Mail sorting centers - [Etude monographique du 0,50F Marianne de Béquet]

Mail sorting centers

Introduction
Lead sorting offices
Sorting offices in railway stations
Manual or automatic sorting offices
Specialized sorting offices in Paris
Mail warehouses
Sorting offices in airports.
Sorting offices in French overseas departments and territories

Introduction

A sorting office (establishment not open to the public) operates both for forward or incoming mail. For forward mail, the center collects the mail pieces of a certain geographical area (often a department) and sorts them out, either for its own geographical area, or for another geographical area. For incoming mail, the office receives from its counterparts mail pieces either in transit for other offices, or to deliver in its geographical area.

Originally, sorting offices were main postal offices or railway station offices. Since the 1960s, autonomous sorting offices have been developed. For more information on sorting offices, the reader may refer to the book of P. LAVENAS.

In what follows, we will distinguish between seven categories of sorting offices.

Lead sorting offices

**postmark with the word CENTRALISATEUR**

**illustrated slogan to right of date stamp of a lead sorting office**

**illustrated slogan to left of date stamp of a lead sorting office**

Sorting offices in railway stations

**postmark of a sorting office located in a railway station**

**blank slogan box to left of a sorting office located in a railway station**

**blank slogan box to left of a sorting office located in a railway station with repetition of the date**

**blank slogan box to right of a sorting office located in a railway station**

Manual or automatic sorting offices

**postmark with the words CENTRE DE TRI**

**blank slogna box to left with the words CENTRE DE TRI**

**illustrated slogan to right of date stamp with the words CENTRE DE TRI**

Specialized sorting offices in Paris

**postmark of the specialized sorting office PARIS AVIATION**

**postmark of the specialized sorting office PARIS AVIATION ETRANGER**

**blank slogan box to right of the specialized sorting office of PARIS CLIGNANCOURT**

Mail warehouses

Located in the influence of a station or an airport, a mail warehouse serves for the transshipment, the guarding and the distribution of telegrams exchanged with the travelling and/or sedentary services. In fact, they have no role of sorting.