Hindenburg Flight Cover Opinion

I found a Google book reference that confirms J. E. Lamiell was indeed the Director of the Division of International Postal Service in 1938.

I also found Stanley Madill in the 1940 Detroit census. He was a 36 year old foreman at one of the auto companies. The census lists the address as "4682 Baefour Avenue".

There is no doubt in my mind that the letter is authentic.

I purchased the item on ebay around five years ago from a legitimate dealer. He described it as a "1940 Post Office letter."

What I am hoping to find is an intact cover from an earlier Hindenburg flight that has the same stamp franking and corner inscription that would confirm which flight it was from. This of course assumes that similar covers were prepared for the flight.

I'm skeptical about the letter. Since when is a mid-level USPO official knowledgeable about German stamps, down to the "series number"? Why would such an official address such an issue with the world at war, even if the US had not yet entered in 1940? How would such an official know the form and content of "the official cachet" and why comment on the postmark? The whole subject just an odd thing for a US official to spend time on.

The fact that the official was a real person in that position is not impressive. That information could have been found through public sources when the letter was crafted.

To me, the letter sounds like it was written by a collector intending to create a document that would sow doubt as to whether the fragment could have been on the airship. I vote fake.

If you were going to go through the effort of faking a letter from a mid-level POD employee, wouldn't you make the letter more helpful than simply saying "we have no idea"? I would think a fake would at least say something like the stamps and partial cachet match the genuine Hindenburg covers. I see no reason to assume the letter is fake. I assume the cover fragments are fake or at least from an earlier Zepp flight and creatively damaged to make it look like damage from the Hindenburg.

It is completely plausible that the postmaster at Lakehurst forwarded the original inquiry letter (contents and specific questions unknown) to an expert on foreign mail. Flight covers were very popular during this period, so it would not surprise me that the Director of the International Postal Service was quite familiar with such things.

It would be interesting to know if Stanley Madill ever served in the Navy and was stationed at Lakehurst? Or someone in his family? If the cover is real, it came into his possession somehow.

Notice the top of this cover versus the damaged cover

Its the same pink heading on the top left corner word for word

This one is Hindenburg First Flight Cover May 1,1936 Frankfurt to Lakehurst.

How likely is it they would use the same desing on the 1937 flight? There must be a book showing which design of Zep covers were used on each flight?

Thanks duncanvr, that is exactly what I was looking for! Although my cover remains have an extra stamp, the corner is identical!

Regarding the expertise of J. E. Lamiell - apparently he was quite knowledgeable about first flight covers and the Hindenburg. I found a reference that has him in Alaska in 1933 processing first flight covers. This reference also indicates that he was a cachet maker himself! As to the Hindenburg, he had flown aboard it on October 9, 1936, along with 71 other "wealthy and influential" passengers!

http://www.airships.net/blog/annive...aires-flight

That kicks the letter up a notch in my book!

The AAMC has an example; the cachet and the cancellation are different than this one. Neither can possibly be genuine, even if the letter is (I think the letter actually has a pretty fair chance to be genuine even though the covers are not).

Here is a link to the 1938 first flight newspaper:

http://www.newspapers.com/clip/965394/1st_flight/

Since you seem intent on the item being a real crash cover you should just stick to that belief regardless of what people here have pointed out to you. But, the fact remains even if it is authentic you have very little physical evidence that definitively proves what you say it is.

I'd still send it into Sieger auctions and hope for a mega pay day if it sells high

All anyone has to do is look in at the picture in the air mail catalog to see they cannot possibly be genuine, whether the letter is or not.

j_rogers you may want to consider buying the book entitled "LZ-129 HINDENBURG, ZEPPELIN CRASH MAIL" by Dieter Leder, which describes each piece of recovered mail. It's not a cheap book (over $100), but depending on what you discover, may be worthwhile. (Personally I think your letter is real, but your remnants are not associated with the crash).

http://www.ezep.de/books/hindenburgcrash.html

Bergie – I have never suggested that this is a Hindenburg crash cover. I believed it to be a fake when I purchased it and still do.

My intent was to identify the Hindenburg flight from which the cover used to create the fake had originated. The post by duncanvr is close to what I am looking for. Although his cover is postmarked from Stuttgart, two of the stamps and the corner markings are identical and may have been prepared by the same person.

However, some here believe that the letter is a fake as well. I believe that the letter is completely authentic.

I am convinced that Mr. Stanley Madill came into possession of the burned cover and sent it to the postmaster at Lakehurst for authentication. The postmaster there forwarded it to Mr. John E. Lamiell in Washington DC for his evaluation.

I wonder if the APS Library has a copy of that book on the crash mail?