A mystery Found a Mystery Solved

Paging through Ebay on my phone one morning I thought I would look for postcards of the transition period that would be interesting as I research uses of the old and new Republic stamps. I don’t know why I looked further at this card but I am glad I did. The Barcelona post card shows an incredible view of the Passeig de Gràcia vers la mar in Catalan and Passeo de Gràcia hacia el mar. Gràcia is a district in Barcelona. Nice but not great.

Flipping the card over it is franked with a 15c. #683 Spanish feminist and writer Concepción Arenal and address to a Phebe (Phoebe) Stoddard living at 76 Midland Ave, East Orange, NJ. OK, still not special? How about the message written to her:

Feb. 18.

Dear Phebe

Hope that all goes well with you-and that the operation wasn’t necessary. As for me-am studying hard-I can understand quite a lot of the language by now. Both of us are well. L met me in Havre-spent 3 days in Paris and (?). Feeling well and getting around a bit. Best A.

OK, not too special. What caught my eye was the purple box stamp to the left of the postage stamp. It is somewhat faint but I could see C.N.T/ F.A.I and Durutti and my eyes bugged out. I knew what the organization was and the name Durutti is very notable.

José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was the Spanish anarchist commander who died during the siege of Madrid. The anarcho-syndicalist trade union Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) merged with the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI), forming the CNT-FAI. I will write more on both another time.

The Via Laietana was completed in 1926. During Durruti’s funeral procession supporters covered up the Via Laietana sign plates with the name Via Durruti, and until Barcelona fell to Franco it would remain so reverting back to Via Laietana after the fall. Via Durruti 32-34 indicated in the stamp was the address of the C.N.T-F.A.I and is now the home of other trade unions.

The top of the box states Service De Presse, there is another very similar one that dates before the renaming of the via.

Who was Phoebe Stoddard? I wasn’t able to find too much but the L.D.S genealogy database of the 1930 and 1940 Census for East Orange has a Phoebe Stoddard. In the 1930 census Phoebe is living with her parents Warren J and Ellen and her four younger brothers, she is 33 and single. In the 1940 Census she is 42 and lives with her parents and one brother. This is the same Phoebe the card was written to as the address on both censuses is Midland Ave.

Here is the home that Phoebe lived in when the card arrived-for about $200K it could have been yours.

I couldn’t find a connection between Phoebe and the C.N.T-F.A.I, nor any Stoddard. Makes me wonder if the use of initials was to prevent their being known? Or was there nothing to it or did he to possibly save space? Was it even a he? My hypothesis is that A was an American writer for one of the publications of the C.N.T-F.A.I as Service de Presse would indicate.

This goes to show that being educated as what to look for pays off as it did here.

¡Viva la República!

At the end of the Spanish monarchy, or perhaps just a long pause? Supporters of the new republic showed their support when they affixed postage to envelopes. One I will look at today and it is one I haven't run across before, the placing of the recently República Española overprinted Alfonso XIII stamp horizontal so that the overprint is read right side up.

The below cover is postmarked December 23, 1931 from Puerto De La Cruz (Las Palmas)
to Arendel, Norway, with back stamp of  January 2, 1932 for its arrival in Arendel. Franked with
one 40c. (#600) which paid the  Non Postal Union Letter rate .40c. for  up to 20gr.

I tried to find any information on the receiver but  it no luck.

Devil is in the Details

This cover looks like a somewhat typical civil war period Republican cover franked with five 50c Matrona blue #753 and a 25c  #749G postmarked from Madrid on March 22, 1939 to Sete France. 

Though it has interesting franking with the attractive Matronas it is the postmark date and the city of origin that really caught my eye. It is that March 22, 1939 was less than a week from the fall of Madrid to Francoist forces on March 28^th, 1939. Yes, less than a week. 

e 

The Republicans attempted to negotiate a surrender of Madrid but Franco insisted on an unconditional surrender. On March the 26^th, Nationalist were ordered to advance in to Madrid and on the 27^th  Republican front collapsed, on the 28^th Madrid fell to the Nationalists and then on April 1st, 1939 Franco declared the end of the war. The backstop indicates it arrived in Sete on March 31st, 1939. It is conceivable that the letter was delivered to the receiver on April 1st.

What happened to the sender after the fall? Was the receiver a refugee? Still looking for a cover post marked on the first day and the last day of the war.

Margaritaville

When we hear the word Margarita we think of the delicious drink of the same name or the song Margaritaville that once in your head is almost impossible to get out. No today we are going to look at the Carlist women’s group the Margaritas. I haven’t reviewed what is Carlismo yet but it will be the subject of an eventual post. In a nutshell Carlists are those Spaniards that wanted to place the Bourbon Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788-1855) on the throne of Spain. Herein lies the issue-a Bourbon dynasty already sat on the throne, the Alfonsine line.

The Margaritas were a Carlist women’s organization named after the wife of Carlos, Duke of Madrid (Carlos VII 1868-1909), Margarita of Bourbon-Parma born April 28th, 1867 and passing on April 28th, 1894 without having children. Margarita served as a nurse during the Second Carlist War. Yes, wars were actually fought over this.

Don’t worry there are still this line’s claimants to the Spanish throne and to make it more confusing there are competing Bourbon lines apart from the current Spanish King.

Founded in 1919 for the purpose of aiding poor Carlist families. The organization during the Second Republic acted as evangelical Carlists with the aim of rallying supports to the cause.  They did this by meetings in homes, hosting musical evenings, and conducting religious acts. The white beret (see above in the banner for the male red beret of the Carlists) wearing Margaritas served, most often, as war nurses during the war but they also brought supplies-food and clothing to their Carlist militia (Requetés) men at the front. At home they conducted traditional tasks such as knitting and household and farm tasks. The Margaritas in their ordinance (above) described the ideal Margarita as “an example of Spanish woman, intrepid defender of the Christian family, vigilant guardian of the traditions of the patris’, the defenders of the faith on the home front."

The male Requetés are well represented in political labels and covers. When this cover came up on the Bay for a reasonable opening bid-I jumped. Apparently only I did as I was the only bidder. I suspect those that looked at it didn't bother checking out the second image-that of the back of the cover.

The letter was mailed on February 26, 1937 from  the northern Spanish city of Victoria which is the capital city of the Basque Autonomous Community and of the province of Araba (Basque)/Álava (Spanish).  The letter is franked with a 30c Edifil #823 and a 10c blue Cruzada Contra del Frío Edifil #7, sealed with a Heller Salamanca censor tape #S 7 11 and addressed to a Jesuit in Salamanca.

The back of the cover is what drew me to it. Since I don't have the Allepuz volume of locals that cover Alava I can't give a number. However, it is an attractive rectangle in dark blue with Alava, Margaritas, Requetes, and 25 centimos label over the flap of the letter with a center featuring a shield with the normal Requetés cross in white instead of red and a daisy (Margarita) at the center.

A really interesting item and label that I haven't come across before or since.