Special Delivery envelope from Zaro Tours, New York, to Mina Kaufmann in Balt...
[Return address, printed:] ZARO TOURS, Authorized Steamship and Railroad Ticket Agency 152 W. 42nd STREET Knickerbocker Bldg. NEW YORK, N. Y. RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED [Rubber stamp across center:] SPECIAL DELIVERY [Handwritten:] 2/69 [?] [Postmark:] NEW YORK, N.Y. / NOV 7 / 6 PM / 1941 / GRAND CENTRAL [10-cent Special Delivery stamp — motorcycle courier design] [3-cent "For Defense" stamp — Statue of Liberty / "Security Education Conservation Health"] [Window envelope — recipient address visible through window]
This Special Delivery envelope from Zaro Tours — an authorized steamship and railroad ticket agency at 152 West 42nd Street in the Knickerbocker Building, Manhattan — carried the urgent Cuba visa proposal to Mina Kaufmann. The Special Delivery service (requiring a 10-cent stamp in addition to regular postage) guaranteed same-day delivery by messenger, reflecting the extreme urgency of the matter. The envelope was posted at 6 PM on November 7, 1941, from the Grand Central Station post office. The 3-cent "For Defense" stamp depicting the Statue of Liberty — symbol of American liberty and refuge — carries a bitter irony given the contents of the letter inside: a last-ditch attempt to route Jewish refugees through Cuba because direct entry to the United States had been effectively blocked.