1924 - Disinfected letter from a Doctor who Contracted Diphtheria from Patients

Description: 1924 - Disinfected letter from a Doctor who Contracted Diphtheria from Patients Click images to enlarge Description 1924 – A disinfected letter from a doctor at the Pittsburgh Municipal Hospital who contracted diphtheria while treating patients with infectious diseases This four-page letter is from Dr. D. R. Jacobs at the Pittsburgh Municipal Hospital to Nancy Throckmorton at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. It is datelined “Municipal Hospital / Sept – 16 – 1924”. It is enclosed in its original mailing envelope which was franked with a red 2-cent Washington stamp (Scott #634) and canceled with a Pittsburg machine postmark. There is a bold “DISINFECTED” handstamp (Sandrick Pittsburgh Type 2) of which there is only one other known extant example. Dr. Jacobs letter reads, in part, as follows: “Have been here for nine days with diphtheria, a nice thing for a doctor to get. I expect to be here a few days yet. . .. I only worked here for one week before getting sick, during which time I saw several cases of smallpox, chicken pox, scarlet fever, Diphtheria and mumps." When fumigating mail, from one to all four corners were clipped from a mailing envelope. Then the envelope was enclosed in an airtight container which in turn was pumped full of the disinfecting agent, usually either sulfur dioxide or formalin. Mail was normally kept in the container before it was removed, identified as having been disinfected, and placed in the postal system. Although fumigation did not likely have any real effect, the idea of sanitizing mail exposed to contagions was not a ridiculous idea. There are known cases where postal employs contracted smallpox from handling mail. During the anthrax terrorism scare of 2001, 22 people became infected by handling the mail and five died. (For more information, see Sandrick’s “Disinfection Markings from Pennsylvania” in the May 1992 issue of La Posta, Milgram’s “American Fumigation” at the American Philatelic Society website, and Ellis’s “Disinfecting the Mail: Disease, Panic, and the Post Office Department in Nineteenth-Century America” in Information & Culture Vol 52 No 4.) A scarce surviving example of an early 20th-century attempt to prevent disease transmission by fumigating mail known to have been handled by people infected with a contagious disease. Fumigated envelopes occasionally appear at philatelic auctions, but seldom with their enclosed letters. This example from a doctor who became infected while treating contagious patients may likely be unique. Only four ‘disinfected’ envelopes from Pittsburgh are known to exist, this example and three others. Of those other three, one handstamp is identical to this, and the other two are smaller. #10213 View My Other Items For Sale Payment PayPal is preferred for both US and international payments. Other methods of payment may be possible. Shipping Domestic Shipping. Most orders are shipped to locations in the US at no additional cost. If not, shipping costs are set at a flat rate on an item-by-item basis. Media mail shipping--when available and appropriate--is inexpensive but may take between two and four weeks, especially if delivery is to the west coast. If a quick delivery is important to you, please request USPS Priority Mail or some other expedited delivery service before paying. International Shipping. International shipping is usually done through the eBay Global Shipping Program. I know that this can be expensive, but I've switched to this method because I've had too many claims of non-receipt by international buyers. 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Unless specifically indicated otherwise in the page, returns will be accepted for full refund less shipping for any reason if the item is returned to me within 30 days in the same condition as it was sent. Buyers are responsible for paying all return postage costs. About Us This is a Read'Em Again Books & Paper sale. In addition to a nice selection of Americana, diaries, journals, photograph albums, other unique personal narratives, and postal history, we often have a small stock of children's books, illustrated books, and unusual non-fiction as well as ephemera, prints, sheet music, maps, postcards, and antique toys & games. Read'Em Again Books & Paper is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA), the National Stamp Dealers Association (NSDA), the Ephemera Society, the Manuscript Society, the American Philatelic Society (APS), the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and the Military Postal History Society. We hope that you'll take some time to visit both our eBay store and our larger Read'Em Again Books & Paper online store. We think that you'll find our prices to be very competitive with other internet book and paper sellers. View My Other Items For Sale Pictures sell! Auctiva offers Free Image Hosting and Editing.300+ Listing Templates! Auctiva gets you noticed! The complete eBay Selling Solution.

Price: 500 USD

Location: Dumfries, Virginia

End Time: 2024-11-12T13:06:25.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD