The dies and plates of the 1939 to 1942 Health issues were prepared and recess printed by the Australian Note and Stamp Printer, Melbourne.

The designs were by S. Hall. All four issues were on Wiggins Teape paper, watermarked NZ and star. The perforation was comb perf 11.

1939 issue

There were two values, ½d and 1d, with one plate for each value, but no plate numbers appeared on the sheets. The plates consisted of 192 stamps organised in four panes of 48. Each pane had 6 rows of 8 and the stamps were issued in sheets of 48.

The stamps were to be issued on October 2, but postage rates were increased the day before issue. The stamps were surcharged at the Government Printing Office, Wellington and issued on October 16.

Although the postage value was increased to 1d and to 2d, the Health surcharge remained at ½d and 1d and this continued with subsequent issues. This was the beginning of the erosion of the value of the health surcharge compared with the postal charge.

1939 First Day Covers

1939 Crusader

Private organisations continued to produce first day covers although the number of different covers was significantly less than in 1936-38.

This cover is postmarked in Wanganui on the first day of issue, 16 October 1939, and is addressed to New York.

The printing on the cover includes the date 2nd October 1939 which was the planned date for the stamps to be issued. As the stamps had to be overprinted due to the rise in postage rates, the date of issue was delayed to 16 October.

1939 Promote Health Camps

Cover postmarked in Christchurch on the first day of issue, 16 October 1939. The printing on the cover includes the year of issue, but not the precise date.

On this cover the leaf points to the left, but other covers exist in which the leaf points to the right.

Federation of Health Camps

Cover postmarked in Kaitaia on the first day of issue, 16 October 1939 and addressed to Auckland.

This cover was produced by the Federation of Health Camps and is the same as their 1938 issue except that First day Cover / 1939 - 1940 has been added in the top left corner.

Marlborough Health Camp Association

Cover postmarked in Blenheim on the first day of issue, 16 October 1939 and addressed to Cairns in Australia.

This cover was produced by the Marlborough Health Camp Association. Blenheim is the largest town in Marlborough

1940 issue

The design was the same as the 1939 issue with the values changed so that there was no need for a surcharge.

The colour of the 2d was changed.

Again, the plates consisted of 192 stamps organised in four panes of 48 and had no imprints or plate numbers in the issued sheets of 48.

1940 First Day Covers

1940 Aircraft

This cover is postmarked in Christchurch on the first day of issue, 1 October 1940, and is addressed to Australia.

It has a WW2 theme as it shows two children holding a model aircraft while watching military aircraft flying overhead.

1940 Cameo

This cover is postmarked in Wanganui on the first day of issue, 1 October 1940, and is addressed locally.

It is available in brown as well as orange-red.

1940 Cover

This cover is postmarked in Wellington on the first day of issue, 1 October 1940, and is addressed to Dundee in Scotland.

1940 Sparling Cover

This cover is postmarked in Lower Hutt on the first day of issue, 1 October 1940, and is addressed to Canada.

It is a reuse of the 1938 milk bottle cover with the original date deleted in black by the printer. On the back is printed Cover by T. Sparling and Swailes Print.

These covers also exist in green and red.

1940 Sunlight League

This is the only cover produced by the Sunlight League Health Camp Committee and raised funds for their camps. It was designed by William Bavestock. It was first used in 1938, but again unchanged in 1939 and 1940.

Cover addressed to Canada posted on 2 October 1940

The Sunlight League ran health camps in the Christchurch area from 1931 and had strict selection rules: they were only for the "daughters of the deserving poor". After they joined the Health Camp Federation in 1936, they had to adopt normal admission rules.

They were instrumental in setting up the Glenelg permanent health camp.

1939 and 1940 Health Stamps: Postmarked November 1941

Fiji was added to the Pan American FAM 19 service between Auckland and San Francisco in November 1941, withe the first flight from Auckland leaving on 12 November and arriving in Fiji on 13 November. This cover, postmarked in Auckland on 11 November, was flown on the first flight and is franked with the 1939 and 1940 health stamps. It was backstamped on arrival in Suva on 13 November. It was then return to Auckland by sea.

The cover was franked with 1s 4½d. The airmail rate to Fiji was 1s 3d.

1941 issue

This was the same as the 1940 issue, but overprinted 1941 by the Government Printer in Melbourne. As paper supplies were in short supply due to the war, the unsold stamps from the 1940 issue, together with a small extra printing, were overprinted.

1941 First Day Cover

This cover was produced by the Federation of Health Camps and postmarked in Lower Hutt on first day of issue, 4 October 1941. It is addressed to Canada.

Opening of Gisborne Health Camp

The permanent Health Camp at Gisborne was opened on 11 October 1941 and a temporary post office was set up there on that day to handle souvenir covers franked with the 1941 Health stamps that had been issued a week earlier on 4 October.

This illustrated cover is franked with the special Gisborne Health Camp postmark on 11 October and has a cachet on the top left commemorating the occasion.

1941 Health Stamps: Postmarked November 1941

Cover postmarked on 10 November 1941 in Eastbourne, a suburb of Lower Hutt near Wellington. It was flown via New Caledonia on the first FAM 19 flight to Fiji. The mail closed in Auckland on 11 November and the Boeing 314 Pacific Clipper left at 8 am on 12 November and arrived in Suva on 13 November.

The cover was franked with the correct airmail rate to Fiji of 1s 3d.

1942 issue

A new design was used although all other details were the same as in the previous three years.

The plates of 192 stamps were organised in four panes of 48 and had no imprints or plate numbers in the issued sheets of 48.

First Day Cover

Postmarked in Dunedin on the first day of issue, 1 October 1942 and addressed to Cuba.

It may have been produced by the Dunedin Health Camp Association.

1942 Cover

Postmarked in Kamo, a suburb of Whangerei, on the first day of issue, 1 October 1942 and addressed to United States.

It was produced by John F Johnson for the Bison Exchange Club and printed by W Calder & Son in Whangerei. The club had produced a cover each year since 1935.

1942 Health Stamps: Postmarked May 1943

This cover is franked with the 1942 Health stamps and is postmarked on 12 May 1943 and addressed to Malta.

After February 1942, mail to Egypt was only flown from New Zealand to Australia and the rate was 5d.

After being flown to Australia, this cover would be sent by sea to Egypt where a censor mark was applied along with a Cairo transit on 15 June. It would then be sent by sea from Egypt to Malta.

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The above information is taken from:
[1] The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Vol 2, published by the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand in 1950.
[2] Illustrated First Day Covers of New Zealand 1933-2000, Part 1: Health, Stephen Jones, July 2008.
All scans were made by the author.

Back to: New Zealand Stamp Images