Today I got the cover below. Less than $5 but I figure it will be a fun addition to my US airmail collection. Bears a C23 of course, and would have had a nice "airmail saves time" cancel had the envelope not gotten folded which breaks the cancel in two. It comes from a curious airmail experiment. Flying an autogyro or gyrocopter -- loaded with mail -- off the roof! of the monumental 1935 Art Deco Post Office building on 30th St. in Philadelphia PA across first the Schuykill River, then over the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey, in order to greatly reduce the time it took to get mail across to New Jersey. Surface trucking in an era with a couple ferries and only one recently constructed bridge was a logjam where now there are several bridges. This was to go about ten miles I think as the crow flies. Locals are now incredulous that this actually was a thing.
There are several videos on the web showing aspects of the flight off the roof, and return flights landing on the roof. This one is longer than most and in color, shows the Camden airport as well, first and then later.
I've mostly been avoiding purchases from foreign countries during the shutdown, but an ebay seller in the U.K. had some wonderful maximum cards of The Avengers (the classic ITV series from the 1960s, not the Marvel superheroes) that I just couldn't pass up. They were delivered today, only six days from Cambridgeshire to California! Here's one of the nine different cards that I got:
A few months ago I began a topical collection of the 1939 New York World's Fair as something of a diversion from my main interest in US.
So the mail brought me this French postal card. Uses the common design of the French issues Scott #372 of 1939 and Scott #373 of 1940. I do not have a Scott number for this postal stationery, however, but it is Yvert 426-CP1 of 1939.
The pictorial side shows the French pavilion at the Fair. - Jonathan
From the 1983 MLB All-Star Game - Babe Ruth stamp first day cover with autographs from the starting NL outfield - Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.
Scott # 313 unused, OG, HR, one pulled perf at the LR corner.
This is the last stamp I needed to complete my unused OG set of the 1902-1903 2nd Bureau issue. I had to settle for hinged versions of 312 and 313 as the MNH varieties of those two are too expensive for my budget.
It Goes to PSE tomorrow for grading and cert. The top 5 values are all certified.
After a long wait, I finally got five postcards that I bought on ebay, including this one, which was mailed within Latvia in 1935. The photo is of German actress Brigitte Helm, best known for portraying Maria and the Maschinenmensch in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).
After a short wait of 25 years, I finally found an early Gualala cover, this one was mailed in the 13th month of the office's 158 years of operation (still open) to Sergt. Henry Knipp of Co. G 9th MD Regt.
A bit beat up but it is 6 years, 2 months and 6 days before the earliest reported in John H. Williams California Town Postmarks 1849 - 1935. Postmaster compensation for Gualala in 1863 was $30.79.
I had a cover come in from England in yesterday's post along with another cover I was "really" buying. This one I just added in at the last to piggy-back on the shipping which I attributed to my main item.
The seller had described it as an 1853 postmark, but I could see from the get-go that the stamp was perforated, so not available for an 1853 cancellation, which in fact reads pretty clearly June 30, 1858. I make the stamp out to be a Sc. 26, not of particular note I think although the placement and cancel were neatly done.
The recipient's name, however, caught my attention. Annie O. Tiffany would be the daughter of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany's, the prominent jewelery firm, and older sister of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the stained glass artist. She would have been 13 when the letter was sent to her at boarding school. The Wheaton Female Seminary is now the coeducational Wheaton College in Massachusetts. Anyway, not every day you can get a Tiffany for $3 US.
Cover and then close up of stamp. The verso is blank.
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Posted 03/10/2020 8:19 pm
