The Man At 3517 Indiana Street
At the 2018 52+Joker Convention I came into possession of a very interesting card. It was an Andrew Dougherty Pilot #5 card from about 1895. But, the interesting part was that it had an air mail stamp on it with a first day issue cancellation and the address of 3517 Indiana Street, San Diego. Talking to another collector that had a couple of these cards he told me an interesting story he heard about the card. Supposedly, when William Boeing started flying the commercial air route (known as CAM #8) between Seattle, Washington, and San Diego, California, he had four decks of cards carried by the pilots on the first flight. The stamp placed on the cards would then be canceled in San Diego making them of value to first day stamp collectors. The decks were then given to members of the Board of Directors as souvenirs.
The Boeing Model 40 Used On The CAM #8 Route
But then why the San Diego address? Was this a company location? Curiosity getting the better of me so I then started digging.
The stamp was canceled July 1, 1930 so I looked to see what was at that address at the time. It turns out it was the home of Don Mark Lemon. Mr. Lemon (Shown on the left) was born in Arizona in 1877 and later moved to San Francisco, where his dad had become a Judge. There Don worked as a writer and playwright. By 1905 he was winning a thousand dollars in writing contests and had several stories published. He was also an early science fiction writer and had gained the attention of Black Cat Magazine that featured such stories. He was offered a job by Black Cat and moved to Boston to write for them. The Editor at the time was the famous Hugo Gernsback who is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction". In his honor, annual awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention are named the "Hugos".
Don was The Black Cat's most regular contributor of unusual stories. These included "Doctor Goldman" in which tissue transplanted from a dead man's brain also transfers his final memories; "The Man Who Did Things Twice", a Moffettesque-type story in which a man repeats on the following day everything he did on the previous one including dying; "The Essence of Advertising" is about a chemical that can extract thoughts; "The Mansion of Forgetfulness" has a device that destroys memory without damaging the brain; and "The Lace Designers" in which spiders are fed a special drug which causes them to weave remarkable web designs and “The Man That Found Zero”.
In 1910 I found him as a boarder in Boston in a home belonging to a young divorcee named Ola (Olive) Hamilton. Three years later he married her. On their marriage license I noticed that her mother’s maiden name was Lemon and that Ola was born in San Diego. Searching records and family trees I eventually discovered that Ola was Don’s first cousin! Maybe that was why he was living with her in Boston in the first place.
Besides writing, Don was an inventor while living in Boston. Between 1909 and 1913 he patented a doll that drank water (#US962,154A), a Butter cutting machine (#US927,734), a Typewriter eraser (#US979,316) and an Erasing machine.
After the marriage the couple moved back to Ola’s old neighborhood in San Diego just north of Balboa Park. The 1,200 acre park was about to host the Panama-California Exposition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal. The area near the park was in a housing boom. By 1920 the Lemons moved into their new home on Indiana Street, just two blocks from the park. Don and Ola lived the rest of their lives at 3517 Indiana Street. Don died in 1961 and Ola in 1965 and since they had had no children the house was sold. In 2017 it and several neighboring homes were demolished to help make way for condominiums.
I also learned that Don, before 1930, was already a member (#7863) of the American Philatelic Association. Thus explaining why he had cards with first day stamp cancellations. On the same day he also had, at least, two Hawaii Provisional Government postcards stamped the same way. These postcards are also very collectable.
Besides writing, Don was an inventor while living in Boston. Between 1909 and 1913 he patented a doll that drank water (#US962,154A), a Butter cutting machine (#US927,734), a Typewriter eraser (#US979,316) and an Erasing machine.
After the marriage the couple moved back to Ola’s old neighborhood in San Diego just north of Balboa Park. The 1,200 acre park was about to host the Panama-California Exposition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal. The area near the park was in a housing boom. By 1920 the Lemons moved into their new home on Indiana Street, just two blocks from the park. Don and Ola lived the rest of their lives at 3517 Indiana Street. Don died in 1961 and Ola in 1965 and since they had had no children the house was sold. In 2017 it and several neighboring homes were demolished to help make way for condominiums.
I also learned that Don, before 1930, was already a member (#7863) of the American Philatelic Association. Thus explaining why he had cards with first day stamp cancellations. On the same day he also had, at least, two Hawaii Provisional Government postcards stamped the same way. These postcards are also very collectable.
I have tracked down three different decks so far. They are the green back Andrew Dougherty Pilot #5, the 1918-19 Western Press (Hochman MSW135) blue back and a Western Playing Card/Whitman unknown blue back deck.
In 2023 it was found that the court cards were not used for the stamp. This would then make 123 cards that were canceled if there were only 3 decks. Searching the internet, eBay and club members I have located less than 50 cards at this time.