Today in Postal History

This event cover commemorates the maiden voyage of the S/S Normandie.
This great passenger liner was the pride of France and
plied the North Atlantic in competition with the British Queen Mary.
People who lived in New York at that time remember the days
when both liners were tied up at their piers on the Hudson at the same time.
It made for great depression sight-seeing.

The Normandie escaped German capture in World War II when France surrendered.
During re-outfitting for use as a troop transport, the
Normandie caught fire and capsized at its dock on the Hudson in 1942.
She was never repaired but was salvaged and scrapped in New Jersey.

The cover is franked with a single of the 1.5 fr. dark blue stamp
issued in April to commemorate the maiden voyage (Scott 300).

The cover was cancelled with a special roller slogan cancel
S/S "NORMANDIE"
VOYAGE INAUGURAL
LE HAVRE - 28 MAI 35
It appears that the inaugural sailing was delayed by a day.

It has an octagonal date cancel LE HAVRE A NEW YORK in a 7-bar field.

The sender used hotel stationery from the Hotel Mirabeau in Paris and typed the routing 'S/S "NORMANDIE".'

The addressee certainly deserves note regarding this cover.
Mr. Alfred Pillsbury (look for 116 East 22nd Street on the link page) was a member of the flour-making family in Minneapolis.
After over a century of independence,  the Pillsbury firm was  acquired by
London-based Grand Metropolitan PLC in 1989  and was subsequently acquired in 2001 by General Mills.

The cover was forwarded to Wayzata, Minnesota, a suburb about 12 miles west of downtown Minneapolis.