During the early 20th Century, raisins were one of the main exports of Smyrna, Turkey. Companies in Smyrna would commonly mail sample packages of raisins to prospective buyers.

The metal cancellers in use at the time, however, would damage the fragile packaging. So, from approximately August 1910 until September 1914, Smyrna used a rubber canceller to cancel stamps attached to the raisin sample packages. These Symrna box cancels, or Rosinenstempel, are commonly found on MiNr 24-52, and are rare on piece.