Toowoomba Hospital Issues

We have come across four different denominations of "stamps" featuring the Toowoomba Hospital, and are seeking help to discover when and why they were issued.

All four share a common design, based on a photograph of the front of the main building taken in the first decade of the 20th century. The only differences are the colour and denomination.
Owner: Bob Littlehales Owner: Bob Littlehales Owner: Janice Walters

If you have a copy of the 3d green which we could display here, please contact us.

While the items look exactly like stamps, they could not have been valid as payment for the carriage of mail as they were not issued by the Postmaster General's Department. However, it appears that at least one of them was so used, as an example of the 1d red exists with a "Toowoomba" postmark - but unfortunately with the date illegible!

The quality of the printing is not up to the standard of regular stamp issues, either using engraved dies or the photolithographic process.

It is possible that they were used either as a fundraiser, or as payment for some sort of subscription service, but we really have no idea of their true purpose. We have checked with the Archives section at Toowoomba Base Hospital, but they are as stumped as we are.

We have identified the postcard at right as being the identical view of the hospital, and this postcard, part of the "Coloured Shell Series, Queensland Views" (printed in Germany) can be dated to the period between1904 and 1914.

This is an approximate guide to dating the "stamps", but of course the picture would have remained as a current depiction of the hospital until well into the 1920s.

  

If you have any idea at all regarding the use of these "stamps", or a more precise period of issue, we would love to hear from you. Please email us.