Louis Aston Knight (1873–1948) was a French-born American artist noted for his landscape paintings. One of his paintings, The Afterglow, was purchased by U.S. President Warren G. Harding in 1922 to hang in the White House.
In early 1907, Knight met Caroline Ridgeway Brewster (1882-1959), a distant cousin from Rochester, New York, while she was traveling through Europe with her mother. Knight returned to America with Caroline in October; they married in Raritan, New Jersey. The couple settled in Paris, but lived in New York during WWI, moving back again to the United States in 1940 after the occupation of France, where they remained until their deaths.
This letter from the United States Foreign Service in Luxembourg-Ville postmarked November 30, 1949, was sent to Louis Aston Knight's widow in New York City the year after his death. The address--114 East 84th Street--is an eight-floor apartment building built in 1915.
The 4F, 20-gram letter rate and 3F airmail supplement are nicely paid by the 7F 1948 Tourist View sole franking.
A thousand years from now, covers like this will be remembered as relics of the pre-electronic mail era. So you'd better save 'em now!
4 comments:
Please, is the sender's name/address on the back of the envelope and/or do you have the letter that was inside this envelope?
Hello Michaux, This cover is temporarily missing. However, I found another cover posted from Luxembourg-Ville, May 18, 1951, to Mrs. L. Aston Knight. You'll be interested to know the return address on the back flap: C. Michaux, Luxembourg, 1, avenue A. Munchen !!
Charlotte Michaux, my husband's aunt, was governess to Louis Aston Knight's daughter Diane in 1934 and 1935 when the family was first in Normandy and then sailed to New York.
Please, have you located the 1949 cover which was temporarily missing?
Can you display the 1951 cover?
Do you have the letter from either of these envelopes?
Hello again,
I've found a postal card written by Charlotte in 1947 from Luxembourg to Mrs. Knight in New York. It nicely mentions Diane. Let me know where to send a scan (by email or post). Cordial collecting! Allan
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