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My cover this week was cancelled on Christmas Day in 1930. It was sent from Oakland, California by airmail to Seattle with the reference "Via S.S. President Jackson" on the cover. Its final destination was to Mr. Kenneth Graham of the Dollar Steamship Company in Shanghai, China and there is further reference that it was on board the S.S. President Pierce. It was received in China on January 17, 1931. Both of those ships were part of the fleet of ships owned and operated by the Dollar Steamship Company. The company started in 1895 and operated until Mr. Dollar's passing in 1932 at 88 years of age. The company had already been struggling in the depression at the time of his passing. On March 19,1928 Mr. Dollar was on the cover of time magazine. Although the shipping company did not survive after Mr. Dollar's passing, he was involved with and owned many businesses. His legacy of philanthropy in the U.S., China and Scotland was huge, which was carried on by his children after his passing. He made his initial fortune in the lumber industry starting in Canada and eventually moving to California before he went into the shipping business. The Dollar Steamship Company operated over 50 ships in the Pacific. The first ship mentioned on this cover, the S.S. President Jackson was acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1940 and converted into a troop transport. It was renamed the USS Zeilin. It saw a lot of action in the Pacific during World War Two and was attacked and rebuilt a few times. It was scrapped in 1946. |
