My Old Ohio Home

Introduction

In April 1949, Mrs Carl Hoffman of Philadelphia received a letter from the Pitcairn Islands. What can we learn about her, and why might she be receiving a letter from there?

Elsie (Press) Hoffman

Mrs Elsie (Press) Hoffman was born 14 July 1907, in Philadelphia, the daughter of Henry F Press and Catherine Simons. [This is a transcribed record and that is how Elsie's father's name was transcribed.] Elsie is with her parents and her younger brother Harvey at 3535 K Street, Philadelphia, on the 1910 Census. The street name on the census looks like an "H" but her father is listed at 3535 K Street in the 1910 Philadelphia City Directory. They are still at that address in 1920, joined by children Raymond and Ruth. Elsie's father Harvey died October 6, 1943 in Philadelphia. Catherine (Simons) Press died June 26, 1967, at Rolling Hill Hospital, Chiltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. They are both buried in the East Cedar Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Carl Robert Hoffman

Carl Robert Hoffman was born February 24, 1905 in Philadelphia, son of Robert Hoffman and Teresa Fehrenbach. He is with his parents and older sister Freda at 2647 Hutchinson Street in 1910. In 1920, he and Freda are with their mother at 2849 Franklin Street. His father may be the Robert C Hoffman in the State Homeopathic Hospital in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Robert died on April 27, 1929, at Wernersville State Hospital, South Heidelberg, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Carl's mother Theresa (Fehrenbach) Hoffman died in Germantown November 19, 1933, while living at the address on Franklin Street. They are buried together at Mount Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Carl and Elsie Hoffman

Elsie Press and Carl Robert Hoffman wer married on 16 April 1927 in Philadelphia by Horace H Hunt, the pastor of the North Frankford Baptist Church.

In 1930 Carl was living with his mother at 2849 Franklin Street, while Elsie was boarding down the block at 102 Cambria Street. In 1940, they are listed on the census together renting at 4767 Fifth Street. But in October of that year, when Carl registered for the draft, he was at 1341 Tyson Avenue while Elsie was at 448 West Roosevelt Blvd. In 1950 they are together at 1341 Tyson Avenue, the address on the envelope.

Carl Hoffman was living still at that address when he died on March 8, 1969 at JFK Hospital. He buried in Mt Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia, with his parents, his sister Freda, and her husband. Elsie's name is not on the headstone and she does not show up in a search at findagrave.

Elsie (Press) Hoffman died in Audubon Borough, Camden County, NJ on January 21, 2000. Her last place of residence on her Social Security information was Philadelphia. I don't know where she is buried.

The Hoffmans had no children.

Why the letter from the Pitcairn Islands?

I had no idea why Elsie Hoffman would get a letter from the Pitcairn Islands so I asked Google's AI agent. Its answer seemed reasonable and was backed up by a few cited websites. The most likely reason was that she collected either curios or postage stamps from the island. One website said "in 1914, the opening of the Panama Canal placed Pitcairn on the direct run to New Zealand. Many of the new visitors were liners carrying hundreds of passengers anxious to have mementoes of the island." But soon many islanders left and "the public economy of Pitcairn languished and it was not until postage stamps were issued in 1940 that the island was able to afford some of the public amenities taken for granted in other parts of the world."

I was going to leave it at that, but I tried Googling "letters from ivan christian pitcairn island" and found an article called "Business: Bounty Barter" dated March 20, 1950, in the Time magazine archives. It said that in the fall of 1940, Fayette R Plumb, Inc., a tool making company in Philadelphia, received a letter from Ivan E Christian of Pitcairn Island ordering two small axes. Mr Christian included three dollars and some hand-painted souvenir leaves. He said to bill him if they cost more. Ivan ordered more tools and paid the bill "by sending handmade baskets which Plumb’s Cashier Elsie Hoffman obligingly sold to friends." He then asked for sheets and pillowcases which Elsie provided in exchange for more baskets. The orders and correspondence continued until at least the date of the magazine article.

So, Elsie Hoffman was not just collecting items for herself but was also selling them to people she knew. Which perfectly explains why she received the letter.

The sender of the letter

The return address on the back says:
From
Mr Ivan E Christian
Pitcairn Island

Ivan E. Christian was born in May 1919 and is a descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty in 1789. Besides sellling curios, Ivan was later the magistrate of Pitcairn Island from 1975 to 1984. He died in 1991. He is easily "googleable" if you want more information.

Sources

The sources for Carl and Elsie Hoffman and families are the usual birth, marriage, and death records, along with findagrave and the Philadelphia City Directory.

The Information about Pitcairn Island came from:
History of Pitcairn Island, at Pacific Union College, Pitcairn Islands Study Center.
The Time magazine article "Business: Bounty Barter", Time, March 20, 1950.