01 January 2018

New Zealand postal rates 1936

From a tiny pocket calendar in the family archive:

Inland rates

Letter Post: 2 ozs. 1 1/2d, and 1/2d. for every 2 ozs. above.
Printed Matter: Every 2 ozs. 1/2d. up to 2 lbs.
Parcels: 2 lbs. 6d., 5 lbs. 9d., 8 lbs. 1/-, 11 lbs. 1/3 (limit)

Colonial & US postage

For the first oz.: 1 1/2d.
For every additional oz. or fraction thereof: 1d.

Foreign postage

For the first oz.: 2 1/2d.
For every additional oz. or fraction thereof: 1 1/2d.

Picture postcards

Not more than 5 words of conventional greeting: 1/2d.

Telegrams

First 12 words: 1/-
Each additional word: 1d.

Money orders

Ordinary - Not over £3, 4d.; £10, 6d.; £20, 8d.; £30, 10d.; £40, 1/-.
Telegraph - Same commission as above, plus fee of 2d. and cost of Telegram.

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Note: At the most recent calculation, £1 in Q1 1936 would be worth $115 in today's money. So the cost to send a picture postcard within New Zealand was about 24c, a regular inland letter was 72c, while a 12-word telegram within New Zealand would have cost a pricey $5.78.




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