Had a lazy Sunday today and suddenly it’s evening. My wife and daughter were expecting deliveries from USPS and so I volunteered to cycle the quarter mile to the mailbox and collect anything contained therein. Of course I cycled a little further than necessary to achieve this object.
Here are a few photographs from my extended mailbox trip:
I have no idea where this envelope came from and I deem it to be historic enough to not redact the addressee name.
The fountain pen script is interesting enough in its’ own right and the stamp is from the days way before decimalization.
Examination of the stamp and postmark using a magnifying glass show that it is a 2 pence stamp postmarked Nottingham in 1932.
In United Kingdom pre decimal days (before February 15th, 1971) there were 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the Pound Sterling. In the 1930’s 1 GBP was worth around US$5 so the 2D stamp cost approximately 4 cents.
The “stamp” on the back of the envelope bears the name of the printer and the artist.
A search on the Internet reveals that “Hélio-Vaugirard was a French printing firm that specialized in printing stamps using the photogravure (intaglio) printing process. They were based in Paris.”
The stamp depicts a section of ”The Coronation of Charles VII in Reims in the presence of Joan of Arc“ painting by Jules Lenepveu.
The sealing wax on the back of the envelope appears to be imprinted with some form of Arabic. I have no knowledge to help identify the exact language but, as France ruled Syria in the 1920’s and 30’s, it may well be Syrian.
The address in London no longer exists as such but is now being converted into a modern building. Here is the developers site: 80 Charlotte St.
Click here to view on Google Earth
I have been unable to find out much more about #84 Charlotte Street in that there do exist photographs of, and information on, several other addresses in that street. However the artists amongst you may be interested to know that The Hogarth Club was based at that address between establishment in 1858 and final closure in 1861.
Madame McIndoe may or may not have been related to Sir Archibald McIndoe, originally of New Zealand, but known in the UK for his groundbreaking plastic surgery work on “The Guinea Pig Club”. The 1932 timescale is accurate for their time in London but I have, so far, been unable to find absolute proof tying them to #84.