Historical information

The "letters to Lillie" show the international nature of the Mission to Seafarers. They are an important display of the handwriting style of the time, revealing courting attempts and give us an insight into life in 1925 and 1926.

Significance

Lillie Duncan was a member of the Harbour Lights Guild and this letter forms part of a collection of letters sent to her by different seafarers.

Physical description

Letter addressed to Miss Lillian Duncan, 11 Paxton Street, East Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from J. Kokx, U.S.S. Medusa, c/o PM San Francisco, 5th Div. Calif consisting of two parts.
0073.1 Envelope;
0073.2 Letter (double-sided).
Both the envelope and the letter are cream in colour. The letter begins with "My Dearest Melbourne Girl: I recieved your...". The letter has a ships seal printed and embossed onto it in blue ink.

Inscriptions & markings

The envelope has been torn across the top horizontally in order to retrieve the letter from inside. The flap on the back is still sealed. The envelope has three sets of stamps. The first is a circular black ink stamp with the text "SAN PEDRO Feb 1 [indecipherable] 1926 CALIF". The second stamp is a set of three red almost square stamps reading "UNITED STATES POSTAGE 2 CENTS". The last stamp is in black ink and has 7 curved lines resembling the waves of the sea which continues over to the back of the envelope where it stops curving. This set of lines stops and starts across half of the back of the envelope. Both of the black ink stamps overlay the three red stamps.