To Main Post Office Categories of Postal Markings Markings found on Hawaiian mail fall into several broad categories. First there are Postmarks , meaning a mark designating a post office name. Many but not all postmarks incorporate a date and may indicate the post office of origin, a transit mark to show the name of a post office along the cover's transit route, or a post office of destination. In this study, Hawaiian postmarks are divided into Honolulu Postmarks and Town Postmarks .
Former studies refer to Hawaiian postmarks as town cancels but the label is incorrect.
Cancels typically are used to deface the stamp and although postmarks sometimes served the purpose of a cancel, all cancels are not postmarks and all postmarks are not cancels. Therefore, this study treats cancels as a different category. Next are Cancels , meaning a mark used to obliterate or deface a stamp to prevent its re-use. These marks have no post office name or date incorporated in them. Cancels used by foreign post offices are discussed below under Foreign Postal Markings .