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Recently I purchased the cover shown above. Seemed to be a simple historical cover related to Lyndon Johnson. Several days later it arrived in the mail and I began to look closer at it. There are two postmarks, one dated 1/22/1973 and the other 11/4/1964. The third date on the cover indicates the visit of "President L. B. Johnson to H.H. John XXIII on Sep 7, 1962". I wondered about the significance of all of these dates and began doing some research on the internet. The easy one was 1/22/1973, the date that Lyndon Johnson died. The other postmark date is 11/4/1964 and the message of Pope Paul VI is a congratulatory election message. Again, internet research shows a U.S.Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 3rd, 1964, and wording on the cover indicates Pope Paul VI is congratulating Lyndon Johnson the day after the election. I do wonder about getting both postmarks on the same cover. I guess someone took the cover back to the Vatican Post Office and had it canceled on the day Lyndon Johnson died. Perhaps a Vatican Post Office employee? The other interesting thing about this cover are the pictures. According to YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSFfdo0EiaU), "Vice-President", not "President" Lyndon Johnson did meet with Pope John XXII on September 8th, 1962, not September 7th as indicated on this cover. Pope John XXIII died on June 3rd, 1963. Later that month, Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini became Pope Paul VI. (A good Italian name!). So, between the September 1963 Papal meeting and the November 1964 election Vice President Johnson became President Johnson, when President Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, and the Papacy changed from Pope John XXII to Pope Paul VI. If anyone has some thoughts about getting different postmarks eight or nine years apart on the same cover drop me an email. I find it amazing that anyone could get the postmark dates stamped with such timeliness when I just have difficulty ordering stamps. I would like to hear your theories. |
