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Post by greaden on Dec 19, 2021 2:32:07 GMT
As Covid just goes on and on, laying seige to the whole world, I find a letter from 1870, written in Paris that was besieged by the Prussian army. The letter mentioned incoming cannon balls, the rising price of vegetables, and the frustration of several months of this stress with no sign of it ever ending. News had just come into Paris by pigeon that the Prussians had won a major battle at Chateaudun.
Mail could only go out by hot air balloon, a new technology that only then found a practical use. There was no way of guiding the balloons except by making sure that the wind was blowing away from Prussia.
This balloon, Ville d'Orleans, translated as the Balloon they call the City of Old Orleans, blew into deep fog and over open sea. They threw bags of mail overboard so maybe the balloon might make it to some unknown land. It did. The pilots bailed out, were greeting by wolves, and found shelter. The next morning, some farmers found them. Their unintelligible language turned out to be Norwegian. No aircraft had ever made it so far.     |
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REL1948
Member 
Posts: 773 
What I collect: 1840-Pre-Decimal, GB and Colonies, 1840 1 penny reds, British Empire Postal History, Switzerland Postal History
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Post by REL1948 on Dec 19, 2021 3:03:43 GMT
As Covid just goes on and on, laying seige to the whole world, I find a letter from 1870, written in Paris that was besieged by the Prussian army. The letter mentioned incoming cannon balls, the rising price of vegetables, and the frustration of several months of this stress with no sign of it ever ending. News had just come into Paris by pigeon that the Prussians had won a major battle at Chateaudun.
Mail could only go out by hot air balloon, a new technology that only then found a practical use. There was no way of guiding the balloons except by making sure that the wind was blowing away from Prussia.
This balloon, Ville d'Orleans, translated as the Balloon they call the City of Old Orleans, blew into deep fog and over open sea. They threw bags of mail overboard so maybe the balloon might make it to some unknown land. It did. The pilots bailed out, were greeting by wolves, and found shelter. The next morning, some farmers found them. Their unintelligible language turned out to be Norwegian. No aircraft had ever made it so far. Hello greadenWhat an exceptional piece of history from many perspectives. Wonderful description, Thank you for sharing. Rob |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,546
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Dec 19, 2021 9:19:36 GMT
Hi greaden just proves that Postal history is not just stamp collecting . Imagine the great loss if some early stamp collector had torn the stamp off for his collection. |
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Dec 19, 2021 14:47:47 GMT
Wow, what an amazing cover, with legible printing inside! Thanks indeed for sharing this letter!
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Post by greaden on Sept 8, 2022 1:04:23 GMT
Another legible cover. This one is from the balloon named Torricelli, one of the last. It landed in enemy territory but the pilot managed to escape with the mail and pigeons.
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Post by greaden on Sept 8, 2022 1:07:01 GMT
Shortly after the siege, there was the uprising known as the Paris Commune. Here is a stampless cover (official mail) from the Commission on Labor and Trade.
Those involved in this revolution were mostly executed a couple of weeks after this was sent, or they were shipped off to New Caledonia.
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REL1948
Member
Posts: 773
What I collect: 1840-Pre-Decimal, GB and Colonies, 1840 1 penny reds, British Empire Postal History, Switzerland Postal History
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Post by REL1948 on Sept 8, 2022 1:34:38 GMT
Thank you so much for sharing these historically significant covers. Exceptional as always...
Rob
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,546
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Aug 8, 2024 12:42:34 GMT
Flown letter which is actually a newspaper from inside the siege of Paris 1871 carried by passenger ballon. Ballon monte, the Ferdinand FloconPostmarked “ Rue Dominique, st German, Launched 4 Nov 1870 from the Gare du Nord it travelled West to land at Nantes 7 hours later having flown 370 Km average speed 50kph  |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,546
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Aug 8, 2024 12:45:27 GMT
Two sides of 4 are printed newspaper leaving the third and part of the 4th for ahandwritten personal message.   |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,546
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Aug 21, 2024 20:25:38 GMT
The world’s first Aerogramme , Aerogram, or Postal stationery Air letter form, unused. siege of Paris 1870 There would be a supply of these remaindered once the siege was over . Unused are quite common but properly used are much scarcer!  |
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Post by greaden on Oct 26, 2024 20:23:22 GMT
Here is another cover from the Ville d'Orleans, the balloon that drifted off to Norway. This letter shows some water damage, as it is from one of the mailbags thrown into the ocean near the town of Mandal.
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Post by greaden on Oct 26, 2024 20:24:47 GMT
The letter is short and mostly readable, and mentions eating rats and beasts as famine set in.
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