.jpg?w=1)
Details
GETTY, John Paul (1892-1976), oil billionaire. Autograph letter signed ("your loving son Paul") to his parents, George Franklin Getty and wife, The Waldorf Astoria, New York, 1 November 1912. 6 pages, 12mo, on 4-page sheets of gold-embossed hotel stationery.
A very rare letter from the young Getty, en route to study at Oxford, revealing his early enjoyment of financial dealings and a passion for cars: The Waldorf, he writes, "is not so expensive as you would think," and is even "twenty percent cheaper than the New Willard in Washington and of course it is a world famous hotel...Yesterday I paid 50 cents to ride up the the top of the Metropolitan Building...the view is an experience well worth the money. I had a ride yesterday in an 18 h,p, Benz which is offered for sale to me." He describes in detail the Benz, which "will make 65 miles and hour." He narrates his bargaining with the owners of the car and explains, with obvious relish, the best way to manage the crank-starter. In a P.S. he adds that his trunk is already loaded and "I sail [for England] at 11:30 a.m." Getty's letters are rare.
A very rare letter from the young Getty, en route to study at Oxford, revealing his early enjoyment of financial dealings and a passion for cars: The Waldorf, he writes, "is not so expensive as you would think," and is even "twenty percent cheaper than the New Willard in Washington and of course it is a world famous hotel...Yesterday I paid 50 cents to ride up the the top of the Metropolitan Building...the view is an experience well worth the money. I had a ride yesterday in an 18 h,p, Benz which is offered for sale to me." He describes in detail the Benz, which "will make 65 miles and hour." He narrates his bargaining with the owners of the car and explains, with obvious relish, the best way to manage the crank-starter. In a P.S. he adds that his trunk is already loaded and "I sail [for England] at 11:30 a.m." Getty's letters are rare.