Front:
38262
25
826
20th Univr» Congress
WASHIN
19
NOV
989
0066
Chuir Lalla
DC
Back:
CLASSIC MAIL TRANSPORTATION
First Day of Issue: November 19, 1989
First Issue Location: Washington, D.C.
Postal service and delivery have come a long way since
ancient runners memorized messages or carried them by
hand. Today, with the help of the airplane, correspon-
dence is routinely flown across continents and even the
wide oceans in a matter of hours. The maiden voyage of
airplane mail flight was made only eight years after the
Wright brothers flew their first frail plane at Kitty Hawk. In
1918, the world's first regular airmail service commenced
with a flight between New York City and Washington,
D.C. By 1939, routine service across the North Atlantic
was instituted, and soon daring mail pilots were blazing
new routes to the remotest ends of the earth. The cachet
on this Maximum Card pictures a celebration of the take-
over of airmail routes by civilian Post Office flyers.
Previously, airmail had been flown by military pilots.
Seated in the plane is Ed Gardner, an early airmail flyer.
The man standing at the center of the picture with his coat
over his arm is Ben Lipsner, who was the Superintendent
of the Aerial Mail Service.
No. 89-37
©1989 The Maximum Card Collection
A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
Original painting by Chris Calle
