<The first is from Mare Island, but likely (from appearance) a civilian, rather than a military, mailing:>

So it appears Mare Island had its own post office on the base. The example postcard though seems to be a collector’s item, where the person had it hand-cancelled in the post office and retained it. Until proven otherwise, that wouldn’t change the understanding that letters mailed at Mare Island (civilian and military) were processed in San Francisco.

I think the bus bomb letter is most interesting, a hand stamped letter on Sunday 9 of November 69, maybe a very small not so busy post office in SF but even i sense nothing conclusively can be deduced after the recent realizations whilst being 50 years away.

That’s a good catch. My sense is a Sunday cancellation would have required the letter to be mailed at the main post office, which was Rincon Annex. That’s worth checking into, whether neighborhood post offices were typically staffed on Sundays with mail processors.

And yes, possibly it did go to the sectional facility and was pulled and handstamped because of the odd bulk of the envelope.

Yes, from Simplicity’s point about the bulk of the Bus Bomb letter, at 6 pages, as well as the Little List letter, at (I think) 5, there is the very strong possibility that both were at risk of being rejected by the machine and then requiring hand-stamping. And then there’s the added issue that, like the Bus Bomb letter, Little List was also a ‘Sunday PM’ cancellation.

As for the Belli letter, the postage is correct but it is in 1¢ stamps – six of them – and as the machine cancelling process was built around the automated location of ‘the stamp’, this could possibly have failed also.

The likelihood of three such failures? Well, possible. And, I guess ‘possible’ is enough to cast a shadow of doubt on alternative theories.

That said, I still think it’s worth looking into the idea of the mail being diverted from the machine process. From what I have read there had been, at the time and since, a lot of pressure – and incentives, even – like pre-paid postcards, to reduce the demand on the centralised cancelling facilities. I could not see the very small, local post offices processing mail on a Sunday, but I could Rincon Annexe (whether or not this is the SCF). And the offices of the Examiner/Chronicle were not that far from Rincon. If posted there, even on the Sunday, I could imagine they could be hand-stamped straight into the morning local delivery.

It’s not looking as good as it did, though. Short lived hopes!

Oh i see now they aren’t 6 cent FDR stamps on the Belli letter, none the less it is only a logical assumption that the machine would/might have rejected the letters (whilst not having any specific knowledge about these machines) I’m either way on this letter.

I just can’t see a definitive answer being made with any of these letters. I hope there is more empirical information to be found and discussed but ultimately it will only be a best guess and probably not useful to anyone looking for a easy answer.

I just can’t see a definitive answer being made with any of these letters. I hope there is more empirical information to be found and discussed but ultimately it will only be a best guess and probably not useful to anyone looking for a easy answer.

Yes, I think I’m going to have to agree with you at this point. And it was timely that you made your observations when you did. For a brief while it looked like it could be going somewhere. But, sadly not, I don’t think.

The one find by Bolt, I think, still stands as a gain, however. If we look back to where the thread started, it was to see if any expansion could be made on Rossmo’s GeoProfile. Of course Mare Island, which it now seems possible could be a source of San Francisco postmarks, was one of his initial ‘hotspots’. It would certainly be one way of getting around why someone who potentially (according to the profile) lived out of San Francisco would keep coming in just to mail letters.

But even this, for now, has to be speculation only.

Regarding the Belli letter, It’s interesting that this is the first instance where he uses correct postage. When coupled with the belief that he mimicked the written address of Belli’s residency it provides a clue how ever rough it might be.

I suggest this letter was posted relatively close to Belli and that the stamps were bought whilst the Zodiac was in town (hence the change from FDR 6c stamps)

I suggest the use of postage denotes the Zodiacs distance from the letters final destination.

6c Belli letter – the zodiac is near by.
12c paid for SFC and SFE letters i suggest the zodiac is on the opposite side of San Francisco (Richmond district , Presidio etc anyone buying this?)
and 24c to Vallejo.

It’s interesting that he uses a single 6c stamp for the button letter and subsequently the kathleen johns letter, The postage the incident (being relatively east) and even the contents of the button letter suggests to me that the Zodiac moved east. And perhaps the Pleasanton letter later confirms this?

Doubtful the Little List letter would have gotten rejected by a Pitney Bowles machine, if it was strictly an envelope with 5 pages inside.

Doubtful the Little List letter would have gotten rejected by a Pitney Bowles machine, if it was strictly an envelope with 5 pages inside.

Agree that 5 pages shouldn’t be a issue.

The logic i suggested prior might explain this, The little list letter with a single 6c stamp was posted relatively close to SFC than prior 2 stamp letters. If it was posted at the nearest post office relative to SFC might it of been simply handled in house? possibly placed directly with the outgoing mail to SFC?

This only leaves the bus bomb letter as a anomaly which might somehow be explained by the November 9 1969 postmark denoting a Sunday.

Regarding the Belli letter, It’s interesting that this is the first instance where he uses correct postage. When coupled with the belief that he mimicked the written address of Belli’s residency it provides a clue how ever rough it might be.

I suggest this letter was posted relatively close to Belli and that the stamps were bought whilst the Zodiac was in town (hence the change from FDR 6c stamps)

I suggest the use of postage denotes the Zodiacs distance from the letters final destination.

6c Belli letter – the zodiac is near by.
12c paid for SFC and SFE letters i suggest the zodiac is on the opposite side of San Francisco (Richmond district , Presidio etc anyone buying this?)
and 24c to Vallejo.

It’s interesting that he uses a single 6c stamp for the button letter and subsequently the kathleen johns letter, The postage the incident (being relatively east) and even the contents of the button letter suggests to me that the Zodiac moved east. And perhaps the Pleasanton letter later confirms this?

Some interesting thoughts here, Simplicity. That said, how would you get around the fact that – as Zodiac would have known – the rates for first class (letter) mail actually have no correlation to distance. Near or far, it’s 6¢ for the first ounce.

In order to be able to go down some such line of thinking, you would first have to assume that Zodiac was someone who – for what ever reason – was ignorant of this basic fact of mail pricing and somehow managed to remain so.

Doubtful the Little List letter would have gotten rejected by a Pitney Bowles machine, if it was strictly an envelope with 5 pages inside.

Agree that 5 pages shouldn’t be a issue.

The logic i suggested prior might explain this, The little list letter with a single 6c stamp was posted relatively close to SFC than prior 2 stamp letters. If it was posted at the nearest post office relative to SFC might it of been simply handled in house? possibly placed directly with the outgoing mail to SFC?

This only leaves the bus bomb letter as a anomaly which might somehow be explained by the November 9 1969 postmark denoting a Sunday.

But isn’t this reasoning about what might reject and what not a little fine-lined? The ‘Bus Bomb’ letter was only one page more, and a small swatch of Stine’s shirt. It’s not like it was a whole sleeve, or anything. It very well could have been little more than the thickness of a sheet of paper yet, unlike each sheet which gets folded twice into triple thickness, likely didn’t involve any folding, depending on the size (I haven’t checked this).

As to inferring anything into the postmark on the ‘Bus Bomb’ letter, you have the same problem with the ‘Little List’ letter as this was also a Sunday PM cancel.

Regarding the Belli letter, It’s interesting that this is the first instance where he uses correct postage. When coupled with the belief that he mimicked the written address of Belli’s residency it provides a clue how ever rough it might be.

I suggest this letter was posted relatively close to Belli and that the stamps were bought whilst the Zodiac was in town (hence the change from FDR 6c stamps)

For the sake of considering all the options, I’d like to suggest another possible explanation for why the Belli letter was posted with 6 x 1¢, and it’s an idea that is grounded in my own experience in the UK from the good old days when mail pricing increases were small denomination.

Prior to 07 January 1963, the US domestic rate for the first ounce was 4¢. It then increased on this date by one cent to 5¢. It stayed at this rate for five years, and then there was another one cent increase on 07 January 1968 to the 6¢.

Now, when similar increases happened in my experience, and when you or someone in the household is a fairly regular letter writer, you’d find the following.

Keeping a stock of stamps at home, all of a sudden you’ve got a batch of 5¢ stamps when the rate is now 6¢ (or 4¢ when it’s now 5¢). You’re not going to just discard them, so you when you find yourself at a Post Office at any time you buy a book of the extra 1¢ stamps you need to make up the difference until the old stock is used up.

Again, in my experience, what tended to happen is that you never really kept a tally of the exact number of stamps you might have at home, so you overbuy. Or, it may be that you end up using the 5¢ stamps on sending postcards which, for this period, were priced 1¢ behind regular mail.

Basically, we used to find that you often ended up at some point with an excess of these small denomination stamps. (We used to have a tin full of the damn things.) So, this one time when you either can’t get to a Post Office, or can’t find your main supply at home, or whatever, you end up making up, say, the full 6¢ in 1¢ stamps, as was the case with the Belli letter.

This would also go some way to explaining why the Belli letter was (likely) the first with the correct postage (unless the ‘Bus Bomb’ letter was correct on weight). Although it may be plausible having 6 1¢ stamps lying around, it’s much less likely to have 12, and even if you did he’s never going to cover the envelope with 12 separate stamps.

Which latter would suggest that he knows exactly what’s going on with the stamp rating system, otherwise he wouldn’t have let this one go with just 6¢. So, the overpostage? He’s just messing with us, as usual, that’s all.

<That said, how would you get around the fact that – as Zodiac would have known – the rates for first class (letter) mail actually have no correlation to distance. Near or far, it’s 6¢ for the first ounce.>

My guess would be he knew the letters would get to their destinations, probably even if he had affixed no postage.

Without a return address, USPS has limited options and typically, at the minimum, delivers everything where the postage is within reason.

If the question is why in several cases he over-posted the stamps, that sounds like his personality — perhaps making a statement — as opposed to him worrying about saving money.

<But isn’t this reasoning about what might reject and what not a little fine-lined? The ‘Bus Bomb’ letter was only one page more, and a small swatch of Stine’s shirt. It’s not like it was a whole sleeve, or anything. It very well could have been little more than the thickness of a sheet of paper yet, unlike each sheet which gets folded twice into triple thickness, likely didn’t involve any folding, depending on the size (I haven’t checked this).>

<As to inferring anything into the postmark on the ‘Bus Bomb’ letter, you have the same problem with the ‘Little List’ letter as this was also a Sunday PM cancel.>

Just a guess, but the machine might reject letters not for the thickness, but for the odd shape. Regardless of how large the shirt pieces may have been, adding them to envelopes would create odd shapes.

Just noting for Belli letter that the Thomas jefferson 1cent has a issue date of : January 12, 1968 so Shaq is probably closer to the truth than my earlier ramblings. (assuming 1 cent stamps weren’t still for sale 23 months after first issued?)

For what it’s worth I asked a veteran manager today at my local post office what the procedure would have been in 1969.

He said (with convincing certainty) that today and in 1969 both, a letter mailed at a local post office — even if the letter was addressed to the residence immediately next door to the post office — would still be transported to the central facility for processing.

He confirmed that hand-postmarking occurs at local post offices if a customer delivers the letter directly to the clerk at the window. He said some clerks in that case will hand-postmark automatically, and some won’t, but that they all will if requested by the customer.

the question is why in several cases he over-posted the stamps, that sounds like his personality — perhaps making a statement — as opposed to him worrying about saving money.

I simply point to the Vallejo Times letter and then back to the correct postage used for Belli letter with the apparent mimicking of lettering.

His use of postage is Reminiscent of bus zoning in my mind, 1 zone local, 2 zones across town and somehow 4 zones to Vallejo.

Or his personality is really childish, 4 stamps makes it go faster.