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 Front  Back Last week, the VPS Website Team received the cover scans shown above of a letter sent to a lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma in 1936 from Vatican City. The images were shared by VPS member Terry Averbeck. He provided the following: [The attached scans are] for a cover that I feel might be worth sharing with VPS members. It’s a letter from Vatican City to a lieutenant assigned to the battleship Oklahoma. Mailed in May 1936, it takes a month to catch up with him in Spain. My analysis is as follows: Registered letter from Vatican City postmarked May 1, 1936, basic registered rate to foreign destination paid with Gardens issue L. 2.5 (#31) and two 75c (#26) plus one 75c International Juridical Congress issue (#44) which pay for 3 additional 20 grs. Addressed to: Lieut. H.R. Carson, Jr., USS Oklahoma, care of Commander, San Pedro, California, United States of America. (The original address, which is covered by the Lista de Correos label, can be seen through the label by shining a light from behind.) Forwarded—Backstamps: NEW YORK, N.Y. REG’Y. DIV 5-8-1936 SAN PEDRO, CALIF. – REGISTERED 5-13-1936 PORTSMOUTH (Navy Yard Sta.) VA. 5-18-1936 U.S.S. OKLAHOMA – PARCEL POST 5-19-1936 NEW YORK, U.S.A. – FOREIGN 5-22-1936 Lista de Correos, (general delivery) SANTANDER 5-31-1936 (?) There are also four Tuberculosis seals on reverse side of cover. In May and June of 1936, the U.S.S. Oklahoma was on assignment rescuing American citizens and refugees from Spain leading up to the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, using the port of Santander. Five years later, on December 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We did a website search for Lt. H. R. Carson, Jr., and found a couple of items of interest. Amazingly, a second cover addressed to the lieutenant, apparently from his wife, was found on Ebay. From 1934, the letter was sent by his wife from Norfolk, Virginia, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Due to copywrite protections, we cannot show copies of the front and back of the cover. We also did a search of the crew members of the USS Oklahoma lost during the attack at Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Carson was not listed. Based on the two covers, at this point we only know he served on the Oklahoma for at least two years (1934-1936). We do not know if he was still with the vessel during the Pearl Harbor attack, or anything else about his service on the ship. If a VPS member can provide a means for investigating Lt. Carson’s naval service, it would be greatly appreciated. A little research also revealed that the sender is a person of note. Giuseppe Sabelli Fioretti was a noted sports journalist and philatelist based in Rome. In March of 1928, he announced the first radio broadcast of a football (soccer) match (a “friendly” between Italy and Hungary). He later served as a press official during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He died in Rome in 1988 at the age of 81. The reason for the letter between Signor Fioretti and Lieutenant Carson is lost to time. But the cover and correspondence offer an interesting historical study. Terry indicated that the cover was made of a thicker paper stock than a regular envelope. Perhaps Signor Fioretti was sending the lieutenant a lot of stamps—or perhaps a soccer program? We will never know, but speculation is interesting! Many thanks to Terry for sharing the cover with the members of VPS. We encourage all members to share items in their collection. These gems provide a glimpse back in time and spark an interest into both postal history and the times when they were created. REFERENCES: • MyNavyHR.navy.mil, Lost Shipmates of the USS Oklahoma • Getty Images, News photo of Giuseppe Sabelli Fioretti • Tuttocalcio360.altervista.org, March 25, 1928: Giuseppe Sabelli Fioretti brings football into Italian homes |
