This postage metering device has a steel body with a handle. The counters on top read "0018988" and "892902." A denomination pointer on the top right side says "Pitney Bowes; Model CVS-1 S#58644." The device is in good condition, though there are minor surface scratches to the chrome, and there are remnants of wire attachments where the seal was attached. There are scattered abrasions to the machine platform and to the edge below the denomination choice. Red ink is still present on the meter head.
In 1934 Pitney Bowes took its model C meter, a single-denomination meter, and redesigned it to print and record five postage rates (multi values), and renamed it the CV. Because of competition, the CV was redesigned again, this time to print and record six values, and was renamed the CVS-1. The CVS-1 printed the postmark and any of the six denominations of postage. The meter operated on the model AV machine, which could print 250 pieces per minute, and also on the FS machine, which printed 125 per minute.
The change from one denomination to another was made by the turn of a small key pin inserted in the top of the meter near the denominations. Provisions were made for a die to read “Sec.3466 P.L. & R.” when the meter was used for bulk rate mailings, and an additional die could be used for advertisements or slogans. Registers on top of the meter gave postage used, postage remaining, and total number of pieces mailed.
Pitney-Bowes was founded as the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company in 1920 by Arthur Pitney and Walter Bowes. Large-scale mailings in the late 1800s called for a more efficient mode of affixing postage to packages and letters than individual stamps. The Post Office Department also had an increasing problem of employee theft of stamps. Arthur Pitney developed a device that would not only monitor the amount of remaining postage in the machine but would also show the total postage dispensed, thus making theft more difficult. The company continues to provide communications and mail management services worldwide.
Reference:
William Cahn, The Story of Pitney-Bowes (New York: Harper, 1961).
Wiilliam K. Thomas, History and Evolution of Metered Postage (State College, PA: American Philatelic Society, Research and Literature Committee, 1962).
Paul Lukas, “The Great American Company: Pitney Bowes,” Fortune Small Business, April 22, 2003.
