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Two American covers twenty years and a world apart: a brilliant red illustrated advertising envelope from the Hotel Metropole at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island — the hotel that burned in the great Avalon fire of 1915 — and a 1919 Oregon letter addressed to a doughboy of the 8th Infantry with the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
1. Postal Markings & Operational Analysis
The Format (Cover One): A commercial-size envelope, roughly 6 x 3 1/4 inches, printed in bright vermilion with a circular vignette reading "SANTA CATALINA ISLAND CALIFORNIA · LOS ANGELES COUNTY" around an island-and-sunrise device topped by a goat, with the slogan "CALIFORNIA'S UNIQUE SUMMER AND WINTER RESORT" beneath, and the corner card "Hotel Metropole / AVALON." The lower third carries a full printed advertisement headed "A MAGIC ISLAND," making this an all-over illustrated advertising cover rather than a plain corner card. The Origin Postmark: A black machine cancel reading LOS ANGELES / CAL / APR 13 [3?] PM '00, with killer bars tying a 2c carmine Washington of the 1894-98 Bureau series at upper right. The envelope bears no Avalon postmark; island mail of this period crossed to the mainland by steamer before entering the mail stream, which is consistent with a Los Angeles origin strike on hotel stationery. Postal Rates & Law: The 2c franking pays the single first-class domestic letter rate of 2c per ounce, the rate in force since the Act of March 3, 1885 took effect on July 1, 1885 and which remained standard until the 1917 wartime increase. Payment is fully prepaid by adhesive. Receiving Mark: On the reverse, a clear circular datestamp LAKE MILLS, WIS / APR 20 1900 / 2 PM with "REC'D" at the base — a seven-day transit from Los Angeles to south-central Wisconsin. The Destination Address: In period ink script, "Mrs Eliza Faville / Lake Mills / Wisconsin."
The Format (Cover Two): A small buff envelope, roughly 5 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches, addressed in pencil, with the sender's name written vertically up the left edge. The Origin Postmark: A circular duplex cancel, partly off the edge, showing "...OREG" with a 1919 date and A.M. time slug, tying a 3c violet Washington of the 1917-19 series at upper right; the return address reads Eugene, Oregon. Postal Rates & Law: The 3c franking matches the wartime first-class rate of 3c per ounce imposed under the War Revenue Act of 1917, effective November 2, 1917 and in force through June 30, 1919, when postage reverted to 2c. Letters addressed to American soldiers overseas were carried at the ordinary domestic rate, so a single 3c stamp took this letter from Oregon to an A.P.O. in France. The Destination Address: "Pvt. Milo E. Jack / Co. B 8th Infantry / A.P.O. 716 / American E.F. / France," with the sender shown as "Miss Millie [Haldorson] / Eugene, Oregon / U.S.A." A later collector's pencil notation ("SOLDIER W.W. I") appears above the address.
2. Historical Significance
The Metropole and the Banning Era: The Hotel Metropole was begun in 1888 by George Shatto, who had bought Santa Catalina Island in 1887 and laid out the settlement that became Avalon, building its first hotel and pier. The sons of Phineas Banning acquired the island in the early 1890s through the Santa Catalina Island Company and expanded the Metropole repeatedly — a first turret in 1892, an east wing in 1893, a west wing in 1896, a ballroom annex in 1897 — while adding the dance pavilion, aquarium and other attractions that turned Avalon into a year-round resort. The hotel was destroyed on November 29, 1915 in the fire that consumed a large part of Avalon, which makes surviving Metropole stationery a record of a building that no longer exists. The printed advertisement on this envelope captures the Banning sales pitch exactly: a three-and-a-half-hour boat ride from Los Angeles, marine gardens, stage rides with "noted western drivers," golf links, music and dancing, open all the year.
Lake Mills and the Faville Name: The Faville family were among the early settlers of Lake Mills, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, associated with the dairy industry and with the farmstead at Faville Grove, which later became well known as a study area for University of Wisconsin wildlife research. The addressee, Mrs. Eliza Faville, has not been positively identified with any one documented individual in the published Lake Mills material, so no biography is claimed here.
A Doughboy in France: The second cover is inbound soldier mail from the demobilization spring of 1919, months after the Armistice, when hundreds of thousands of American troops were still waiting in France for shipping home. A.P.O. 716 is a recorded American Expeditionary Forces army post office number appearing on 1919 AEF mail. The 8th Infantry Regiment was a Regular Army regiment linked to the 8th Division, organized at Camp Fremont, California, whose elements reached France only in October and November 1918 and returned home across 1919 — a chronology that fits a private of that regiment still receiving mail in France in May 1919. Nothing further about Private Milo E. Jack or the Eugene sender turned up in the sources searched.
3. Transcription
Printed advertisement, Cover One:
A MAGIC ISLAND. Write for information about California's wonderful mountain and sea
resort, Santa Catalina Island, 3 1/2 hours' ride from Los Angeles, Cal. Winter and summer
climate near perfection. A field for health and pleasure without a counterpart in America or Europe.
Remarkable natural attractions. Famous for fishing and hunting. A phenomenal stage ride.
Noted western drivers. The marine gardens and other novel features. HOTEL METROPOLE—
modern appointments—music and dancing; excellent golf links. Open all the year.
Address panels as written:
Mrs Eliza Faville / Lake Mills / Wisconsin
Pvt. Milo E. Jack / Co. B 8th Infantry / A.P.O. 716 / American E.F. / France
Miss Millie [Haldorson] / Eugene / Oregon / U.S.A.
Condition: Both covers are opened and empty, with no contents. The Catalina cover shows overall wrinkling, light toning and edge wear with small nicks at the right end; the printing and both postmarks remain strong. The WWI cover is toned and soft at the edges with rough opening at right; the pencil address and stamp are intact.
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