I will share with the club my latest research project. I was putting away some stamps I recently soaked, including the USA stamp shown below, noting the Stock Market Crash of 1929:
The back of this stamp has the written message as shown below:
This message brought to mind a cover I have had in my postal history collection for a long time and is shown below. Note the date. It was cancelled on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, at 9PM in the post office at Grand Central Station, New York City, New York, USA. This was a historic day for our country and the start of great changes and hard times to come.
This cover was addressed to "The Utica" in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, which was a clothing store. Shown below is a picture of it at the corner of 6th and Walnut downtown. Today, that building was torn down and rebuilt as part of "The Kaleidoscope at the Hub" building and has a Burger King sign in the window.
Lastly I have scanned the back of my Black Thursday cover with a pre-printed return address, most likely of some business. By searching the internet, I have tried to figure out what existed on the third floor of 395 Fourth Avenue of New York City in the year 1929. So far, I have had no success. If anyone has any ideas on helping me solve this mystery, I would be most grateful as I am curious to find out who might have sent this cover. Sadly,there was no contents inside, but I am sure it was a letter about that day's stock market nosedive.
that address no longer exists. 4th avenue exists for only a short span, and is replace by Park Ave S to the north and Cooper Square to the south, before terminating. It's possible that at one time Park Avenue south was named 4th avenue
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Roy, thank you for the link. I had been on that website looking, but your link led me to my answer. 395 Fourth Avenue was the Hewitt Building Lofts. I guess it was just an apartment building, not a business after all.
"... but I am sure it was a letter about that day's stock market nosedive ..."
I suggest caution.
Daily life can be pretty prosaic.
Even on otherwise famous days (and days that live in infamy), people get born, get engaged, get married, get sick, write goofy eMails, decide to visit family, etc.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."