Hope Diamond Package Wrapper (brown paper & postage stamps)

On November 11, 1958 a letter carrier delivered one of the Smithsonian Institution’s best known treasures in this package. Inside was the Hope Diamond, recently donated by New York City jeweller Harry Winston. He told a reporter for the Washington Post that “. . . [registered mail is] the safest way to ship gems. . . . I’ve sent gems all over the world that way.” When the package arrived in Washington, D.C., letter carrier James Todd drove it to the National Museum of Natural History where the package was signed over to Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian.