It appears to be a newsletter. I would guess the cost of sending that item was probably less than the regular first class postage. I will try to dig a little deeper into this. Very good point you make: How did this cover make it to Germany?
I did a little research and found that a "Printed Matter" cover from the USA to Germany carried a 1 cent Columbian commemorative (blue) stamp. For those who wish to follow this further, take a look at this website on Postal History of the USA (this company actually is in the business of providing philatelic products); Good hunting:
Actually this person overpaid for sending Printed Matter to Germany. It appears that the correct postage rate to mail Printed Matter from the USA to Europe was 1 cent. If I am wrong I would like to be corrected.
you are correct; this is Printed Matter, going at 1c per 50gram rate. The rate was in effect from 1875 (the birth of the UPU) until 1932, when it was increased 50% to 1.5c per 50g
I doubt it was overpaid; instead, I would venture that it was a double rate mailing, something over 50g, which is still quite small for many newspapers.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
I also wondering when the mid-winter expo was held since there is no month/day date in the cancel? Looks like it was canceled at the Worlds Fair Station, too.
Bruce
Third class and printed matter cancels were mute cancels, meaning they did not ever include the date (or at most the year as in this example). The customer was not meant to expect any specific time for the mail to get to its destination. Mail of this kind was sent to it's destination whenever there was space available in the mail truck/rail car/ship, with registered mail, first class and special delivery mail taking priority.
