[HINDENBURG DISASTER]. [THASLER, Günter] Postcard addressed to Günther Thasler in Friedrichshafen, n.p., postmarked, New York, 10 May [1937].

88 x 116mm. (6 Pfg stamp loose and nearly detached, expected losses and browning from contact with fire, two tears along burnt margin).

A postcard recovered from the Hindenburg disaster and carried by one of the crew members who died at Lakehurst, New Jersey. A scarce artifact from the disaster that spelled the end of the era of airships, this postcard was prepared by Günther Thasler, the 13-year old son of Hindenburg crew member Albert Thasler who had been assigned to fly aboard the fateful flight, but was dropped from the crew roster in April 1937. Thasler sent his son's postcard to another crew member, Robert Moser, who agreed to carry the postcard aboard the doomed airship, which was to be sent back to Thasler on the return flight. Moser died in the accident and the cover itself was recovered sometime in May or June 1937. Deutche Zeppelin Reederi sent this and other recovered mail to the Morgan Post Office Annex in New York where it was mailed in July 1937, but backdated with a New York postmark to 10 May 1937 and sent aboard the ship Manhattan. On 27 July 1937 Thasler received this postcard, together with other mailed articles. With a letter of expertise from Dieter Leder, 4 July 2012. Sieger number 454.D, Michel number 64, Leder LZ129 Hindenburg, Zeppelin Crash Mail number 64.AB.Sx.