| Prisoner of War Mail and Japanese-American Internment Camps |
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Description |
Lot 1849 |
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World War I U.S. Soldiers' mail from German P.O.W. camps, three postcards one each from Giessen, Ohrdruf and Rastatt, all are formular cards, used in 1918 with appropriate censor markings and/or datestamps, the Ohrdruf card, which is actually a picture postcard showing a picture of the camp and its internees, also bears a London postmark; Very Fine and very scarce group. Owner's cost is over $500.
Estimate 300 - 400
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Lot 1850 |
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World War II U.S. P.O.W. mail, group of nine cards or covers: one to a camp in Davos, Switzerland, one to and one from Japanese camps in the Philippines, one to a Japanese camp in Tokyo, and five German camps (one to and four from), F-VF. A scarce group; the owner paid more than $600 for just the three Japanese covers.
Estimate 500 - 750
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Lot 1851 |
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Camp Harmony assembly center, Puyallup, Wash., incoming cover postmarked June 26, 1942 Seattle machine cancel, F-VF.
Estimate 200 - 300
Camp Harmony operated from April 28 through September 12 and had a peak population of 7,390.
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Lot 1852 |
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Santa Anita assembly center, Santa Anita, Calif., cover with assembly center return address sent airmail special delivery to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, 6¢ Transport and 10 special delivery tied by Aug 19, 1942 machine cancel, backstamped San Jose (county seat) special delivery receiver, Very Fine. The corner card indicates that the sender was the young wife of Kazuyuki Takahashi, a professor of biology at Stanford University and later a doctor of internal medicine at Oakland's Kaiser Hospital. In a 1986 article in National Geographic, Mrs. Takahashi indicated that "We honeymooned at Santa Anita assembly center."
Estimate 300 - 400
Santa Anita operated as an assembly center from March 27 through October 27 and had a peak population of 7,818.
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Lot 1853 |
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Tanforan assembly center, San Bruno, Calif., cover to San Francisco postmarked Aug 25, 1942 machine cancel, typed Tanforan Camp Art School return address, Very Fine.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1854 |
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Tanforan assembly center, San Bruno, Calif., cover and letter to Redwood City, postmarked Jul 20, 1942 San Bruno machine cancel, typed Tanforan, San Bruno, Calif. return address, Very Fine. The writer, an articulate young man to a friend, in the 4-page typed letter relates how the camp store holds back on their supply of cigarettes and sweets, selling out each day, so that they have some to sell the next day. He also refers to the acronym WCCA (Wartime Civil Control Administration) by a couple of other off-color definitions.
Estimate 300 - 400
Tanforan operated from April 28 through October 13 and had a peak population of 7,818.
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Lot 1855 |
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Camp Livingston, La. to Owens Valley, Cal., "Internee of War" lettersheet from the Army internment camp at Camp Livingston to the Manzanar relocation center in Owens Valley, 6¢ Transport (C25) tied by Jul 4, 1942 Camp Livingston duplex handstamp, magenta Camp Livingston censor's handstamp, Very Fine. Letter reads, in part, "…there is one thing I am getting, that is a good look at the United States. First they shifted me around Calif. then they took me to Mont. and since I have been in Oklahoma and now I am in La."
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1856 |
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Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, incoming cover with 20¢ Transport C29 tied by Apr 23, 1942 Honolulu machine cancel, Very Fine and rare. A small U.S. Army detention center housing only 170 Japanese until late April of 1942.
Estimate 300 - 400
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Lot 1857 |
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Crystal City, Tex. to Lima, Peru, two "Internee of War" lettersheets forthe same internee to the same addressee, first with 30¢ C24 tied by Jan 7, 1944 New York machine cancel with magenta censor handstamp; other with 15¢ C28 tied by Nov 19, 1945 Crystal City machine cancel, inside with "Detained Alien Mail…" handstamp; both written in Japanese and showing blue staining from the censor's use of dye to check for secret messages; Very Fine and scarce. 600 Japanese-Peruvians were rounded up in Lima and sent to centers in the U.S. Crystal City was a Dept. of Justice internment camp.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1858 |
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Heart Mountain, Wyo., 6¢ Airmail envelope (UC3) postmarked Apr 5, 1943 Heart Mountain machine cancel, to The Denver Post, Very Fine. Scarce camp commercial mail and rare usage of postal stationery, as only stamps were available to camp internees.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1859 |
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Granada (Amache, Colo.), 3¢ entire (UC3) postmarked Oct 17, 1942 Amache machine cancel, to Denver Dry Goods Co., private Montgomery Ward "…Opened in Error" handstamp, Post Office Seal applied over opening at top., Very Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1860 |
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Lordsburg, N.M. to Heart Mountain, Wyo., cover to the Heart Mountain relocation center postmarked Nov 21, 1942 machine cancel, greenish blue Lordsburg censor's handstamp, F-VF.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1861 |
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Lordsburg, N.M. to Amache, Colo., "Prisoner of War" lettersheet from the Army internment camp at Lordsburg to the Granada relocation center in Amache, sent post-free postmarked with only a wavy line killer, magenta Lordsburg censor's handstamp, letter in Japanese, Very Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1862 |
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Minidoka (Hunt, Idaho), incoming cover from Alien Internment Camp at Crystal City, Tex., manuscript "Civilian Internee Mail, Postage Free" and postmarked Sep 4, 1944 Crystal City machine cancel, manuscript "J" for Japanese written by sender, Very Fine.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1863 |
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Minidoka (Hunt, Idaho) to Fort Missoula, cover with 3¢ commemorative tb Oct 20, 1943 Hunt duplex hs, I.N.S. "Detained Enemy Alien Mail." censor handstamp, Very Fine.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1864 |
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Rohwer Relocation Center, McGehee, Ark., card bearing a pair of ½¢ Prexies tied by Aug 24, 1943 McGehee Relocation Branch machine cancel; light crease, F-VF.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1865 |
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Sand Island, Hawaii, incoming cover postmarked Honolulu, Jan 7, 1942, manuscript "OK" and signed by censor "Lt. Fitzgerald"; included is the original letter from a woman to her father in the camp sending New Year wishes and telling him that they had sent clothing but that the Immigration Office would not let them send cigarettes; F-VF. Very early mail to the Dept. of Justice detention center Sand Island mail.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1866 |
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Sand Island, Hawaii, incoming paid reply card postmarked Honolulu, Jan 24, 1942, manuscript "OK" with censor's initials and handstamped "OK at Contact Office", F-VF. Another early Sand Island cover.
Estimate 150 - 200
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Lot 1867 |
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Santa Fe, N.M. to Gila River, Ariz., cover and letter from the Dept. of Justice camp in Santa Fe to the Gila River relocation center, manuscript "Postage Free, Internee, of War", postmarked Oct 27, 1944 Santa Fe machine cancel, Very Fine. Family-oriented letter, which bears I.N.S. "Detained Alien Enemy Mail…" censor's handstamp, tells of a relative in the U.S. Army being wounded in Italy.
Estimate 200 - 300
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Lot 1868 |
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Topaz, Utah to Camp Kooskia, Idaho, cover from the Topaz relocation center, manuscript "Internee of War Mail, Free" and postmarked Aug 22, 1944 Topaz machine cancel, faint I.N.S. "Detained Enemy Alien Mail." censor handstamp; includes the original enclosure, an engraved wedding invitation and the return envelope for a reply (obviously a formality only, as the recipient could not possibly have attended); Very Fine and most unusual. Camp Kooskia was a sub-camp of Fort Missoula.
Estimate 300 - 400
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Lot 1869 |
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Japenese Internment Camp Mail, Collection of 38 covers, 8 with letters, from a wide variety of Justice, Army and I.N.S. camps and relocation centers, nearly 20 different camps in all. Includes several inter-camp usages included very scarce Kooskia to Santa Fe (owner's cost $350), Airmail usages to or from Hawaii, good variety of postal and censor markings. An interesting group of this seldom seen and increasingly popular collecting area. Includes reference material. Owner's total cost was over $3,000.
Estimate 1,000 - 1,500
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