Oh the Humanity!

I didn’t think I would be writing about two transportation disasters in a row, but hey, an anniversary is an anniversary. And as it turns out, 25 years and 3 weeks after the Titanic sank, wouldn’t you know it, the Hindenburg exploded in a ball of fire over the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, on May 6^th 1937, making this the 75^th anniversary of its demise. 98 people died; 13 passengers and 22 crew on the airship, and one grounds crewman. Herbert Morrison made one of the most famous radio broadcasts in history which was aired the day after the event. It is not clear what the actual cause of the fire was, but the fact that the airship was filled with very flammable hydrogen meant that once it was ignited, it would be as they say, all she wrote. Like other well-known historic disasters, there are lots of theories about the actual cause, including sabotage. You can read more here.

 In this clip Morrison’s radio broadcast has been attached to film that was taken of the disaster.

The “golden era” of airships lasted from the early 1900s until almost 1940 and the world’s first passenger airline was DELAG (The German Airship Transportation Company Ltd) and was established in 1909 as an offshoot of the Zeppelin Company. Before WWI, DELAG carried some 34,000 passengers on 1500 flights between cities in Germany, all without injury. During the war, the airships were pressed into military service with mixed results. After the war the Graf Zeppelin made a round-the-world flight in 1929 and both it and the Hindenburg made numerous trans-Atlantic flights with very few problems, although there had been accidents, fires and deaths with other airships during the period.

The Hindenburg had sleeping accommodations for passengers, a dining room and lounge and could cross the Atlantic in a little over two days. Now days we can obviously do it much faster, but the amenities aren’t quite the same.

There is a small exhibit in Washington D.C. with a unique angle that has objects, documents and photographs relating to both the Titanic and Hindenburg. The American Postal Museum is hosting Fire and Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic with special emphasis on the postal aspects. Both the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Titanic and the Hindenburg were floating post offices, one on the sea and one in the air.

Oscar Scott Woody, of Clifton, Virginia was one of five postal clerks that were on the Titanic when it sank, none of whom survived. His body was recovered and his postal keys on a chain are part of the exhibit along with a facing slip with clear postmark from the Titanic. There is also a letter and post card that were sent from the Titanic before it left Europe. The Titanic carried some 3000 bags of mail all of which are sitting two miles down with the wreck.

Hindenburg on May 6, 1937

For stamp collectors, mail stamped on the Hindenburg was and still is highly sought after and a number of the covers mailed on various trips it made are part of the exhibit. There is also a partially burned letter that survived the explosion as well as a postmark device and a postal scale. Some 160 pieces out of 17,000 survived the disaster. It’s poignant to see items that were handled by people who were part of these historic tragedies and brings them to life in a more personal way. The exhibit runs through January 6, 2014.


The website for Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic at the National Postal Museum is just below. By clicking on that link you will be taken away from Tripping on History and will be going to the museum site.
Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic