Post Office Box 2915
Post office box 2915 in Dallas was rented to “Lee H. Oswald” from October 9, 1962, to May 14, 1963, with the application and a May 12, 1963 change-of-address card identified as Oswald’s handwriting. The box was thus Oswald’s when the rifle was shipped from Chicago on March 20, 1963. A change-of-address card requested forwarding of mail to New Orleans, where Oswald had moved on April 24. Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes of the Dallas Post Office explained that packages are released to box holders on presentation of the notice regardless of whether the named recipient appears on the application, and identification is not ordinarily requested.
Oswald’s Use of the Alias Hidell
The “Hidell” alias was not limited to the rifle purchase. When arrested on the day of the assassination, Oswald possessed a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver purchased by mail order from Seaport-Traders, Inc., using a coupon listing the purchaser as “A. J. Hidell Age 28” at P.O. Box 2915, Dallas. FBI and Treasury Department handwriting experts identified the writing on that form as Oswald’s.
Counterfeit Identification Documents
Among the identification cards in Oswald’s wallet at his arrest were genuine Oswald Selective Service and Marine Corps certificates, alongside a counterfeit Selective Service notice of classification and a counterfeit Marine certificate of service in the name of “Alek James Hidell.” The Hidell Selective Service card bore the signature “Alek J. Hidell” and a photograph of Oswald. Treasury Department and FBI questioned-documents experts testified the Hidell cards were counterfeit photographic reproductions made by photographing the Oswald cards, retouching the negatives, and printing from those retouched negatives, with the Hidell signature in Oswald’s handwriting.
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