Sizable 3 x 1.75 swatch of the silver-colored hull of the LZ 129 Hindenburg, which caught fire when it attempted to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. The swatch is affixed to the second page of a handwritten letter from a retired NS class airship pilot, dated March 14, 1974, in part: “Am sorry but my collection of my souvenirs of the Airship days are nil. Didn't have sense enough to know I should have held on to some, if only for myself. Am not much of a collector that way…Am happy to know there are still some folks who are interested in Airships—I started in 1917 where was a radio op. + machine gunner on the only American Airship on patrol over the North Sea. Only a 2 man Blimp. The Pilot & myself. It was the Zero 23 and the radio call was ZK4. We operated from a substation from the RN Air Stn, at Howden, York shire, Eng. Got no subs, but more important to me, none got us. Am enclosing a cover that was carried on the USA Akron and a small piece of the Hindenberg’s outer cover which did not burn.” In fine condition, with the recipient's name clipped from the start of the letter.
