Souvenir Letter 1937 Coronation of King Edward VIII Never Happened

Description: Folded letter, advertising piece dated March 15, 1937. Very unusual souvenir of the Coronation of King Edward VIII -- which never happened! I've been selling ephemera for over 12 years and have never seen one of these pieces before. There are no other ones available on eBay, but their are pages of items relating to the almost Coronation. It's a little difficult to follow and analyze this piece, but I'll do my best: Front cover says: Mr. Lester Heinsheimer Live Like A King. The letter and advertising came from Ralph Hitz who was the head of the National Hotel Management Company, the largest hotel organization in the United States at the time. Hitz was a pioneer in the hotel industry, whose ideas for marketing and customer service became the industry standard for luxury lodging. When the 2,500 room New Yorker Hotel prepared to open, Hitz was hired to manage the new venture, which opened on January 2, 1930, weeks after the stock market crash. Hitz's ability to turn a profit during the depression led the hotel's mortgage holder, Manufacturers Trust Company, to hiring him to control all of its hotels. By the time of Hitz's death at 48, the NHM managed the New Yorker, the Lexington and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York); the Congress Hotel(Chicago); the Netherland Plaza(Cincinnati); Adolphus Hotel (Dallas); the Hotel Van Cleve (Dayton); the Book-Cadillac (Detroit); the Nicollet Hotel(Minneapolis); The New York Municipal Airport Restaurants (New York) and the Eastern Slope Inn (North Conway, New Hampshire). Mr. Heinsheimer must have been one of the many Hotel customers that Mr. Hitz mailed this piece too. This letter/mailer/brochure was in a bunch of ephemera that I purchased at a local auction, much of which proved to be from the South Dakota area of our country. Lester Heinsheimer’s owned a kennel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was the breeder that gifted the famous chow "Blackberry" to President and Grace Coolidge. His chows also won First Prize at the National Dog Show. Mr. Hitz had prepared this piece to celebrate the Coronation of King Edward VIII on May 12, 1937. But that never happened. After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson. In 1937, Edward was created Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson in a ceremony in France. Edward was never crowned; his reign lasted only 325 days. His brother Albert became King, using his last name George, as George VI. Preparations had already begun and souvenirs were on sale when Edward VIII decided to abdicate on 11 December 1936. He did this because the public were outraged at his attempt to marry Simpson. His coronation was cancelled as a result of his abdication. Mr. Hitz added the comments in RED on March 15, 1937, and then mailed it early to the customers that he had planned to mail it to on the 12th of May, the original date the coronation was to take place. I hope I got all of this analysis correct. It was difficult to research and put the above points in order. If anyone reading this has a better explanation, I would listen to any additions or changes. Just let me know by eBay message and I will update or change this listing. The mailing piece is double folded. When fully open as in photo 4 attached it measures 11 x 16 3/4". Folded once it measures 11" x 8 5/8". Folded twice it measures 5 1/2" x 8 5/8". It is in overall very good condition, considering it's almost 85 years old. Edges are worn, but otherwise very nice. I'll place the piece inside a plastic sleeve and add a piece of white foam board for protection while mailing by USPS First Class in a bubble envelope. I'll mail the same day, or next day after payment is received.

Price: 24 USD

Location: Frederick, Maryland

End Time: 2023-11-18T23:21:16.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD