U.S. Marines Guard Air Mail Delivery, Los Angeles, California, 1926

01

Artifact Overview

Regular air mail service in the United States started in 1918. Initial air mail stamps cost 24 cents -- eight times more than ground service. But those fees helped subsidize the development of America's airways. After operating air mail flights itself for eight years, the U.S. Post Office Department contracted with commercial air carriers in 1926.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

1926

Subject Date

1926

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1629.203

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 6 in
Width: 8.25 in

Inscriptions

attached press release: CREDIT-- HERBERT PHOTOS INC. / H27131 / MARINES ON THE JOB / Government officials are determined that there shall be no repetition of the recent New Jersey mail robbery. [...] U.S. Marines have been assigned [...]/ Two Marine guards on duty at the western terminus of the transcontinental air mail route in Los Angeles. (AA-E-BF)
U.S. Marines Guard Air Mail Delivery, Los Angeles, California, 1926