Hilton Centennial

Years ago I used to send picture postcards home to friends and family wherever I travel.  Then I started sending them to myself as mementos.

Last year I had an overnight layover at LAX so I asked for an hotel envelope from the Hilton Los Angeles Airport.  I stuffed it with my recently expired boarding pass and affixed a forever stamp with the flag design that I bought from a self-service vending kiosk at the USPS office on Airport Blvd.  Then I snapped a photo of the cover with the stone lion in front of the Hilton and dropped it off in the mail slot in the lobby.

That was the first hotel cover which I mailed to myself.  The first Hilton cover as well.

Speaking of Hilton, Conrad the founder bought and operated his first property in Cisco, Texas in 1919.  A legendary figure in the industry, Hilton had built one of the largest hotel empires in the 20th century. After nearly sixty years of developing hotels around the world, Conrad died at the age of 91 in 1979.

Although the first hotel to bear the Hilton name is the Dallas Hilton which opened in 1925, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is celebrating its centennial in 2019.  Today the hospitality group boasts over 5800 properties under 17 brands in over 114 countries.  About 10% of the properties operate under the Hilton brand.

As it turned out, there had been several postage stamps issued to commemorate the grand opening of various Hilton Hotels.  Being an Hilton Honors member and a stamp collector, I started collecting Hilton Hotel stamps, postcards and covers last year with the Hilton LAX cover.  Check out my latest finds and postings in the Hilton Hotel Philately blog.

P.S. Any postal administrations issuing an Hilton Centennial postage stamp or commemorative cover?