North Borneo cigarette cards part 2

You can see part 1 by clicking here. I have expanded my collection of similar material over time. I now have items from Brunei, Labuan and Sarawak which I can show at a later date. Additionally, I also have similar cards from the Malayan states which I may well include subsequently.

This is the second card from Aurelia from Dresden in Germany. It is number 193 of the series and depicted the Olympic banner for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. These partly embossed cards are very attractive and collectible. I also have similar cards from Brunei, Sarawak and the Malayan States but none from Labuan.

This card is also from the York brand of cigarettes in Germany. It is number 112 in the series. There is very little other information available.

This card was enclosed with Recruit Little Cigars manufactured by H Ellis & Co, Baltimore, USA. An issue showing flags came out around 1910. The flag shown is definitely incorrect as the lion should be facing left instead of right.

This is a rather basic design from the Massary company in Berlin Germany apparently published in 1929.

This is a large silk from the 10th series from Godfrey Philips BDV cigarettes, a British company. They were issued somewhere between 1910 and 1914. Silks are nice to look at but they are fragile and not easy to handle.

The 20th series of silks from BDV has the wrong version of the BNB flag with the lion facing the wrong way.

Pre WWII Censor Mail

Mail were censored from some time in 1939 with the war in Europe. In North Borneo, the major post offices had their own censor hand stamps which were identified by a number. Most had multiple hand stamps with different corresponding numbers. These were either double line triangular or single line rectangular with 2 of each type recorded so far. Apparently, the censoring was carried out by wives of expatriates working there. When a letter passed through censoring it maybe unopened. Opened mail would be resealed with official tape.

Censored postcards are uncommon in my experience. This was sent from Sandakan and bears the rectangular censor cachet number 22. The known censor numbers for Sandakan were 10, 15-20, 22, 23 and 30 with both double triangular and rectangular cachets for most of them. The post card shows a very nice view of part of the centre of the town and the harbour.

Fung Shong Kong was working at the treasury at Sandakan. He collected postcards which he exchanged with others worldwide. All the cards he sent were all or mostly RPPCs and by definition either unique or from a limited run. Who was the publisher of these RPPCs? Fuji Studios of Sandakan?

He was murdered by the japanese during occupation.

Censor mail from Lahad Datu and Tawau are generally uncommon. Lahad Datu has the censor numbers 28 and 29. The censor hand stamp for number 28 is usually seen as a rectangle and this double triangular form is much more uncommon.