US 1925 10c Special Delivery

struggling yet again with the handwriting and destination,
and what the handstamp says at beginning?

Destination looks to me like Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Name of person can not make out, something like Derr Hoivershof (??????). Hand-written 10c Postage only on left, with crossed out 2c Pre.

The addressee is a "Flower Shop". The first word could be Derr, or Deer, or Dess, or...

I can tell you that the return address is a florist, known as Emile H. Geschick, 29 West Johnson Street, Germantown, Philadelphia, PA.

i was way off then,i thought it was foreign destination,
and the (10c postage only) was (10 4 postage mly) (2c pre)i thought was(2x pre)

does the special delivery label have any interest or a catalogue number,its the first time I've seen one

I'm from the Williamsport area and usually I recognize the familiar and/or prominent family names but this does not ring any bells yet. I'll look into it as it could be German. There was (and is still) a lot of German and Irish families there.

thanks a lot,i write any info down and keep it with the covers or stamps,im learning tho

Surprised this didn't arrive postage due, as the correct rate would have been at least twelve cents (2c + 10c S.D.).

The hand stamp says "Fee" claimed by office of first address.

What we thought was "2c Pre" (?) could have been "2c Due".

That agrees nicely with the other pencil notation "10c Postage Only".

Found it! Information on the addressee as it appeared in an ad in "The Susquehanna", the student newspaper of Susquehanna University in 1921:



Also, this ad dated April 6, 1922 in a Florist's Guide states that they were in business "10 years", which would mean the florist was established circa 1912:



Also, a quick check of the 1920 US Census shows Paul A. Derr (age 33), Florist, resided at 715 Walnut Street, Williamsport, PA. His wife was Verna C. Derr (age 29) and daughter was Palline M. Derr (age 5). Based on this information, Paul A. Derr was born about 1887.

When "Emile" wrote that urgent, fateful letter 87 years ago, he didn't know the children of his children's generation were going to dissect his personal business down to the nth degree, for a billion nosy people to see, on an instantaneous worldwide forum no one dreamed of at that time...

all because he was short one 2c stamp LOL LOL.