Kaulbach Island Local Post Issues
Kaulbach Island is an Island off the
coast of Nova Scotia situated in Lunnenburg County, south of Halifax. It
is spelled Kaulack on some maps. It was originally known as Heisler's
Island after the lighthouse keeper James Heisler.
From 1971 to 1984, local postal labels
were issued by the Kaulbach Island Local Carriage Service on mail that was
transported to and from the island to the mainland. Canada Post approved
the service provided that the local stamps were affixed to the back of
envelopes, which had Canadian postage stamps on the front for entry into the
Canadian postal system.
The island's owners, an American
couple, were authorized to issue local stamps to prepay the cost of carriage
service that operated between Kaulbach Island and Chester, Nova Scotia,
including an irregular service to the town of Mahone Bay. The bottom of each
sheet of Kaulbach Island stamps contains the following instruction:
Not valid for the carriage of mail by the Canada Post Office. To
be used only in the Kaulbach Island Local Carriage Service and may be placed
only on the back of envelopes. Use Canadian postal stamps on all mail for
posting in Canada.
The stamps promote Canada as well as
Nova Scotia's South Shore Lighthouse Route. First day cover cancellations were
all made on the back of envelopes and featured the words "KAULBACH
ISLAND/N.S." in an outer circle, with "L.C.S." (for Local
Carriage Service) in an inner circle. To the right of the circles are the
words "FIRST DAY OF ISSUE" in a four line killer cancel.
