May 2011 Whole No. 187 Vol. 39, No. 2
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN
THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY
Inside this issue:
Unlisted Blood’s Handstamps; Are They Real?
Livingston, Wells & Co., Bankers. Paris to West Chester, Pa. French – U. S. American Packet Mail, Mid-1850’s
Elephant Wars
Wales, Chester County, Pa ? I Do Not Think So…
A “Betsy Ross Flag House” Picture Postcard Converted to an Advertising / Distributor Postcard
The Reformation and the Dillers; a Physician’s Untimely Death
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN
The Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society
ISSN – 0894 – 0169 Est. 1974
PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN The bulletin of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society Published quarterly by the PPHS for its members Volume 39 No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 APS Affiliate No. 50 Member of the Pennsylvania Federation of Museums and Historical Organizations
www.PaPHS.org
The PPHS is a non-profit, educational organization whose purposes are to cultivate and to promote the study of t he postal history of Pennsylvania, to encourage the acquisition and preservation of material relevant and necessary to that study, and to publish and to support the publication of such knowledge for the benefit of the public. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of the PPHS, its Directors, Officers, or Members. Comments and criticisms are invited. Please direct your correspondence to the Editor.
OFFICERS and DIRECTORS APPOINTED OFFICERS
OFFICERS
President Richard Leiby, Jr. Historian Editor Norman Shachat 1774 Creek View Dr. 382 Tall Meadow Lane Fogelsville, PA 18051 Yardley, Pa 19067
Secretary Norman Shachat Auctioneer Robert McKain 382 Tall Meadow Lane 2337 Giant Oaks Drive Yardley, PA 19067 Pittsburgh, PA 15241
Treasurer Richard Colberg Publicity To be appointed. P. O. Box 10082 Lancaster, PA 17605
Catalogs Thomas C. Mazza DIRECTORS 1301 Ave. of the Americas Room 2300 2011 R. Colberg, R. Leiby, D. Telep New York, NY 10019-6092 2012 T. Clarke, R. McKain, S. Roth 2013 J. Boyles, G. Spector, S. Washburne)
1 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No.2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Your Society had a very productive meeting at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition in Oaks, PA. Our meeting minutes can be found on page 4. Of particular interest is the ratification of the changes to our bylaws.
Norm has put out the continuing plea for articles for the Historian . We have a great journal which we want to continue to improve. We are always looking for interesting material to publish and assist authors in publishing. At recent meetings we have been debating the costs versus benefits of upgrading our journal in a number of respects. This is a difficult debate, in that other societies that have varying levels of membership, are able to produce professional looking journals including the use of color. What costs can we bear without pricing ourselves out of the market? Is there a member out there with the skills and time to assist Norm in creating a better journal and holding down the publishing costs? Your input is desired.
Since the 150 th anniversary of the start of the Civil War occurred on April 12 th of this year, I include the following cover from Camp Silfer in Chambersburg, Pa. which was posted a little over a month after the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. Camp Silfer was named for Eli Silfer the th Commonwealth Secretary. Company G, “the Washington Rifles”, of the 10 regiment of Pennsylvania Infantry was recruited from Wilmore in Cambria County and was assigned to Camp Silfer at the time. The very light manuscript “Camp Silfer” appears just above the stamp.
Have a great summer. May you find that cover you’ve been pursuing.
Rick
Check Out Our Fabulous Web Site
www.PaPHS.org
For input, questions, or comments contact our webmaster Steve Roth at:
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 2
EDITOR’S COMMENTS
Thanks to Joe Crosby (# 445) for finding our “lost member” Tom Stasney. Using Google, Joe was able to find Tom’s address and phone number. I called Tom, one of our earliest members (# 13) and our first life member, who indicated that he is alive and well and now living in Johnsonville, SC. Needless to say, it is a pleasure to reinstate Tom in this issue. We have another reinstated member, # 312 Gordon Mathis, who I signed up at PNSE 2011. Gordon dropped out of our Society many years ago and requested reinstatement with his original number which he remembered. He showed me a book which he recently published on the Postal History of Warren County.
Early indications from PNSE President, Steve Washburne, indicate that PNSE 2011 was a success in all regards. Attendance was up from last year, most of the dealers appeared to be satisfied, and the show remains financially solvent despite the fact that there were significantly fewer dealers than last year. The exhibits were excellent, although we as a Society did not participate significantly (see page 5). Several of our members showed excellent non-PA material, and one of them, Mark Schwartz was awarded the Reserve
Grand. Congratulations Mark!
This issue contains several questions, some answers with which you may agree or disagree, but hopefully they will elicit some responses. I hope you enjoy it.
(Continued on page 17)
MEMBERSHIP SUMMARY
Total Membership as of 1/15/11 ------115
Reinstated ------+2
# 13 Tom Stasney (Johnsonville, SC) Life Member # 1
# 312 Gordon Mathis (Warren, PA)
Deceased ------1
# 229 Francis Ogle (Medford, NJ)
Total Membership as of 4/15/11 ------116 (includes 4 life members) (2 unpaid*)
* Dues have not been received from the following members. They will be dropped from our mailing list if dues are not received before the end of September.
# 420 Robert H. Hoover (Blairsville, PA)
# 584 Donald Mackowski (Enola, PA)
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3 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
Minutes of the Annual PPHS Membership Meeting at PNSE 2011 Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, PA, April 2, 2011
Attendees: Ed Andrews, George Ashman, Carl Barna (guest), Tom Clarke, David Crossland, Neal Erkes,
Suzanne Haney, Rick Leiby, Gordon Mathis (guest), Harvey Mirsky, Larry Pettinger, Bob
Rufe, Norm Shachat, Gus Spector, and Steve Washburne
The meeting was called to order at 2:05 PM by President Rick Leiby with 13 members and 2 guests present (12 members required for a quorum). The minutes of the Annual Meeting at Balpex 2010, published in the November 2010 Historian, were unanimously approved. The membership unanimously reelected Jim Boyles, Gus Spector and Steve Washburne to serve the Society as the 2013 Class of Directors.
The by-law changes recommended by the Board of Directors at the Balpex Meeting and which were published in the last two issues of the Historian (Nov. 2010 and Feb. 2011) were unanimously approved by all the members present. Secretary Norm Shachat reported that he received nine proxies from members who were unable to attend. Eight of the nine voted to approve all of the recommended changes. One proxy voted to approve the changes to Article VII (1) and Article III (4d) but voted against approval of the changes to Article II (2) and Article III (4a). The latter two are the changes which eliminated term limits. Suffice it to say, the changes were overwhelmingly adopted by the membership.
Our Treasurer Dick Colberg could not attend this meeting because he was in France. He did supply a year end report which Norm recalled indicated that our bottom line was between 6 and 7 thousand (actual $6,579 as of 12/31/10).
Susanne Haney requested help from the membership to put together an exhibit to be presented to the Civil War Consortium which meets at the Union League in Philadelphia. Anyone who wishes to participate with exhibit pages or photocopies of exhibit pages should contact Suzanne ([email protected] ).
Rick indicated that the problem we have been encountering with updating our website is attributable to the lack of service by our current host. Rick and our webmaster Steve Roth are currently searching for a new host which will provide the needed service.
The continuing slow depletion of our membership and various ways to publicize our Society were discussed. The need for a Publicity Chairman was emphasized as well as the need to keep our website fresh. Norm indicated that the dues ($22.50) of our current membership of ~115 (with 7 currently unpaid for 2011) does not fully pay for the 4 issues of the Historian which currently costs ~$3000 to print and distribute. Contributions and ad fees currently bring us close to breaking even with our current membership.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 P. M.
Respectfully submitted,
Norm Shachat, Secretary
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 4
Awards to Pennsylvania Exhibits at PNSE 2010
Competitive Single-Frame
Silver: Norm Shachat “Philadelphia Hotel Markings, 1841-1851
Non-Competitive Single-Frame (Complimentary Gold Medals)
Bill Schultz “Role of Advertising covers, West Chester, Pa., 1852-1909
Bill Schultz “Sharples Cream Separator Advertising Postcards”
Awards to PPHS Members Not Exhibiting PA Material
Mark Schwartz, Reserve Grand and Gold , “The Postmarks of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1740-1851” Also: U. S. Philatelic Classics Soc. Medal and Postal History Society Grand Award
Steve Washburne, Gold, “200+ Years of Madeira Postal History”
Vermeil , “Portuguese Commercial Air Mail Rates, 1934-1948”
Ed Andrews, Gold, “Classically Illegal: The Use of U. S. Postage as Revenue Stamps, 1862-1883”
Also: American Philatelic Congress Award, U. S. Stamp Soc. Statue of Freedom Award, and Best Revenue Exhibit Award
Gold , “Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck: The Events and Times that Molded the Man”
Also: Best Military Exhibit Award
Next Year’s Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition
Scheduled to be Held March 30 to April 1, 2012
Thus our next Annual Meeting would be on Sat. March 31, 2012
Confirmation, additional details and any interim meetings will be included in future issues.
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Member E-Mail Addresses
Edwin J. Andrews [email protected] (Scott # 65 Pa. Usages) George Ashman [email protected] (Carbon Co.) John Barwis [email protected] (Phila. Exhange Office Mails) Glenn Blauch [email protected] (Lebanon Co.)
Jim Boyles [email protected] (Lancaster City and County) Mike Burke [email protected] (Braddock, Greencastle, Rankin, Swissvale) Tom Clarke [email protected] (Philadelphia Postal History) Richard Colberg [email protected] (Litiz) Joe Crosby [email protected] (Pa. Fancy Cancels) Gerald Cross [email protected] (Wilkes-Barre) Dave Crossland [email protected] (Reading and Berks Counties) Roger Curran [email protected] (Lewisburg to 1900, Fancy Cancels) George Danyliw [email protected] (Phila. and Schuylkill Co.) William Dixon [email protected] (Wyoming County, Fakes and Forgeries)
Barry Elkins [email protected] (Philadelphia Co.) Neal Erkes [email protected] (Philadelphia Helen Galatan-Stone [email protected] (Phila. Buildings prior to 1900) Ken Hall [email protected] (Pa. Manuscript Postmarks) Suzanne Haney [email protected] (Welsh in Pa., Civil War Phila.) Gerald Hof [email protected] (Philadelphia, Hagerstown, Md.) Van Koppersmith [email protected] (Phila. Maritime Markings) Rick Leiby [email protected] (Pa. Stampless) Tom Mazza [email protected] (Erie, Western Pa.) Bob McKain [email protected] (Pittsburgh, Pa. Machines)
Phil Marks [email protected] (Bucks Co., Southern NJ, Eastern Shore) Harvey Mirsky [email protected] (U. S. 1847 Issue) Gordon Morison [email protected] (Bradford County) Vern Morris [email protected] (Philadelphia, Locals) Ed Mosheim [email protected] (Hereford Twp. P. O. and Adjacent Twp’s.) Bud Newman [email protected] (Pa. Stampless) Norm Nicol [email protected] (Luzerne and Wyoming Counties) Clay Olson [email protected] (Tioga County) Al Parsons [email protected] (Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler Counties, NY) Larry Pettinger [email protected] (Susquehanna County)
Steven Roth [email protected] (Domestic Maritime, Prexies) Robert G. Rufe [email protected] (Bucks County) Bill Schultz [email protected] (West Chester,West Whiteland & West Town) Norm Shachat [email protected] (Phila. and Bucks Co.) Dave Silcox [email protected] (Schuylkill and Berks Co.) Don W. Smith [email protected] (Johnstown, Cambria County) Gus Spector [email protected] (Phila., Buildings, Civil War ) Anita Sprankle [email protected] (North Central DPO’s, Sewing Machines) Gordon Trotter [email protected] (Nathan Trotter & Co. Correspondence) Dan Telep [email protected] (Pittsburgh, Sewickley, Western Pa.)
Herb Tindall [email protected] (Lancaster County Postal History)
(Continued on page 9)
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 6
Unlisted Blood’s Handstamps; Are They Real?
By Norman Shachat (# 76)
It is well known that in 1848, Blood’s employed two black 25 mm. double-circle handstamps, the catalog listings for which (ASCC, Vol II, 1987, p. 67) are shown in
Figure 1. Examples from my collection are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
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The cover shown in Figure 2 is a folded printed meeting notice for a public meeting of the “ROSINE ASSOCIATION,” for the Reformation, Employment and Instruction of Females who have led immoral lives to be held on Saturday October 7 th (1848). It was delivered locally by Blood’s for 2¢ collect.
The cover shown in Figure 3 is a folded letter datelined “Spruce St” July 12, 1848. 2¢ was paid to Blood’s for delivery to the P. O. The circular blue 29 mm. PHILAD A Pa. / 5cts postmark indicates the under 500 mi. collect rate to be paid by the addressee in Norristown.
Over 23 years ago, I purchased the cover shown in Figure 4, adding it to my collection with the notation “Unlisted marking; only known example”. The black 25 mm. double circle marking differs from the listed marking in two major ways: DESPATCH at the top and BLOOD’S at the bottom, and hollow 5-point stars above and below the PAID .
Figure 4
Having not encountered another example in more than 23 years, I began to question its validity. It is hard to imagine that someone would take the trouble of fabricating a handstamp of this type and not produce more examples. So even though I remained skeptical, I mounted it on a page in my exhibit along with the cover shown in Figure 3.
You can imagine my surprise and delight when I received an E-mail from Vern Morris (# 495) with a scan of the cover shown in Figure 5 and the question “Have you ever seen the attached handstamp marking that I just obtained? My response was “Not that one, but I have the companion “PAID” item!” and attached a scan of Figure 4.
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Figure 5
This find makes me less skeptical of the validity of the two covers. I remain concerned that there are not more examples. In any event one could postulate that Blood’s had these two alternative handstamps manufactured, used them for only a short time and abandoned them for the more prevalently found versions. Obviously, any thoughts or additional input regarding these currently unique markings would be appreciated.
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Joe Volutza [email protected] (Berks county, Dealer) Steve Washburne [email protected] (Philadelphia, Monmouth Co., N. J.) Harry Winter [email protected] (Centre County, Railroads) Cliff Woodward [email protected] (Western Pa., Oil Towns) Ronald J. Yeager [email protected] (Elk, Cameron and McKean Counties)
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOURE-MAIL ADDRESS LISTED HERE. INDICATE YOUR PA COLLECTING INTEREST.
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9 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
Livingston, Wells & Co., Bankers. Paris to West Chester, Pa.
French – U. S. American Packet Mail, Mid-1850’s
By Bill Schultz (# 202, LM # 6) and Norman Shachat (# 76)
Acquisition of Livingston Wells by Wells Fargo:
Since 1852, Wells Fargo has provided financial services to and from le monde français. Wells Fargo and Company began Express and banking services in 1852. That year, they advertised and sold bills of exchange to transfer money to Montreal, Quebec, etc.. A year later, the Company acquired Wells, Livingston & Co., which founder Henry Wells had formed to do business in Paris. Wells Fargo was now "prepared to transact a general European Express and Banking Business." An advertisement from 1853 lists several French-speaking cities in Canada and Europe ( Wellsfargo.com/guidedhistory),
In September 1853 Wells Fargo & Company acquired Livingston, Wells &
Company, which had been its express and banking correspondent in England ,
France and Germany . By the spring of
1854, some of the directors of Wells Fargo had become convinced that the purchase had been brought about through unspecified misrepresentations by Wells, Johnston Livingston, William
N. Babbitt and S. De Witt Bloodgood. Wells and his associates made good any losses to Wells Fargo, and Livingston, Wells & Company wound up its affairs when its Paris office was closed in October 1856 .
Livingston Wells Cover to West Chester:
One of us – guess who – acquired the cover shown in Figure 1. It is an envelope addressed to West Chester with two markings on the front and no markings on the back. The black 32 mm. 21 / N. YORK A M PK T (Type 10a) is known to have been used from June 1, 1854 to April 15, 1857 1. The blue double oval marking in the upper left corner O measures 37 x 17 mm. and reads LIVINGSTON WELLS & C / BANKERS.PARIS . 2 Rowe lists a blue double oval “Livingston Wells and Co.” marking of exactly this size in use from 1848 – 1854. We suspect the marking on the cover is just an advertising corner, but cannot eliminate the possibility that it is a Livingston Wells forwarding handstamp.
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 10
Figure 1
American Packet sailings during the early to mid-1850’s that might have possibly carried a letter arriving in New York on Aug. 4 are as follows: 3
Ocean Line “Hermann” d. BR 7/16/52, d. SO 7/21/52, a. NY 8/3/52
Ocean Line “Washington” d. BR 7/15/53, d. SO 7/20/53, a. NY 8/4/53
Collins Line “Atlantic” d. LP 7/23/56 a. NY 8/4/56
BR – Bremen SO – Southampton LP – Liverpool
We believe the 1856 sailing is the one which most likely carried the letter.
The unusual aspect of the letter is that it contains no other markings. Normally, such letters contained a French town of origin marking and an indication of the paid French postage. For a single letter (to 7½ grams), the French postage which consisted of French inland + British transit was 8 decimes. More often than not the paid French postage was indicated in manuscript on the back of the cover. The mail was bagged by the French and transported to the American Packet which stopped at a British port. When the bags were emptied in New York, the 21-cent collect postage marking was applied. 4,5
After assuring Dick Winter (# 555) that there was nothing on the back of the cover, he sent the following E-mail:
There is a strange thing that I have seen on a number of covers from France in the early 1850s that I have never been able to explain, nor has anyone else that I am aware of. The covers are from Paris (not Livingston Wells and Co., however) and another firm in Marseilles to the United States and show no postmarks in France and no prepayment on the reverse of the covers. I have several of these in my collection and I am certain they are not uncommon . Each letter obviously was
11 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
handled in the French mail system, but none have any postmarks or rate markings. Perhaps one day I will learn the answer as to why these covers are without markings, but for now I can not explain. The only markings on the covers are the postage due markings applied in the United States.
I suspect the West Chester cover is another example of the same thing except
from a different company. I am not a proponent of “bundling” letters at Paris and marking only one of the covers. There must be another explanation, but I
don’t know what it is.
Paris to Philadelphia by American Packet
Would you believe it, one of us – guess who – while trying to dope out the Figure 1 cover, purchased the cover shown in Figures 2 and 3 (front and back) on E-Bay! It has all the postal markings one would expect on a cover from Paris to Philadelphia by French closed American Packet mail to New York via England during the French Decree Period (1851 – 1857). 4,5
Figure 2
The letter is datelined “Paris Dec. 13, 1855”. The black 20 mm. double-circle PARIS date stamp on the front does not have a legible date, however, from the other dates on the cover we can be reasonably certain that it is Dec. 13. The 8-decime postage collected at
Paris is written in manuscript on the back of the cover right below the black 20 mm. octagon in circle PARIS A CALAIS “ambulant” P. O. marking which is clearly dated “13/ DEC/ 55”. To indicate the payment of the French postage, the Paris P. O. struck the red “ PD” in a 10½ x 7 mm. box (under the N. Y. marking). In a closed bag it was loaded onto the Collins Line steamer “Pacific” which departed Liverpool on Dec. 15, 1855 and 6 arrived in New York on Dec. 28, 1855.
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Figure 3
The New York P. O. applied the black circular 32 mm. 21-cent collect marking on the front and sent it on to the addressee in Philadelphia. It appears to be the same marking as that on the Figure 1 cover (Type 10a).
Acknowledgement: Our thanks to Dick Winter (# 555) for his input and help in the construction of this article.
References:
1) R. F. Winter, The Chronicle , Vol. 48, No. 2, May 1996, p. 128.
2) K. Rowe, The Postal History of Forwarding Agents , Hartmann, 1984, p. 171.
3) W. Hubbard and R. F. Winter, North American Sailings 1840-1875 , USPCS, 1988, pp. 87 and 107.
4) G. Hargest, History of Letter Post Communication between the U. S. and Europe nd 1845-1875 , 2 Ed., Quarterman Pub., 1975, pp. 45 and 53.
5) R. F. Winter, Understanding Transatlantic Mail, Vo. I , APS, 2006, p. 282.
6) W. Hubbard and R. F. Winter, ibid. , p. 105.
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13 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
Elephant Wars
© 2011 By Gus Spector (# 396)
This article was written exclusively for the Pennsylvania Postal Historian . One may ask “Is Spector crazy writing about elephants in a philatelic publication?” But let me just explain…
When I recently obtained the cover shown in Figure 1, I was absolutely certain that I had, indeed, purchased a “white elephant”. The cover bears a one cent 1881 adhesive with the double-oval PHILADELPHIA/ PA cancellation, normally used on third class-mail starting in 1881. The caption simply reads “Compliments of Adam Forepaugh. White Elephant of Siam.” The black and white illustration depicts three adoring turbaned worshippers, dwarfed in the shadow of the colossal beast. Stifling my yawn, I turned to Google Search, and, to my surprise, unearthed a plethora of unbelievable facts, giving new life to my acquisition.
Figure 1
White elephants are albinos. Most of the white variety actually have yellowish or reddish brown skin, and have either pink irises and scarlet-rimmed eyes or white irises and white-rimmed eyes. The lower class populations of Laos and Siam believed the white elephants to be divine. Playing upon their superstitions, the lords of these countries captured the gargantuan white creatures, housing them in huge stables within their palace walls. Treated like gods, the beasts drank from golden water jars laced with perfumed flowers, and were bedded upon gold inlaid floors. They wore golden harnesses adorned with silver bells and lavishly embroidered cushions rested upon their backs. Flowers were strewn in their paths by lovely young maidens.
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 14
P.T. Barnum and the Ringling Brothers were circus operators known for their superb showmanship and the scrupulous manner in which they treated the public. Their productions were known as clean-cut “Sunday School Shows”. In 1884 Barnum purchased “Toung Taloung” (English translation: “Gem of the Sky”), a towering white behemoth, from King Thibaw of Burma. He was advertised as the “first and only genuine sacred white elephant ever permitted to leave his native land”. After being displayed in London, the elephant was transported to America and brought to New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Enter Adam Forepaugh. Adam, born into an impoverished Philadelphia family in 1831, was made apprentice to a butcher at age 9. While still a youngster, he moved to New York
City and displayed his entrepreneurial genius with successful dealings in livestock. During the Civil War he made a fortune selling horses to the United States government.
In 1864 he became a circus operator, changing his family name from Forebaugh to Forepaugh, since it sounded more “circusy”. In 1865 he opened a permanent circus building in Philadelphia, and the next year “took to the road” with “Adam Forepaugh’s Circus and Menagerie”. During his career, he owned more elephants than Barnum (39 compared to P.T.’s 36). In 1869 he made circus history in Louisville, Kentucky by erecting double big tops, one for the circus performances and the other for his menagerie.
By 1878 his circus boasted a most impressive assortment of 60 cages, 290 horses, and 37 railway cars. Another of Forepaugh’s innovations was the Wild West Show.
In 1881 he offered a $10,000 prize to crown the most beautiful woman in America, the winner to lead his circus in his lavish, well-organized street parades. Forepaugh has been credited as the originator of the beauty pageant.
As a shrewd businessman, he greeted the public by seating himself in front of the main circus entrance before each performance. Although it was said that his personal habits were pristine - he did not smoke, drink or chew tobacco - he treated both his customers and his workers with disdain. He hired pickpockets to fleece the audience, and his sideshows were staffed by sleazy card dealers and shell gamesmen.
The quote “A sucker is born every minute, but none of them ever die”, originally attributed to P.T. Barnum, was most likely coined by the famous con-man Joseph “Paper
Collar Joe” Bessimer. In a newspaper interview Forepaugh credited this quote to Barnum, who never denied having said it, and, in fact, supposedly thanked Forepaugh for the free publicity.
Forepaugh, upon hearing the news that Barnum was about to introduce his white elephant to the American public, formulated a dastardly plan to one-up the master showman. Six days before Barnum’s Toung Taloung was to appear in Madison Square
Garden, Forepaugh trotted out his own white elephant, dubbed “The Light of Asia” (later naming him “John”). While Barnum’s albino was actually a disappointing spotted brownish color, “The Light of Asia” was a brilliant white, having been painted by Forepaugh’s circus workers!
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Thus began the “Elephant Wars”.
Barnum and Forepaugh owned the two largest circuses in the country. For more than a decade, through the 1870s and well into the 1880s the two men fought each other over the rights to perform in the most favored cities. In 1880 they combined their shows for a Philadelphia engagement. In 1882 and 1884 they signed truces dividing the country into negotiated territories.
In 1887 Barnum, who deemed Madison Square Garden to be exclusively under his aegis, was enraged when he learned that Forepaugh had trumped him by obtaining a lease at the Garden. After many contentious words a compromise was reached, and the two circuses again combined in a gala New York performance, with Forepaugh working thirty of the sixty elephants.
Forepaugh eventually sold his circus acts to James A. Bailey and James E. Cooper in 1889, and his railroad cars to the Ringling Brothers. Purchase of Forepaugh’s equipment transformed the Ringling circus from a small animal venture into a mammoth rail-powered production. Ringling subsequently bought out Barnum and Bailey’s Circus, literally lock, stock and barrel.
Adam Forepaugh died on January 22, 1890 at his home at 1612 Green Street in Philadelphia, at age 58. He was buried in the family vault at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Many local charities, including Temple University, Morris Animal Refuge, St. Agnes and St. Luke’s Hospitals, and Children’s Medical Center, benefited from the fortune that he had amassed.
As a footnote to history, P.T. Barnum, whose image appears on the 1883 ticket of admission seen in Figure 2, had sent his agent to India to purchase a white elephant at a cost of $200,000. The purchase was, as far as Barnum was concerned, sight unseen. Barnum was quoted as saying “I was greatly disappointed in him. He was as genuine a white elephant as ever existed, but, in fact, there was never such an animal known. The white spots are simply diseased blotches. My white elephant was burned to death at Bridgeport in
November, 1887, and I can’t say that I grieved much over his loss.”
Figure 2
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The term “white elephant”, as in a “white elephant gift exchange”, has been handed down to us from Barnum’s era, meaning something that has been given away, but is generally useless to the receiver.
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EDITOR’S COMMENTS continued from page 3:
Is it possible to discover a new Blood’s handstamp type is the question implicitly posed in my article entitled “Unlisted Blood’s Handstamps; Are They Real?”
With the help of Dick Winter, Bill Schultz and I discuss mail from France by American Packet during the mid-1850’s in an article entitled “Livingston, Wells & Co., Bankers, Paris to West Chester, Pa.” .
In his entertaining article “Elephant Wars” , Gus Spector details the competition between the two largest circuses during the later part of the 19 th Century. Now we all know the origin of the term “white elephant”.
Bill Schultz’s article, which is based on a cover addressed to Wales Post Office, Chester, County, Pa., asks and answers the question in his title, “Wales, Chester County, Pa ? I Do Not think So…” Can anyone help Bill with an explanation?
A picture postcard overprinted with advertising is the subject of Charlie Fricke’s article entitled “A “Betsy Ross Flag House” Picture Postcard Converted to an Advertising / Distributor Postcard”.
The issue concludes with an article by Jesse Spector entitled “The Reformation and the
Dillers; a Physician’s Untimely Death” which begins with the question “What is postal history?” Whether you agree or disagree with his answer, I think you will find his article fascinating, and it was all initiated by a very ordinary looking early 20 th century cover.
Did I have fun and learn a lot in putting this issue together? You bet I did. Another question answered! I sincerely thank all the authors and urge you to join them by submitting an article. Although I now have a modest backlog, perhaps enough for one issue, please help maintain the Historian by submitting an article in your area of interest. As you can see we publish both conventional postal history and what Jesse Spector calls “philatelic social history”. Especially interesting are problem items which request an explanation. I find it hard to believe that most of us don’t have such items in our collection.
With the completion of this issue I can now turn my attention to one of my other pastimes, gardening. Hopefully spring weather will soon arrive in our state, and those seeds
I planted to rejuvenate my dried out lawn will start to germinate.
Have a great spring and summer.
Norm ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
17 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
Wales, Chester County, Pa ? I Do Not Think So…
Bill Schultz (# 202, LM #6)
While doing a little research in the Chester County Historical Society (CCHS) Library in West Chester, PA, I came across the cover shown below. It was stored in the vault files as part of the Robert Brinton Chester County P. O. Collection that basically has been untouched since circa 1940.
While I was very pleased to see an 1862 East Nantmeal manuscript postmark, what really caught my eye was the receiving P. O. notation of “Wales Post Office, Chester Co.” The East Nantmeal P. O. existed from May 1826 to 1912.
I have searched as many Postal History sources as possible to date and have found no indication of the existence of a Wales P. O. in Chester County. Ms. Pam Powell, the very able CCHS Photo Archivist and a fine Chester County Historian in her own right has searched the sources that are known to her to find some reference to “Wales” including Pinkowski’s “Place Names” and the comprehensive database at the CCHS of place names from the extensive map collection.
I had concluded that the most likely (though not definitely!) case could be a misspelling of the Chester County P. O. named Wallace which operated from 1843 to 1906. Ms. Powell has suggested the following places in Chester County as possibilities including the Wallace guess: Malins which was recorded on a map of Tredyffrin Township in 1856; Maris (Grist Mill) recorded on a 1856 map of Willistown Township; and Walkers (School) recorded on a Honeybrook Township map of 1856.
I would be very pleased to hear from other postal historians that might shed further insight on the Wales Post Office in Chester County. Kay & Smith list one “Wales” in their “Pennsylvania Postal History” book and that one is located in Northampton County and only operated for a few months in 1855.
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HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 18
A “Betsy Ross Flag House” Picture Postcard Converted to an Advertising / Distributor Postcard
By Charles A Fricke
During the early 1900’s it was not unusual for a company to purchase already published picture postcards and overprint them with some sort of advertising.
Such is the case with the picture postcard shown in Figure 1. It is postmarked Peoria, ILL. Jan. 4, 1912 and was sent to Edward, Ill. The postage was paid with a 1¢ Franklin (Scott # 331).
Figure 1
The “Enterprise / Meat and Food Chopper” pictured on the left side of the postcard together with the detailed explanation of the use of the chopper is clearly a well defined advertisement. Underneath the printed ad the following was handstamped in bright red:
WM. BITTEL PEORIA ILL.
Apparently Bittel was a distributor of the Enterprise Meat and Food Chopper in the Midwest region of the country. It is clear from the overprinting on the picture side of the card, which shows “the “BIRTHPLACE OF OLD GLORY” (Figure 2), that the chopper
19 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
was manufactured in Philadelphia. At the very bottom is printed, “Betsy Ross House, Birthplace of Old Glory, Philadelphia, Pa.” At the top there is red overprinting which reads:
ENTERPRISE Sausage Stuffers; Meat and Food Choppers, etc., made in Philadelphia.
Clearly the postcard was converted to an advertising card by the company which manufactured the chopper and was located in Philadelphia. They apparently sent the overprinted cards to their distributors in various parts of the country; thus not only advertising their product, but also historic Philadelphia.
Figure 2
While the photograph of the Betsy Ross House in Figure 2 looks somewhat dilapidated, the later picture postcard in Figure 3 makes the house look totally different with the following imprint:
Betsy Ross Flag House, 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
The bottom of the descriptive text on the address side of the postcard (Figure 4) provides the explanation as follows”
“The Betsy Ross House was recently restored by Mr. A. Atwater Kent.”
The stylized drawing of the restored Ross House makes it look quite different than the the earlier photograph and is likely a truer picture of the original structure.
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 20
The entire descriptive text reads:
John Ross at the time of the Revolution kept an upholstery establishment in this quaint little shop on Arch Street. He died in the Continental Army and in May, 1776, a Committee from the Continental Congress headed by George Washington employed Betsy Ross to make the first American flag. The Betsy Ross House was recently restored by Mr. A. Atwater Kent.
But no matter, the conversion of the picture postcard by the Enterprise Company of Philadelphia illustrates the idea of purchasing already published picture postcards and over- printing them with advertising to attract the customer into keeping the postcard, which is why it exists today.
Figure 3
Figure 4 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
21 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
The Reformation and the Dillers; a Physician’s Untimely Death
By Jesse Spector (# 556)
What is postal history? Well, most assuredly it’s about the study of rates, routes, markings, penalties, and a whole lot more; yet, for philatelic social historians it’s also about the people and history related to philatelic covers and their contents. A postal history cover is a microcosm, a still life in time, which metaphorically on tapping the zoom out button on one’s laptop expands into a moving, pulsating universe of activity. And the cover I shall now discuss, peruses 500 years of history back to Martin Luther, tacking his demands on the church door, then carries us through the emigration of thousands, nee millions, of refugees from religious persecution after the Edict of Nantes in 1685 to, among other places, York, Pennsylvania and eventually terminates in the 1960’s. I believe that should suffice for one cover. So, follow me into the world of the Diller family of York Springs, Pa. with literally thousands of Dillers scattered throughout Adams County and Cumberland County and their lives’ experiences.
What was it about this cover that struck my fancy (Figure 1)? Well, as a retired physician whose philatelic writings have concentrated on Pennsylvania medical history, it was first-off the imprinted return address: Ira Diller, M.D., York Springs, Pa. But I was likewise attracted by the receiver’s name, Miss Hypatia Diller in Gettysburg, Pa. This cover was mailed at Idaville, Pa. on February 28, 1902 with a receiving stamp on the obverse in Gettysburg, Pa. on March 3, 1902. The postage is a Scott 252, type III. If you wonder how
Figure 1 unusual the name Hypatia is, just type it on your keyboard and a jagged red line underlines the word to warn you to correct your apparent error since no one is named Hypatia in
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 22
contemporary times. Nineteenth Century America, however, had its own fashion in given names. Hypatia was indeed christened Hypatia Blanche Anna E. Diller; and, for that matter, Ira is Ira Darius Alonzo Diller. Their brother Lucius Quintus Curtius Diller died in childhood and their two surviving brothers were Orpheus Ulysses Diller and Reuel Marcus
Daniel Diller. Their parents, David A. Diller, a physician, and Louisa, born in 1836 and 1837 respectively, certainly had far more prosaic names, but one can surmise that David was very likely well read in Greek and Roman classics and clearly dabbled in Spanish.
Before getting into the Reformation and its impact on the Dillers (they were not called Dillers back then as you shall see) let me interject a fact of life; for, whereas Ira’s three living sibs all survived into their 80’s and 90’s, Ira, who was born in 1871, died suddenly and unexpectedly at age 36 in 1909. My point is, unless one is extremely existential in one’s thinking, wouldn’t you be upset, perhaps miffed is a better word, if you were to know that your sibs would live on average three times longer than the slightly less than two score years assigned to you? Well, think about it.
The progenitor of the Dillers in America was Caspar Diller the senior, born in Alsace, France in approximately 1670. The Reformation of the 16 th Century had led to violent repercussions with The Massacre of St. Bartholomew in France in 1572. In 1598 the Edict of Nantes granted equal rights to Protestants, but in 1685 this Edict was revoked and Protestants were again persecuted in France. Children, at the age of seven, by apostatizing were declared independent of their parents, military executions were employed to enforce uniformity of worship, protestant marriages were declared illegal and their offspring illegitimate. Thereupon, 15,000 persons fled initially to Hamburg, Germany, then to Amsterdam and in the ensuing five years almost one million fled to Holland, England and America, the latter due in great degree to William Penn initiating colonization of Pennsylvania in 1682. Alsace was nearly depopulated.
And so Caspar Diller, Sr. went from Alsace in about 1685 to Holland and from there to England. One of his sons, also named Caspar was about 10 or 15 years old at the time and
lived to be almost 100 years of age, dying about 1770. Caspar Jr., according to family tradition, married an English woman, who was “of large stature, masculine development, and had a bountiful supply of hair”. As proof of Caspar’s French nativity is the fact that there were Dillers in Alsace in the 1870’s after it became part of Germany following France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. These facts are well described in the Diller 1 Family History of 1877 .
The family name in France was Delle, pronounced De-lare. In Holland, based on this pronunciation, the spelling was changed to Dulor. As an aside, Caspar Jr. made wooden shoes in Holland and a family member in New Holland, Pa., had a pair of his manufactured shoes. Following his emigration with his wife and children to America the family restored Dulor to De-ller and eventually to Diller. Nevertheless there are also Deller families ensconced in Pennsylvania as well.
Our protagonist, Ira is the seventh generation offspring of Caspar the progenitor. Ira’s th father David was born near Hanover, Pa. at Plum Creek, York County, Pa. January 18 ,
23 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
1836. His mother Louisa was born in York Springs in 1837. David and Louisa were second cousins, and indeed marriage between Diller cousins was not uncommon in several of the generations preceding their marriage. David received his medical degree from the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1864, as listed in the History of Adams
County. I have in a prior article discussed the issue of the quality of medical education in th 2 19 Century America . David died in 1889 and Louisa died in 1924 (Figures 2-3).
Figure 2 Gravestone of Dr. David Diller Figure 3 Gravestone of Louisa Diller
Dr. Ira Diller, our cover writer, was a well-known physician in York Springs. Ira had been a student at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, the Medico-Chirurgical College in Philadelphia and graduated from the Baltimore Medical College. He had been practicing medicine in York Springs for about 10 years. He was unmarried and resided with his mother Louisa and two brothers, Orpheus and Reuel and his sister Hypatia. Four published obituaries vary somewhat in their reporting. According to the Gettysburg Compiler Ira had been sitting in his office reading during the evening of July 12, 1909. About ten o’clock his brother Reuel saw Ira go out to the barn. When he did not return by 10:40 pm, Louisa went out to the barn and found him “lying prostate”. Medical assistance was summoned but “the spark of life had fled”. Death was attributed to heart failure. The Hanover Herald stated that death was totally unexpected and that Ira had not been ill. An obituary in the Adams County News states that whereas he had not been ill and his death was totally unexpected, “he had been complaining lately of his heart troubling him”. The front page obituary in The
Gettysburg Times added the byline “Well Known Young Resident of York Springs Dies at his home. Found Dead at Barn by Members of Family” (Figure 4).
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 24
Figure 4
Well now, not only unexpected and certainly shocking, but even more so horrific for a mother to find her son dead. I suspect that Ira suffered either a myocardial infarction (heart attack) from narrowing of the blood vessels supplying oxygen to the heart, or more likely a catastrophic irregularity of his heart rhythm (ventricular fibrillation) resulting from an abnormality in the heart’s electrical conduction system, possibly congenital in nature. I obtained several opinions from my cardiology colleagues, since as a hematologist- oncologist I didn’t quite trust my cardiac diagnosing skills, and they concur with these
possibilities in a young man with a family history which to the contrary demonstrated significant longevity as we shall now see.
I come now to the issue of “what if” a medical catastrophe hadn’t come up to snuff out a life in the prime and assuming also that one wasn’t killed in the war or run over by an out- of-control horse and wagon. Well, with regard to Ira’s sibs, Hypatia remained a spinster and was a school teacher in York Springs as well as a school librarian. According to the th East Berlin News Comet of November 15 , 1962, she was honored with a gift subscription to The Union Signal for her work in the library department in her younger years. It was reported that she had recently entered the Golden Age Nursing Home in Hanover after sustaining a foot injury. Hypatia died at the age of 95 on June 9, 1966 and her obituary appeared in The New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, June 16, 1966 (Figure 5).
Hypatia’s brother Reuel, who had married and outlived his wife Ida, was also a resident at the Golden Age Nursing home early on during Hypatia’s residence there. Reuel had registered for the draft during World War I and I was able to obtain a copy of his draft
25 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
registration card (Figure 6). He was at that time already in his 40’s and was not
called to active duty. He had been a printer throughout his adult life as well as
an antique dealer. He died on October 13, 1963 at age 88. Orpheus, who had married and lived with his wife Pleuvia at
the Diller family home, owned a grocery store and was also a school director. He
died at age 86 on April 6 1955. Yes, one might indeed feel miffed if we knew we were to be short changed by a substantial
number of years compared to our sibs, but as we all know that would just be a
game we are playing. Life is what it is. What if Martin Luther’s Ninety Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of
Indulgence had blown off the nail on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg and
if he had been run over by a run-a-way horse and cart as he returned to tack up a new one. Would there be such a thing as
a Reformation? Would the word Protestant have any recognizable
meaning? Would I be writing about the Dillers today? Oh these are wonderful mental exercises in futility. For life IS
what it IS!
Figure 5 Obituary of Miss Hypathia Diller
Figure 6 Reuel Diller World War I draft registration
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 26
The thousands of Dillers in Pennsylvania have a noble tradition originating in agriculture during the early years after the first immigration, and then expanding out into Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and other states notably in politics, military, professions and business. Indeed, the 19 th Century saw Caspar Diller’s offspring live the American Dream th to its fullest, extending on into the 20 century and now into the present millennia. For you see, the Diller family, like countless others who populated our country from distant shores are the living history which we capture when we first glance at that inanimate philatelic cover that for some strange reason just catches our fancy and asks us to let it out of the bottle to tell its story.
References:
1) Ringwalt, J.L.: The Diller Family, 1877. http://www.archive.org/stream/the
diller family00ring_djvu.txt
2.) Spector, JI: Dr. Miller and his Auto-Hemic Light Electronic & Medical Institute. Pennsylvania Postal Historian , Vol. 38, No. 1, whole # 182, Feb. 2010, pp 20-23.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
WANTED Postal History (stampless to modern), Postcards, and Ephemera
SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PA
• All types of covers and all periods, especially stampless, manuscript cancels (stampless and stamped), patriotics, advertising, foreign destinations, fancy cancels, Doanes, machine cancels
• All towns, especially scarcer towns and DPO’s
• Towns of special interest: Montrose (county seat), Susquehanna, Susquehanna(h) Depo(t), Great Bend, New Milford, Harford, Gibson, Friendsville, Little Meadows, Hop Bottom
• Postcards showing town views, post offices and other buildings, farming, manufacturing, commerce, transportation, railroads, family life, etc.
• Ephemera related to Susquehanna County history
Larry Pettinger 11503 Woodstock Way Reston, VA 20194 [email protected]
27 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
Covers from the following towns in Chester WANTED County are needed for a book in progress: Covers and Ephemera Auburn; Bacton; Birchrunville; Buck Run; Stampless to Modern Burdel; Byers; Cassart; Charleston; Blairsville, PA Clingans; Diemer; Elk Mills; Forestville; Fountain Inn; Fountain Mills; Fox Chase Tavern; General Pike; Grove; Also the surrounding area: Heckleville; Hero; Humphreysville; Black Lick, Black Lick Mills, Black Lick Station, Branch, Branch Junction, Carters Manavoon; Maple Shade; North Coventry; Mills, Cokeville, Heshbon, Josephine, Paper Mills; Pyles; Rosscommon; Knights, Livermore, Newport, Torrance, Snap; & Stock Indiana & Branch RPO, Indiana and Branch RPO Send photocopy or scan to: Bob Hoover Bill Schultz 941 Cornell Road 1305 Murdock Drive Blairsville, PA 15717 West Chester, PA 19380 [email protected] [email protected] 724-459-5561
Ron Yeager, P. O. Box 774, Bradford, PA 16701-0774 E-mail: [email protected]
HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011 28
Urgently Needed Back Issues of the Historian
Philadelphia Advertising Covers – building illustrations, any other illustrated Members-$3 each Non-members-$5 each
Also postal history of the (Only order occasional issues; long runs 1876 Centennial will not be supplied)
All Correspondence Answered Current Historian Index - $9 ppd Gus Spector 824 Main St. Suite 203 (updated to # 177)
Phoenixville, PA 19460 Write to:
Tom Clarke WANTED P. O. Box 418 Jenkintown, PA 19046 Philadelphia Maritime and Exchange Office Markings on Stampless Covers from 1792 forward WANTED for EXHIBIT
Van Koppersmith P. O. Box 81119 Covers and Ephemera on the Mobile, AL 36689 Welsh in Pennsylvania
251-343-2413 [email protected] All Periods including 18 th Century All Counties
Please send photocopies or scans to: WANTED
Suzanne L. Haney Stampless Covers Pre-1850 Chester County, Pa. 320 Manton St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 Bill Schultz
1305 Murdock Drive [email protected]
West Chester, PA 19380
Advertising Rates
Per Year: Full Page $50, Half Page $35, Quarter Page $27, Business Card $17
Per Issue: Full Page $15, Half Page $10, Quarter Page $7, Business Card, $5
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29 HISTORIAN Vol. 39, No. 2 (Whole No. 187) May 2011
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Pennsylvania Postal Historian
PRESORTED Norman Shachat STANDARD 382 Tall Meadow Lane U. S. POSTAGE Yardley, PA 19067 PAID SAYRE, PA PERMIT #224 Return Service Requested