Mailing envelope from New York, April 1953, addressed to J. P. Walker at Portsmouth, Va.; with snapshot of Pickens Walker 'Puck' Corbell on crutches
Book 2, Page 216 ·1953
Transcription
Upper - envelope. A small cream envelope with a circular New York 21, N.Y. postmark dated APR 17 1953, 10:30 AM, with a wavy-line cancellation across a 3-cent Ohio Sesquicentennial commemorative stamp (issued March 2, 1953, for Ohio’s 150th anniversary of statehood). Addressed in pencil in a slanting hand mixing block capitals and script:
Mr. J. P. Walker 303 Norman Rd. Greenacres Portsmouth Virginia
A separate, fainter notation in blue ink across the lower envelope reads “Portsmouth, Va.” with an underscore - apparently added later, perhaps by the compiler to label the photo’s location.
Lower - photograph. A black-and-white snapshot, slightly trimmed at the corners, showing a small fair-haired boy in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt standing on a back lawn. He has his left leg in a cast extending below the knee and is supported on crutches under each arm. Behind him are flowering shrubs, a low brick edging, a small ornamental pond or planter, and a tall hardwood tree at the right. Captioned beneath in blue ink:
Pickens Walker Corbell - Portsmouth 1953.
AI Notes
An album page with two items. At the top, a mailing envelope postmarked New York 21, N.Y., APR 17 1953 at 10:30 AM, bearing a 3-cent Ohio Sesquicentennial commemorative stamp, addressed in pencil block-and-script to Mr. J. P. Walker at 303 Norman Rd., Greenacres, Portsmouth, Virginia. Below is a black-and-white snapshot of a small boy standing in a backyard on crutches with his left leg in a cast, captioned beneath in blue ink: ‘Pickens Walker Corbell - Portsmouth 1953.’ The boy is the compiler’s grandson Pickens Walker ‘Puck’ / ‘Pucky’ Corbell (b. 13 Nov 1944), son of Dr. Robert L. Corbell Jr. and Emma Dee Walker Corbell; he would die from cancer at Portsmouth on 2 December 1953 (see obituary clipping on p227). The leg cast and crutches almost certainly relate to that illness in its earlier course.
The boy is Pickens Walker “Puck” / “Pucky” Corbell, the compiler’s grandson, born 13 November 1944 to Emma Dee Walker Corbell and Dr. Robert L. Corbell Jr. He died at home in Portsmouth on 2 December 1953, just three weeks after his ninth birthday, of cancer; the obituary clipping is pasted on p227. The cast and crutches in this April 1953 photograph almost certainly relate to that disease - bone-cancer treatment of the period frequently involved leg immobilization. The caption is the boy’s full name “Pickens Walker Corbell” in cursive, not “Picture Walter Corbell.” 303 Norman Rd. is the Corbell residence in the Greenacres neighborhood of Portsmouth.