No. 16 - Springfield, Missouri, USA to Tokyo, Japan

Dated 02 December, 1941, this cover travelled from Springfield to San Francisco where it was detained and processed by the San Francisco Censor Station. The cover wasn't opened but was passed by Censor #1461 and a circular "PASSJ~D BY/CENSOR" hand stamp was applied. A "RETURNED TO SENDER/SERVICE SUSPENDED" hand stamp was also applied. A hand written note on left of the cover "$25.00 ck re-credited to H.M. Dithridge 3-4-42(04 March, 1942)" is very possibly the approximate date of the cover return to Springfield.

The USA imposed a suspension on mail to Japan on 11 December, 1941 and didn't lift it until 02 January, 1947. This cover illustrates the speed at which the Censors were working at the San Francisco Censor Station. The cover wasn't opened but passed and was returned to the sender with in three months.