"The searcher after truth, in no matter how humble a plane, stumbles into many a pitfall. I have been endeavouring to sort out the double-lined oval temporary datestamps of Jamaica to bring them into some sort of order but I am afraid I have found myself in some confusion. In my view it is a matter for a High Council to decide where classification begins and ends so I offer you the results of my calipers in the hope that they may be of some assistance. In the course of my research several questions have arisen. For example does the length of 'Jamaica' really matter? Or the height of the date or of the letters? Does the addition of 'B.W.I.' to 'Jamaica' constitute another class? If the book says the datestamp is always in purple does it matter that it is also found in black and in red? Should one seriously consider the distinction between italics and roman lettering?
There is no doubt that any efforts to classify Jamaica T.R.D.'s is bound to run into trouble. Already there are some 43 classes in Mr. Aguillar's system and the '37' class alone is responsible for my own effort to sort things out. You will note that Mr. Aguilar uses a serif type to illustrate his ' 37 ' but there are any number of sans-serif classed us '37' in his system. He has made some endeavour to sort out sub-classes in '37 by the length of 'Jamaica' but there are at least 4 general groups of lengths and probably more. I hope that some member of the Circle or perhaps a committee thereof, especially interested in Jamaica, can take up this research and provide us with a worthwhile solution to the problem. Needless to say I, and I am sure many others, will be happy to accept any classification that follows a well thought out system ".
Double Lined Ovals
Town above, Jamaica below, stars between, 48-52min. wide in purple or violet.
| Length of Jamaica |
Height of Letters |
Height of Date |
Post Offices | Type | Date of my example |
| 22mm. | 21/2mm. | 21/2mm. | Carmel | 37a | 1946 |
| 22-23mm. | 21/2mm. | 4mm | Kelly (Kellv, | 37c | 1955 |
| Kingston, Jav.) | |||||
| " | " | " | King Weslon | " | 1954 |
| 25mm. | 3mm. | " | Lancaster | " | 1952 |
| " | 21/2mm. | " | Barking Lodge | " | 1954 |
| " | " | " | Quickstep | " | 1952 |
| 27-28mm. | " | " | Bogue | " | 1954 |
| " | " | " | Padmore | " | 1953 |
| " | " | " | Sanguinetti | " | Received 1954 (undated) |
| 30mm. | " | " | Devon Pen | 37e | 1953 |
| " | " | " | Lookout | 37c | 1953 |
| " | " | " | St. Gregory | " | 1954 |
| " | " | " | Spot Valley | " | 1953 |
| In Black | |||||
| 30mm. | " | " | Content Gap | Received 1953 (undated) | |
| In red | |||||
| 25mm. | " | " | Tweedside | 37 | 1949 |
| Sans-serif Type | |||||
| 25mm. | " | 31/2mm. | Bailey's Vale | 37 | 1950 |
| 30mm. | 3mm. | 4mm. | Epsom | " | 1951 |
| 25mm. | " | " | Leeds | " | 1950 |
| 30mm. | 21/2mm. | 31/2mm. | Mona | " | 1952 |
| 25mm. | 3mm | " | Mt. Airy | " | 1953 |
| 27mm. | " | 4mm. | Refuge | " | 1950 |
| 25mm. | 21/2mm. | " | Treasure Beach | " | 1945 |
| Town Sans- Serif: Jamaica Serif | |||||
| 22mm. | 3mm. | 4mm. | Content Gap | 37b | 1951(in black) |
| 20mm. | 4mm. | 5mm. | Dias | " | 1946 |
| Town, Jamaica in italic Serif | |||||
| 27mm. | 21/2mm. | 4mm. | Mulgrave | 37 | 1951 |
| Town, 'Jamaica, B.W.I.' in Serif | |||||
| 35mm. | 21/2mm. | 4mm. | Grey Ground | 37f | 1955 |
| 37mm. | " | " | Wareika | 37h | 1956 |
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