1936 Tin Can Mail, 14 cachets

4th August 1936 Inward Tin Can mail from Syracuse to Tonga, five cachets on the front and nine on the reverse plus Nukualofa receiving mark on the 24th September.

Tin Can Mail. The Tongan Island of Niuafoíou had no deep water harbour so mail for the island was thrown overboard from ships in biscuit tins & collected by swimmers (later canoes), who took it to shore and in the other direction. During the 1930s & 40s this became quite a tourist attraction and you could have your mail covered in cachets to show it had made the journey.