1936 – Christmas Greetings letter from the 4th Marine Regiment in Shanghai that bears two uncommon auxiliary handstamps as a result of the Pacific Coast dock strike of 1936
Shanghai, China: 1936. Envelope or Cover. This one-page illustrated Christmas Greetings letter is datelined “Regimental Hospital / 4th Marines. Shanghai, / 29 November 1936.” It was sent by Chief Pharmacist’s Mate J. N. Lawrence to Richard McP[herren] Cabeen in Chicago. It contains one page of typed text on stationery from the “Army & Navy / YMCA / Shanghai, China” that features an illustration of a black dragon candlestick holding a red candle; black smoke from the candle curls upward producing a ‘cloud’ of three camels (but no wisemen). The text “Christmas Greetings / from / The Orient” is at the top of the page. The mailing envelope bears two franking handstamps: one is an ornate dragon in purple; the other reads “FOURTH MARINE MAIL / No postage available. / Collect on Delivery / Chas. F. B. Price / Colonel, U. S. Marine Corps. Both the letter and envelope are in nice shape.
In his letter, Lawrence explains why it was franked with a handstamp instead of regular postage. “During our holiday rush . . . our post office ran out of stamps . . . had to have this stamp made in order get the mail going. . .. The seamans strike has slowed things up on account of having not stamps. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010132The Fourth Marine Regiment was one of four U.S. Infantry Regiments (two Army and two Marine_ stationed in China at that time to protect U.S. citizens living in the Shanghai international settlement form both Chinese political unrest and an expected invasion by the Japanese. Indeed, the American military presence was deployed along the settlement’s borders just a few months later when full-scale combat between Japan and China erupted following the Marco Polo Bridge incident.
The “seamans strike” referenced by Lawrence was, of course, the Great West Coast Maritime Strike of 1936 that shutdown U.S. Pacific Ocean ports from 31 October 1936 to 21 January 1937.
While the “FOURTH MARINE MAIL” hand stamp occasionally appears on eBay and at philatelic auctions, the dragon handstamp does not. I have only seen one other example; it was illustrated in Sheaff’s “’Free’ Mail for the Troops” which appeared in the September 2020 issue of The Ephemera Journal. The Shanghai YMCA Christmas stationery is even more scarce. It is the only example I have seen, and none are listed at the Rare Book Hub or OCLC. Richard Mcpherren Cabeen was a Chicago architect and one of the most renowned philatelic authors of the 20th century. In addition to authoring several texts he also wrote a weekly philatelic column for the Chicago Tribune that ran from 1932 to 1969. Upon his death, the impressive Cabeen home was donated to the Chicago Collectors Club and remains as its headquarters to this day.A fascinating letter produced at the heart of the 1930s’intersection of labor unrest, military muscle-flexing, and postal history.
.Price: $250.00