How long did delivery take?

Rarely, a reply-paid postcard was sent back with the first part still attached. Some of these allow one to work out how long the round trip took.

The Rohrpost mailboxes were emptied every half hour starting Mar 16 1904. Delay before canceling should have been negligible - say 5 minutes. Time between stations is shown by the postmarks. But how long from time of final cancellation to completion of delivery? The reply-paid postcard provides an answer.

Reply-paid card of 1904 returned with the original message still attached. An early equivalent to the e-mail string! The first cancellation dated 1903 is an error - the message & the other cancels are dated 1904, and the card was issued in 1904. It is cancelled at office 2 (Fleischmarkt) on Sept 27 1904 at 11:10 am and arrived at office 15 (Kärntnerring) at 11:20 am.

The reply card is cancelled at 15 (Kärntnerring) on the same day at 12:50 pm, and arrived at 49 (Marokkanergasse) at 1:10 pm. So, delivery of the original message at Kärntnerring was effected 43 minutes after the arrival cancel. (12:50 - 11:20 = 90 min less 5 min waiting for an answer = 85 min = 43 minutes each way.)

Reply-paid card of 1907 returned with the original message still attached. Indistinct time stamp at Marokkanergasse doesn't affect our research - we need only the times from both Praterstrasse cancels. It was cancelled at 49 (Marokkanergasse) at an indistinct time on May 22 1909, arriving at 27 (Praterstrasse) at 1:20 pm. The reply card left Praterstrasse on the way back at 2:40pm, 38 minutes after the arrival cancel. (2:40 - 1:20 = 80 min less 5 min waiting for an answer = 75 min = 38 minutes each way.)

This is an invitation to dinner at 8:30 that evening, sent to Ing. Nelkin's office at Papierwerke Labris. It was cancelled at 50 (Wieden) on March 3 1908 at 4:30 pm and arrived at 127 (Rudolfsheim) at 5:10pm. Office 127 is 10 blocks from Sechshausergürtel 11. By the time the message arrived, Nelkin had gone home. A redirecting address slip was glued to the left edge of the card (see glue trace & text of response). It was redirected to 23 (Leopoldstadt), arriving at 8pm, and wasn't delivered until 9:15.

The response was left attached to the original card as a subtle proof that the invitation arrived late. The redirection slip was ripped from its fresh glue line to avoid confusion during delivery of the response. This was: "Dear Herr Grohmann: I received your kind card only at 9:45 today, which was forwarded from the factory. By the way, I will be at the Restaurant Leber (Babenbergerstrasse) Wednesday at 8:30, and would certainly enjoy seeing you there. Best regards, your Ing.Nelken."

It was cancelled at 7:10am next day, March 4, at office 34 (Stephaniestrasse) which is one station west of 23: Ing. Nelken must have mailed the response on his way to work! It arrived at Office 50 (Wieden) at 7:50 am.