1925 HoFer handwritten letter

[CooperstownExpert]

Wanted to tap into the forum's collective expertise about this Bucky Harris letter. There sure isn't a market for Harris forgeries but the Memphis postmark bothers me a little.

Here's a little more info...it's dated September 20, 1925. Harris' Senators were at home for a day game. Then the had an off day on 9/21 before playing a day game in Washington on 9/22. Harris played in each game.

I've searched a ton for the letter's recipient, Douglas Barbour. All I've found is that he did live in Memphis and played in a railroad baseball league.

Do you think Harris penned and signed the letter? If so, how is the postmark explained?

 

[finestkind]

If your not able to find an answer on this forum. You might post your question to the people on the Net54 forum. https://net54baseball.com/index.php

 

[MrMet2.0]

I’m so intrigued by this and can’t find anything…where did you even find that Barbour played railroad league baseball?


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[CooperstownExpert]

If your not able to find an answer on this forum. You might post your question to the people on the Net54 forum. https://net54baseball.com/index.php

Thank you, Finestkind. I did post in net54 too. No word yet. Got in touch with someone in the hobby I really trust and he says Harris wrote the letter.

 

[CooperstownExpert]

I’m so intrigued by this and can’t find anything…where did you even find that Barbour played railroad league baseball?


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[CooperstownExpert]

Here's an old boxscore from the Railroad league. I can't explain the Memphis postmark, but am feeling quite confident that he wrote the letter. Gosh I scoured the web for stuff on Barbour.

If you get a chance, think of your favorite HoFer or star and look him up on my website. There's some neat stuff there. It's called CooperstownExpert.com

This summer I picked up some really solid letters. A couple are from 1947 and on the pages of Bob Feller. I'm eager to put up this Harris letter on a few guys' pages.

 

[mrmopar]

He could have added the wrong date when he wrote the letter. I bet every single one of us has used the wrong date on something at one point or another, at least those old enough to have written dates out on documents! The PO might have forgotten to change the date of their cancelled stamp as well (that could happen, especially in 1925), but otherwise it would be hard to imagine a letter written in DC on 9/20 to arrive in Memphis at 4PM of the same day, given I googled DC to Memphis and it's showing 13 Hrs (using modern highways). The only other possible and very likely answer I can come up with was the letter caught a flight. Maybe a plane from DC to Memphis had a some mail service on board? This could be a huge rabbit hole to dive into researching. The USPS was flying mail by that time, but apparently it was all government owned/operated planes until 1926. Any reason the government would regularly fly from DC to Memphis in those days? In fact, maybe someone Harris knew/trusted even caught a flight and carried the letter into Memphis, where it was delivered to the Post Office.

 

[CooperstownExpert]

He could have added the wrong date when he wrote the letter. I bet every single one of us has used the wrong date on something at one point or another, at least those old enough to have written dates out on documents! The PO might have forgotten to change the date of their cancelled stamp as well (that could happen, especially in 1925), but otherwise it would be hard to imagine a letter written in DC on 9/20 to arrive in Memphis at 4PM of the same day, given I googled DC to Memphis and it's showing 13 Hrs (using modern highways). The only other possible and very likely answer I can come up with was the letter caught a flight. Maybe a plane from DC to Memphis had a some mail service on board? This could be a huge rabbit hole to dive into researching. The USPS was flying mail by that time, but apparently it was all government owned/operated planes until 1926. Any reason the government would regularly fly from DC to Memphis in those days? In fact, maybe someone Harris knew/trusted even caught a flight and carried the letter into Memphis, where it was delivered to the Post Office.

I like your thinking there. Harris was wildly popular in DC by then after having delivered their first World Series title the year before. After comparing the handwriting to everything I could find, I'm very confident Harris wrote the letter.

Not sure how to research that at all. Pretty interesting.

 

[finestkind]

The letter could have been moved by the post office between Memphis and Washington DC by mail train service.