Jeddah Postal History, 1916-1966

The exhibit

The exhibit follows how each change of ruler, the Second World War and the Arab Postal Union changed the routes the mail took, the rates it paid, the markings it received and the controls it passed.

It begins with the Hashemite post of June 1916, when Fee Paid handstamps stood in for stamps, and ends with the Saudi post of the 1960s, after the riyal of 20 qirsh (1960) and the end of the postal tax (1964).

Over fifty years the routes changed from the Red Sea steamer to airmail through Cairo and direct flights, each shown on covers that travelled it.

Plan of the exhibit

	Chapter	Period	Pages
I	The Hashemite Hejaz of King Hussein: first stamps, censorship, the Red Sea route	1916-1924	2-13
II	The Hejaz Government under siege, and the Sultanate of Najd and Hejaz	1924-1927	14-24
III	Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd: the sea route abroad and the rates of 1927-1932	1927-1932	25-43
IV	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before the war: new routes, airmail, the postal tax	1932-1939	44-64
V	The Second World War: Saudi mail under Allied censorship	1939-1945	65-82
VI	The post-war years: surface, air and registered mail	1945-1952	83-98
VII	The Arab Postal Union, the new riyal and the modern post	1953-1966	99-128