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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Green Glazed (139L1) |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Blue on Green Glazed (139L2A) Believed to be unique |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Maroon Glazed (139L2) The only recorded example on Maroon paper |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Yellow (139L3) |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Blue (139L4) Only two examples are recorded - one on and one off cover |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Brown (139L5) Only two examples on Brown paper are recorded - both on covers |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Buff (139L6) Only two off-cover examples are confirmed on Buff paper |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Pink (139L7) The only recorded example on Pink paper |
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Third
Avenue Post Office, New York N.Y., 2c Black on Green (139L8) Only two examples are recorded - one used and one unused |
The origin of the Third Avenue Post Office was reported in 1872 by W. Dudley Atlee in Vol. X of the Stamp Collectors Magazine, and Atlee's account was quoted in Charles H. Coster's article in the August 1874 American Journal of Philately. It reads, in part: "According to Mrs. S. Allan Taylor, this post was established in 1855 or 1856, by one S. Rothenheim, carrier for Boyd's post. The stamps he made himself, with a handstamp of either brass or metal. He afterwards gummed and trimmed them carefully, and put them up in pill boxes for sale, on the principle that they got lost and destroyed better that way, and more were the sooner asked for. Street letter boxes being generally kept at groceries, the usual place for the stamps was the till or cash drawer, where they got greatly tossed about, and being separate, small and gummed, they were easily destroyed..." Dated covers corroborate the existence of the post in 1855 and 1856. Elliott Perry located four city directory listings for S. Rothenheim (Simon and Simeon), including a letter carrier named Simeon residing at 121 W. 28th Street in 1855, but none in proximity to Third Avenue. A more detailed summary of this information will be found in the Patton book (p. 241).
A notation in Mr. Golden's album indicates that Laurence B. Mason believed there was only one handstamped cover extant.