PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN

Transcription

1 May 2015 Whole No. 203 Vol. 43, No. 2 PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORIAN THE BULLETIN OF THE PENNSYLVANIA POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY Inside this issue: New Hope Postal History Letters Part 1: Selection of Letters with the Oval NEW HOPE / PENNA Postmark SALES FLOORS IN THE AIR WAVES: Early Philadelphia Radio Campbell(s)town, Lebanon County, Pa. Early Manuscript Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pa. Another Blue 1851 PHILADELPHIA / PAID 3 Cts. Found Hayesville P. O., Chester County, Pa. July 8, 1850 to Aug. 13, 1879 First Day of Issue Regular Cancellations Advertising Postcard from West Grove Pa. with Deficiency in Address Corrected by the Philadelphia Post Office

2 SALES FLOORS IN THE AIR WAVES: Early Philadelphia Radio By Gus Spector (# 396) March 18, 1922 marked an auspicious occasion in Philadelphia history. On that date, the Strawbridge and Clothier Department Store was the first such Philadelphia enterprise to launch a radio station. Broadcasting from its Eighth and Market Street establishment, WFI, as it was known, originated from a fourth-floor glass-enclosed studio within the store. Its initial programs would feature local dignitaries, politicians, and musicians. Forty-five minutes later, Gimbel Brothers Department Store, located at Ninth and Market, just across the street from Strawbridge s, commenced broadcasting from within its own building. WIP, the station s designation, were letters that Gimbels had merely chosen at random. Lit Brothers Department Store, also on Market Street, utilized the call letters WDAR (and later, in 1925, WLIT). Due to the local airwaves of the 1920 s, Lits had to split both its airtime and the same 740 watt frequency with Strawbridge s WFI. Such sharing was a not uncommon occurrence. Arrangements among stations often resulted in jamming wars, but WLIT and WFI were able to work amicably. On November 11, 1928 the stations merged, adopting the call letters, WFIL, a combination of WFI and WLIT, at a frequency of 560 AM. In 1945 Triangle Publications, owned by Walter Annenberg, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, purchased WFIL from Lit Brothers for $190,000 (equivalent to $2,498,880 today). A fourth radio station, WOO, based within Wanamaker s Department Store, also part of the downtown Market Street hub, operated at 590 kilohertz, or 500 watts. On Sunday, February 1, 1925, a typical program included a 10:30 am morning service from the Bethany Presbyterian Church (formerly the pulpit of John Wanamaker) located at 22 nd and Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia, with the closing benediction given on the stroke of noon. Department store radio stations were not unique to Philadelphia. During the radio boom of 1920 to 1922, there were almost 600 radio stations in existence. Of that number, some thirty were owned by department stores that had erected their own transmitting towers. Gimbels was founded by Adam Gimbel, a young Bavarian Jewish immigrant. In 1894 he acquired the Granville Haines store, located at Ninth and Market Streets. Gimbel continued to succeed, and his store eventually encompassed the entire south side of Market Street between Eighth and Ninth. By 1930 Gimbels boasted seven stores throughout the country. The Philadelphia Gimbels was the first department store in the world to transport customers from floor to floor via escalators. In 1945 Gimbels introduced the Slinky, a toy so simple and so innovative that 400 were sold within the first ninety minutes! Christopher W. Graham ( ) was one of Gimbels radio station s first announcers. A native Philadelphian, he became a beloved icon known as Uncle WIP, reading bedtime stories at 7:30 pm. In mid-1922 Uncle WIP also hosted a Sunday afternoon program known as Uncle WIP s Kiddie Hour, where children would perform live on-air from his studio. Each show included several hymns and a Bible story. In 1925 Philadelphia Mayor Freeland 15 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May 2015

3 Kendrick appointed him Honorary Director of Child Welfare and bestowed upon him a city automobile embellished with the vanity license plate UNCLE WIP, which he used while visiting hospitals, schools, and churches. Uncle WIP celebrated his tenth anniversary on the radio on Sunday, July 3, Figure 1 shows an envelope with a 2c red printed meter dated April 21, 1931, addressed to Harvery (sic?) Shoemaker of Gibbstown, New York. Figure 1 Figure 2, the accompanying illustrated letter sheet, bears an engraving of the Ninth and Market Streets view of Gimbels mammoth building. Two radio antennae have been artfully (and secondarily) sketched atop the store. The microphone to the right of the signature is probably a Western Electric Double Button Carbon Transmitter, state of the art at that time. Figure 2 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May

4 The handwritten letter, dated 4/21/31, reads: My dear Harvery Received your letter and sorry indeed to keep you waiting so long for your glove. Have ordered it and expect it any day and will send as soon as it arrives. Have ordered a glove so you can wear it on your right hand. Is that correct? Yours, Uncle WIP Was Harvery the child of a friend, or merely a needy young boy requesting a glove from kindly Uncle WIP? We will never know. In 1932, Uncle WIP/Christopher Graham (Figure 3), age 39, died at the Episcopal Hospital of postoperative complications following a tonsillectomy. A posthumous article eulogized that Uncle WIP has been a feature on the Children s Day program at the annual Montgomery county fair in Hatfield and less than a month ago, he spoke to several thousand boys and girls assembled at that place and related to his radio experiences. Figure 3 In 1891 Samuel and Jacob Lit opened a woman s clothing shop on the corner of Market and North 8 th Street. Their business grew exponentially as a result of creative advertising. Between 1895 and 1907 the store expanded, having purchased all remaining properties between 7 th and 8 th Streets on Market, thus preserving the only full block of Victorian architecture in Philadelphia. Initially composed of 33 separate buildings constructed between 1859 and 1918, the store was eventually reconfigured to create a flowing, common interior. Although known as the cast-iron building, only the facades of Market Street were actually constructed of cast iron. Figure 4 shows a cover bearing the simple corner card of Lit Brothers, Philadelphia, Radio Station WLIT. Postage was paid via a red 2c printed meter dated March 16, 1933, addressed to Mr. Harold B. Bowers of Concord, Massachusetts. The enclosed accompanying illustrated letter sheet (Figure 5) displayed a beautiful engraving of the store s Eighth and Market entrance, flanked on each side by representative radio antennae connected by a string of high tension wires. The letter reads: 17 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May 2015

5 Figure 4 March 16, 1933 Dear Sir: We are in receipt of your communication, and this will confirm your reception of our Station (WLIT) broadcasting on Saturday, January 13, 33 a Playlet between 5:45 6:00 o clock P.M. E.S.T. Trusting you may have the pleasure of tuning-in WLIT some time again in the near future, we are Yours very truly, Lit Brothers RADIO STATION WLIT In 1933, due to the relative dearth of stations operating up and down the Atlantic seaboard at 760 kilohertz at 6 p.m. it was certainly possible for Mr. Bowers to have received transmission of the WLIT signal in Massachusetts. Closer scrutiny reveals that WLIT s response to him was merely a form letter, processed upon two different typewriters. A blossoming radio industry created the perfect atmosphere as an advertising medium, and astute Philadelphia merchants were quick to latch onto this bandwagon. Not only could they etch their companies names deeply within the minds of their listeners, but could, using their government-licensed radio frequencies, increase revenues by selling airtime to other advertisers, as well. Also, where else could one dial up Uncle WIP s show and hear kiddies tap dancing on radio?? Figure 5 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May

6 Campbell(s)town, Lebanon County, Pa. Early Manuscript By Glenn Blauch (# 468) I acquired the stampless cover shown below in an E-bay auction and believe it is be the current earliest known manuscript from Campbelltown. The letter is datelined Campbellstown May 4 th A.D The manuscript postmark reads Campbells Town / May 4. It is addressed to Harrisburg and correctly rated 6 ( ), collect (single letter rate up to 30 mi.). The current earliest known Campbelltown manuscript is March 29, 1827 (Lebanon County Monograph and Mazza listing in Nov Historian, p. 24). Kay and Smith show the following listing: Campbelltown Oct. 1, 1819 Present (Zip 17010) First PM Jacob Schwar The short letter reads as follows: Mr. Richard Jacobs, Sir,your father subscribed to the Rev.Mr.Ernst $3 for English preaching in Campbellstown. I have received the list for collections. I hope you will be so good as to remit the money to Mr.Jacob Schwar. In doing so you will much oblige the parson and your humble servant. Robert Moore. I could not find any information on Richard Jacobs or Robert Moore. As indicated above, Jacob Schwar was the first postmaster of Campbelltown,Pa. 19 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May 2015

7 Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pa. By Rick Leiby (# 379) The cover shown below is a recent acquisition. It has an enclosure that dates the cover to July 10, The cover does not exhibit any indication of having had a postage stamp attached on either the front or the back. The Civil War and the subsequent demonetization of postage stamps prior to the issue of 1861 resulted in some small offices that did not receive or exhausted their supplies of stamps. As a result there are a number of stampless covers from this period while the PO s waited to receive stamps. The Nanticoke P. O. (Luzerne County) was established February 29, 1828 and continues to this day. Tom Mazza has recorded manuscript markings for the office during the stampless period, but the ASCC does not list a handstamp marking for the office. Perhaps this is the first one recorded. The PAID 3 in a circle with the fleuron is unusual. Any information other PA collectors can supply would be greatly appreciated. NANTICOKE / PA. 25 mm. CDS with associated 16 mm. PAID / 3 in circle, both markings in black. Apparently used in 1862 based upon enclosure content. Make Plans to Attend Our Next Annual Meeting on June 20, 2015 at the American Philatelic Center, Bellefonte, PA HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May

8 Another Blue 1851 PHILADELPHIA / PAID 3 Cts. Found By Norman Shachat (# 76) In the Sept issue of the Historian (Vol. 18, No. 4, Whole # 110, pp ), I published an inventory of this short lived Philadelphia townmark. The inventory listed 14 examples, 13 of which were struck in July or August and one struck in December. Of the 14 strikes, 11 were in red and 3 were in blue. After all these years, I just found another blue example, illustrated below! It cancels a issue on an envelope and is addressed to York Pa. The letter was posted on Aug. 16, (1851). Interestingly, two of the three prior known blue strikes were dated Aug. 16 and cancelled the issue. They were addressed to Providence, R. I. and Danville, Pa. The oddball blue strike in Dec. was reported to be on a stampless cover addresses to Iowa City, Iowa. If it takes another 25 years for another one to show up, I suspect that someone else will need to add it to the inventory. Member Addresses (cont.) Gordon Trotter trotters2@verizon.net (Nathan Trotter & Co. Correspondence) Dan Telep dtelep@cdgnavigates.com (Economy, Sewickley, Western Pa.) Bill Thoman ccovers@twcny.rr.com (U. S. Stampless Covers, Dealer) Joe Volutza jsvphil@frontiernet.net (Berks county, Dealer) Steve Washburne stevewashburne@gmail.com (Philadelphia, Monmouth Co., N. J.) Harry Winter harwin@umich.edu (Centre County, Railroads) Cliff Woodward vagabond3@comcast.net (Western Pa., Oil Towns) Ronald J. Yeager cry@atlanticbb.net (Elk, Cameron and McKean Counties) PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR ADDRESS LISTED HERE. INDICATE YOUR PA COLLECTING INTEREST 21 HISTORIAN Vol. 43, No. 2 (Whole No. 203) May 2015