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- U.S. Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock Poses with Earle Ovington and the Bag Used to Carry the First U.S. Air Mail, September 1911 - When the Post Office Department sponsored the first official air mail flight on September 23, 1911, it wasn't much more than a publicity stunt. Pilot Earle Ovington carried a sack of mail from Garden City, New York, to nearby Mineola, where he dropped it into a field behind the local post office. Serious air mail operations started in 1918.
- September 23, 1911
- Collections - Artifact
U.S. Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock Poses with Earle Ovington and the Bag Used to Carry the First U.S. Air Mail, September 1911
When the Post Office Department sponsored the first official air mail flight on September 23, 1911, it wasn't much more than a publicity stunt. Pilot Earle Ovington carried a sack of mail from Garden City, New York, to nearby Mineola, where he dropped it into a field behind the local post office. Serious air mail operations started in 1918.
- Inauguration of Coast to Coast Air Mail Service by the U.S. Post Office Department, New York, July 1, 1924 - 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.
- July 01, 1924
- Collections - Artifact
Inauguration of Coast to Coast Air Mail Service by the U.S. Post Office Department, New York, July 1, 1924
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.