a success as someone carted it off without permission (it was stolen). The next machine was made much larger, and rather like the stand alone ATM's of today, are less easily moved. Their principle place of residence was in Hotels and Department stores.
Not enough machines were being installed to make a profit, and the president, a Mr. Coe, saw the writing on the wall when the Post Office chose to use Schermack's patented perforated hole approach for distribution in vending machines maintained by them.
The Brinkerhoff Company
Shown above is Mr Brinkerhoff standing next to one of his rather elaborate stamp machines.
His original design (Type I) consists of four large holes horizontally arranged between strips of stamps attached only at the tops and bottoms. This perforation was experimental in its character and quickly succeeded by the type II with just two holes. The two-hole perforation served as a feed control coming between the stamps attached in vertical strips, and is supplemented by two cuts as the stamps are fed from the vending machine.
The Mailometer Company
The Shermack Mailing Company patented a device called the mail-o-meter (image shown above) which was used by commercial companies. Mr Schermack left the company and the company was renamed the Mailometer company. Mr Schermack seeked to popularise a stamp vendor for drug stores. The legacy of which can still be seen in various stores around the country. An illustration of the machine designed for the retail counter is shown below. The exterior of which is adorned with subscription advertisements.
After Mr Schermack's friendly departure from the company the Mail-Om-meter was renamed to the mailometer.
Mail-om-meter and Schermack test stamps