Australia - Brown years: 1923-1939.
Ordinary rate delivery form: AB-DO-7B.

  
General characteristics:

Heading and notes: Form number T.G. 42B.
RECEIVED TELEGRAM below one line C of A heading and COMMONWEALTH is either short of the advertising box or just reaching it.
Message area: Blank.
Reverse side: Advertisements - 3 in 1933, 1 from 1934 to 1939.
Colours (text & form): Blue on cream.
Size of form overall: 126 × 214 mm.
Distinctive characteristics of this form:

 

 

These type 7B forms were printed from April 1933 whereas the (non-teletype) type 7 format with the same design were printed from June 1929.

The main distinctions amongst the varieties for the type 7B forms are:

Format
number		 Outline for box. Advertisment at top left Advertisement on reverse
7Ba Single line Telegraph! ... in 4 full lines. 3 adverts.
7Bb Double line Telegraph! ... in 3 lines. 3 adverts.
7Bc Double line Telegraph! ... in 3 lines. Single ad. with Hermes in shaded blue circle.
7Bd Single line Telegraph! ... in 2 lines. Single ad. with Hermes in unshaded blue circle.
7Be Double line Money Order Telegram. Single ad. with Hermes in blue oval.
7Bf Double line Money Order Telegram. Single ad. with Hermes in orange oval.
7Bg Single line Money Order Telegram. Single ad. with Hermes in orange oval.

DO 7Ba
Printed in April 1933.		 AB-DO-7Ba.

Darwin to Melbourne
1 January 1934.

Specific characteristics:

  • advertising box has a single rectangular outline;
  • same wording in advertising box as for AB-DO-7A but font is now all the same size;
  • no lines in the date stamp box;
  • date has no stop after C917;
  • "Sch." starts to the left of the Ts above;
  • C of COMMONWEALTH starts to the left of the right vertical of the box below;
  • heading RECEIVED TELEGRAM is in letters 5 mm high;
  • first entry under the line is STATION FROM.

 

This particular telegram was written in the Commonwealth Bank code to send the weekly return of transactions to head office.
DO-7Ba rev AB-DO-7Ba (reverse).

Reverse side of the above form has three advertisements - all of which are separately boxed.

The advertisements are for:

  • purposes for sending telegrams;
  • costs for telephones;
  • effective mail use.

Also has a note about the time divisions between States in Australia.

 
Printed in November 1933. AB-DO-7Bb.

Brisbane to Melbourne.
CTO Melbourne 19 November 1934.

Characteristics:

  • advertising box is double lined;
  • advertisement repeats first line from the previous format but is now followed by PLEASE TURN OVER;
  • date stamp area has a vertical line;
  • first entry under the line has been changed to OFFICE OF ORIGIN.
7Bc rev AB-DO-7Bb reverse.

The reverse side of the above form has three advertisements - all of which are separately boxed.
The first and third advertisements are the same as previously but the middle advertisement has changed to INTERNAL EXTENSION TELEPHONES.

The advertisements are for:

  • purposes for sending telegrams;
  • internal extension telephones;
  • effective mail use.
AB DO 7Bd
Printed in November 1933.		 AB-DO-7Bc.

Adelaide to Richmond
Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne date stamp of 5 August 1935.

Characteristics:

  • has the same format as the previous format (AB-DO-7Bc) with OFFICE OF ORIGIN below the line;
  • also has the same printing date as for the previous form;
  • reverse side has a single advertisement - see below.
DO-7Bc rev AB-DO-7Bc reverse.

Reverse side of the above delivery form.

Characteristics:

  • Hermes, in blue, is surrounded by a circular frame (diameter: 25 mm) with a shaded background;
  • the format of the reverse side has been changed to a single advertisement - despite the form still showing it as being printed in November 1933.

 
7Bd
Printed in November 1934.		 AB-DO-7Bd.

Darwin to Melbourne
Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne datestamp of 30 June 1935.

Characteristics:

  • advertising box has a single rectangular outline;
  • PLEASE TURN OVER is not bracketed;
  • a line has been added under "Office of Origin";
  • reverse side has a large single advertisement printed in blue (see below);

A double form with text in Commonwealth Bank code like that for AB-DO-7Ba (see Codes in Telegrams section).
7Bd rev AB-DO-7Bd reverse.

Reverse side of the above form with a large single advertisement in blue.

Hermes, in blue, is surrounded by a smaller circular frame than previously (diameter: 18 mm) and the background is unshaded.
7Be
Printed in April 1936.		 AB-DO-7Be.

Fremantle to Sydney
18 August 1936.

Characteristics:

  • advertising box has a double rectangular outline;
  • advertisement has been changed to MONEY ORDER TELEGRAM;
  • PLEASE TURN OVER is now in brackets;
  • line under Office of Origin has been removed;
  • schedule number almost touches box;
  • single advertisement on reverse (see below).
DO-7Bf rev AB-DO-7Be reverse.

The single advertisement in blue on the reverse side of the above delivery form. The base of the form was slightly trimmed when the form was torn from the teletype machine.

The Hermes image, in blue, is surrounded by an oval frame and an unshaded background. The image is leaning forward. It is 16 mm wide (at the waist) and 29 mm high.

 

 
7Bf
Printed in November 1937.		 AB-DO-7Bf.

Fremantle to Rockdale.
Chief Telegraph Office Sydney date stamp of 18 August 1936.

Characteristics:

  • the advertising box has a double rectangular outline;
  • PLEASE TURN OVER is bracketed;
  • schedule number touches the advertising box;
  • single advertisement on reverse (see below).
DO 7Bg AB-DO-7Bf reverse.

The reverse side of the above form.

Characteristics:

  • a single advertisement printed in orange promoting the use of Ornamental Telegram forms;
  • the Hermes image is 16 mm wide (at the waist) and 29 mm high.
DO-7Bi
Printed in October 1939.		 AB-DO-7Bg.

Melbourne to Darwin
(no datestamp because received by military).

Characteristics:

  • advertising box has a single rectangular outline;
  • top left box has an advertisement for MONEY ORDER TELEGRAM and PLEASE TURN OVER is in brackets;
  • heading RECEIVED TELEGRAM is in letters 4 mm high;
  • reverse side has a large single advertisement in orange.

This particular form had been aligned incorrectly in the teleprinter and shows part of the following form at the base.

Has a scarce 1935-42 URGENT label (123 mm) wide in orange.
DO-7Bi rev AB-DO-7Bg reverse.

Reverse side of the above form showing the one large advertisement in orange filling the back of the form.

The Hermes image is 16.5 mm wide (at the waist) and 28 mm high.

Advertisements known to be printed on the reverse side of this form are:

  1. BIRTHDAY GREETINGS;
  2. TIME - BY TELEPHONE;
  3. THE POST OFFICE EXPRESS MESSENGER SERVICE;
  4. SECURITY AT SMALL COST;
  5. INSTALL THE MODERN HANDSET TELEPHONE!
DO-7Bi miscut AB-DO-7g.
The reverse side of a different
DO-7Bh form.

The TIME advertisement (# 1 in the above list) is shown. In the box below, which indicates time zones in Australia, the lowest line has five words finishing with Western Australia.

The last line of the advertisement from the previous form is shown at the top. Clearly the format at the top is very different from that for TIME ... - but it is identical with that for Birthday Greetings shown above.

Hence it appears that on the one teleprinter roll, different advertisements were printed.

 

Details of use and rarity.

Form
sub-number		 Schedule number Earliest recorded date Rarity rating
DO-7Ba Sch. C917- 4/1933 1 January 1934 at Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne. NC
  Sch. C917. 4/1933 4 April 1934 at Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne. C
  Sch. C1013 - 8/1933 13 April 1934 at Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne. C
DO-7Bb Sch. C1054. 11/1933 19 November 1934 at Chief Telegraph Office Melbourne. C
DO-7Bc Sch. C1054. 11/1933   R
DO-7Bd Sch. C. 1237 - 11/1934 27 June 1935 at CTO Melbourne. C
(depending on the format of Hermes
on reverse).
DO-7Be Sch. C1449 - 4/1936 1 July 1936 at CTO Melbourne.
 DO-7Bf Sch. C1958 - 11/1937 2 September 1938 at CTO Brisbane.
DO-7Bg Sch. 2233-11/1938. 2 August 1940 at Darwin, N.T.
  Sch. C2556. 10/1939. 13 May 1941 at CTO Melbourne.