The remarkable thing is that the letter (lot 497) survived in the first place (given the intensity of the flames) and no doubt the sender would have been surprised to get it back – complete with the words “Intended for first eastbound trip of Airship Hindenburg. Could not be forwarded on account of accident to airship.”
In colloquial parlance, this is what is known as a “crash letter” and was one of about 80 pieces of mail salvaged from the Hindenburg wreck.
Managing director Charles Leski said because of the spectacular and public nature of the explosion, Hindenburg mail was the most popular and sought after of all crash letters.
“However, interest in crash mail is widespread and a large part of the pioneer aviation memorabilia collector market,” he said. “Collectors cannot ignore disasters because invariably they led to change in the way things were done.”
For example, the original canvas and timber aircraft frames became heavier when soaked during rainstorms which drastically altered the power to weight ratios of early flights and led to the realization that mail bags had to be lighter in wet weather or the plane would crash.
Eventually, of course, canvas and timber frames were replaced with metal, which overcame many of these problems. However, early aviation pioneers were desperate to prove to a doubting public that aeroplanes had a real purpose and were not just objects of indulgent pleasure.
With the vast expanses of the Australian continent always a daunting prospect, aviation enthusiasts had to come up with excuses to fly long distances – and comparatively quick mail delivery was just the prop they needed.
So, in its own way crash mail provides an interesting and accurate documentary record of the development of man’s attempts to improve flight.
Wednesday’s auction features several of these letters – many from early flying boats which, when they crashed, would invariably immerse the mailbag in water resulting in soaked crash letter specimens.
On Thursday, Leski’s Auctions sporting and general memorabilia sale will feature the late Jack Collins 1954 leading goal kicker (Lot 897 ) and 1957 John Coleman (Lot 898 ) medals – the first time one of these has been auctioned.
Apart from being the only footballer to win both medals (introduced in 1981, the Coleman was backdated to 1955), the 1954 award has the added poignancy of being won the same year that Footscray achieved its only VFL/AFL premiership to date.
Other sporting items of note include baggy green caps worn by former Australian Test cricket players Neil Harvey, Eric Freeman, Ashley Mallett, Graham McKenzie and Greg Chappell (lots 712, 716, 717 and 719).
Both off-spinner Mallett and fast bowler McKenzie laid claim to the same cap during the 1968-69 Australia v West Indies series when, as the result of an accidental interchange, the latter ended up wearing the baggy green for the last four Test matches.