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AIRPOSTAIRPOSTJOURNALJOURNAL

The Official Publication of theAmerican Air Mail Society

September 2014 Volume 85, No. 9 Whole No. 1011

September’s featured article —Indian Airmails Simplified, Part 1

Page 360

SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 353

Henry Gitner Philatelists, Inc.PO Box 3077T, Middletown NY 10940

Email: [email protected] — http://www.hgitner.com

Zeppelins & AerophilatelyAsk for our Free Price List of Worldwide Flight covers and stamps.

The following is a small sampling – full list on Website!

United States1929 (August 5) Unusual Round-the-World Flight cover with addi-

tional franking applied for second leg of journey. Cover first sent fromSouth Orange, NJ Aug. 5 with 1¢+5¢ applied. Friedrichshafen back-stamp Aug. 8 then 2 x 30¢ postage applied, tied by Los Angeles Aug.26 cancel. Fascinating item! Rapp certificate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$800.00

1930 (April 28) C15 VF stamp on F-VF doctor’s envelope to NewHaven, CT. Backstamped New York. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$575.00Germany

1933 (August 25) balloon postcard from Hamburg Air Show for Ger-man Airmail. 30pf red balloon label. There is a small plate error on "D"in the red overprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $900.00Norway

1936 (September 14) 8th North America flight. Commercial meteredairmail cover from Raakvaag Canning Co. Fold creases, one verticaland one horizontal. Berlin backstamp, addressed to New York, NY.S.437 E200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125.00Peru

1928 (October 22) Scadta flight cover to Colombia. First flight Peru -Ecuador - Colombia. VF condition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $450.00Switzerland

1930 Vaduz Flight. (August 18) Vaduz flight with Swiss franking,Scott 208, C5, C13 and C15. Only a handful carried, rare! S. 79 E2400Michel 104l E2200 SLK 30Aa Sfr 4000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,100.00Trinidad & Tobago

1930 (June 1) South American NYRBA Airline early picture post-

Dear Madam Peters,Please find enclosed a rather “dog-eared” copy of the 2014 (July)

issue of The Airpost Journal. Now, don’t panic! Take a Valium and sitdown (please).

The reason I’m returning your publication is: A) not due to mis-packaging or; B) not due to rough handling by the post office. The prob-lem is rough handling by my (wife’s) Golden Retriever. As I said at thebeginning of my monologue, “dog-eared.”

Could you please send me a replacement copy?Robert Roe

PAGE 354 AIRPOST JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 355

In This Issue of the Airpost Journal

Copyright 2014 The American Air Mail Society. The Airpost Journal (ISSN 0739-0939) is pub-lished monthly by the American Air Mail Society, 11911 E. Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036.Periodical postage paid at Spokane WA 99201 and additional post offices. Postmaster: Sendaddress changes to American Air Mail Society, 1190 S. Grape St., Denver CO 80246-3229.Domestic subscription rate $30 per year; $5 per copy.Opinions expressed in features and columns in this publication are solely those of the authors anddo not necessarily represent those of the society.

Editor and AdvertisingVickie Canfield Peters 11911 E Connor Road Valleyford WA 99036

[email protected] Writers and ColumnistsJoe Kirker Alan Warren

Chris Hargreaves Bob Wilcsek Lee Downer

—ARTICLES —Indian Airmails Simplified, Part 1................................................................. 360Pragya Kothari

The Winds of War: An Unusual Aerophilatelic Saga ................................... 368Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski and Jacek Kosmala

AAMS Participates in Romanian Exhibition................................................. 384Alexandru Dan Bartoc

U.S. Patriotic Jenny Mail............................................................................... 386Joe Kirker

Why I Bought It ............................................................................................. 390Sam Pezzillo

—COLUMNS and FEATURES —APJ Book Review.......................................................................................... 373Canadian Air Mail Notes ............................................................................... 376Letter to the Editor......................................................................................... 355President’s Message ...................................................................................... 356

—DEPARTMENTS –APJ Ads ......................................................................................................... 396Membership Report ....................................................................................... 395

Letters to the Editor

Write for

information

and prices

For more than half a century . . .Since 1939, first day cover hobbyists have been buildingcollections with Artcraft covers, the world’s most honoredcachet. It’s no wonder as every Artcraft cachet is a distinc-tively designed work of art that is engraved by master crafts-men on quality envelopes. Artcraft Engravings are availablefor all U.S. and U.N. new issues; they are sold at stampshops throughout the country or can be ordered direct.

THE WASHINGTON PRESSPublishers FLORHAM PARK, NJ 07932

Aerophilately 2014: Now is the Time!September 2014. Aerophilately 2014 is NOW – this month, Sep-

tember 12-14!We hope you will be there as it will probably be into the 2020s

before there is another purely aerophilatelic event of this type in theUnited States.

Aerophilately 2014 Philatelic Exhibition Applications for exhibiting were received for 59 exhibits totaling

279 frames. Most exhibitors are American, as one would expect. Internation-

al participation, however, is notable. It includes exhibitors from Aus-tralia, Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Ire-land, Japan, Romania, Switzerland and United Kingdom. We are delight-ed to have them.

The bourse is selected, not large but very strong in aerophilately.Everyone should be eager to explore. We inadvertently omitted HenryGitner from the list last month, but he will be there and will have theaerophilately stock from David Grossblat, as well.

Unfortunately, AAMS Director David Ball will not be able toattend due to a military commitment. His scheduled program, Astrophi-lately, The Intersection of Philately and Space Exploration, has been canceled.

8th Postal History SymposiumSince this symposium is being held in conjunction with Aerophi-

lately 2014, the designated theme is the development of trans-ocean airmailservices to 1945. This subject area is highlighted by major advancementsin aviation technology and capabilities, the development of world-wideair transport infrastructure, divergent national interests, global commer-cial competition in both aircraft technology and expanding commercialair services, all affected in various ways by the inevitable factor of poli-tics, both national and international. Taken all together, it is a fascinatingand complex area for research and study.

The final number of eight participants is less than the minimum12 hoped for, but those we have should prove most interesting.

We hope you will be joining us at this great event! Only thosewho skip it will have regrets. Complete schedules for both the sympo-sium and the show are available on the APS website under “UpcomingEvents.”

Aerophilately 2014Philatelic Exhibition

Special All-Airmail ExhibitionAPS-Approved National Philatelic Exhibition with FIP Recognition

EXHIBITS(Applications)

FIP Eight-Frame Exhibits 12FIP Five-Frame Exhibits 23FIP One-Frame Exhibits 13National Eight-Frame Exhibits 4National Five-Frame Exhibits 4National One-Frame Exhibits 3Total: 59 exhibits in 279 16-page frames

Jury (FIP Accredited)Stephen Reinhard, President and Team Leader

Peter McCann, FIP Representative and Team LeaderMark Banchik Santiago Cruz - Colombia

John Hotchner Charles Verge - Canada

FIP RepresentativeBernie Beston – Australia

BOURSEJoni & Dave Allego 234-567-4181 - [email protected]

Fred Boatwright 636-338-4617 - [email protected] Haeseler 814-357-1107 - [email protected] Gitner 845-343-5151 [email protected]

Fairwinds - Paul Huber 252-504-2137 - [email protected] Covers - James Littell 716-694-3562 - [email protected]

Wolfgang Porges – Germany [email protected] Weller – Australia +61 9571 1243

Zirinsky Stamps - Steve Zirinsky 718-706-0616 - [email protected]


President’s MessageJim Graue

AIRPOST JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 359

A small sampling:UNITED STATESN1 1947 - cover: C28 perf. EFO tied to reduced #10 envelope, NYGrand Central Stat. cancel, to Switzerland: United States of America ONTOP OF STAMP ................................................................................... $250.00N2 1930 (Apr. 25) First PAN-AM 7-day service to Buenos Aires by Col.LINDBERGH, C12, viol. flt. cachet, (NY0-Miami-HAVANA. Only 50flwn! Sme rubber-band staining ........................................................ $300.00N3 1933 (Oct. 26) Graf Zeppelin Chicago Flt, NR.10 cov Chicago-Seville,cov. incl. 728/9 in blks of fr, Olymp. frank, etc., short. on top, one vert.crease, minor tears. Sieg.244B .............................................................. $85.00AUSTRALIAN4 1935 (June) Extr. rare (probably unique) cov. SOUTH ATLANTICCATAPULT cov. ex St. Kilda & addr. to BS. AIRES w. arriv. pmk.12.6.1935 thus flown by the “Tornado” aircraft on 13.V.1935, Germ. air-mail cachet “a” = Berlin. Franking incl. Sctt 154 (2) etc. Hab.382b.............

.....................................................................................................$1,250.00STRAITS SETTLEMENTN5 1930 (Nov. 14) First Flight by Dutch airmail from Alor Star, viaKarachi, addr. to England ex Penang. Mull. 3, only 13 flown!...... $450.00G.B. - INDIA - U.S.N6 (1927/1928) Roessler cov ex London-Karachi- Calcutta-Chicago, 3-country franking, addressed to Stephn H. Smith (Rocket Mail Pioneer),Calcutta. By Air Mail label ................................................................. $300.00PERU-SCADTAN7 1928 (Oct. 22) FFlt Paita-Barranquilla, Scadta franking SPE2, SPE6,blue flt. cachet. Barranquilla arriv. pmk. M.7a ................................ $375.00RTW FLIGHTN8 1939 (May-June-July) incl. PAA FFlts: Horta (Port.)-NY-NY-H.KONG-London-Lisbon-Lisbon=Horta transit pmks, reg. letter frankingincl. U.S. C12, etc., Portug. C3 blk of fr., etc., autogr. by PAA Capt. LaPorte. 2 diff. flt. cachets ........................................................................$650.00SENEGAL - AIR FRANCEN9 Colorful Air France advert. pp-crd, flown/mail in 1937 ex Dakar-Paris franking Sctt 89, 175 to Paris. Muller 50 ................................. $135.00

H.G.I Stamp Co.

P.O. Box 47728 Phoenix AZ 85068-7728

PORTUGALN11 1936 (Febr. 3) FFlt “Crilly Airways Ltd.” Febr. 3 Lisbon-Croydon,Crilly illustr. cover w.Sctt 568Apr, spec fflt pmk. to Monmouth/Wales

....................................................................................................... $140.00CUBAN12 1931 (Mar. 2) FFlt Havana-CANADA, blue flt cach., slt. horiz/vert/crease, C5SE, only 47 flown!............................................................... $300.00LIBYA-G.B.-U.S. THREE COUNTRY FRANKINGN13 P.A.A. First Transatlantic Flt. (FAM-18-16), cov. printed fr “FirstFlight Imerpial Airways England to U.S.” & typed “From Rome,” Tripolipmk dtes 26.7., Glasgow 27.Ju., NY July 1st, arriv. pmk. NY July 1st. onback. Possibly unique combination franking. ................................. $500.00UNITED STATESN14 1929 (Aug.) Graf Zeppelin RTW flight, Nr. 10 5¢ airmail cov., compl.ROUND-FLIGHT LKHURST-LKHURST, franking 571 + airmail 5¢ sta-tion. C8 blk of fr, C9 blk of fr (2), C10pr, C11. Var. flt cachets ...... $225.00ECUADOR “SCADTA”N15 1929 (March 18) Essay (Trial flt) Quito-Guayaquil, Mull. 10, fabu-lous franking S. 1/6 incl. the “R” ovpt., only 143 flown. With Enzo Dienacertificate ............................................................................................... $800.00IRELANDN16 1933 (Dec. 9) Imp. Airways FFlt to Singapore, only 12 flown; addit.Brit. stamp on back, “Certified flown (under cover) on 1st return flight.Signed Capt. Lunge ............................................................................. $435.00CANADAN17 1931 (Aug. 12) KATAPULT flt from D. EUROPA, cov ex Toronto w.addit. U.S. franking C7pr. No Canadian dispatch known on this flt.........

........................................................................................................$675.00COLOMBIA “SCADTA”N18 1929 (Sept. 13) FFlt Buenaventura-CRISTOBAL C.Z., cov. w. Balboaetc, arriv. pmk, mix. frank. w/Scadta 30 cts stamp .......................... $85.00GREAT BRITAINN19 1927 (Oct. 27) Cov. posted On Board “S.S. Duchess of Richmond,”

ZEPPELIN, DO-X & CATAPULT FLIGHTSpecialists since 1958.

Phone/FAX: (602) 375-8949email: [email protected]

Indian Airmails SimplifiedPart 1Pragya Kothari

As aeroplanes just started to add their wings to the sky and werein the infancy stage of development, India became the first country in theworld to officially carry the mails by aeroplane on February 18, 1911. TheAllahabad-Naini flight was the beginning of airmails in the world. In theearly 20th century the development of better and faster airplanesincreased across the globe.

India acted as the hub for the British to rule their vast empirenetwork. During the development era, India’s location made it astopover for all aircraft to and from Europe, and the Far East or Aus-tralia. It also became a gold mine of information on aerophilately.

World War I created the opportunity for an air route networkjoining Britain with its overseas territories. This allowed faster communi-cation between Britain and its Indian empire. This has made Indianaerophilately rich and valuable. As the services were only available tothe elite and top order officials, only a small amount of mails are onrecord from this pioneer period; all are rare and important aerophilatelicpostal history.

Prior to 1911, mail was carried by balloons in Paris, during theFranco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, and in Zeppelin airships in Germany.The first official post by aeroplane was organized as part of an exhibitionin India in February 1911. Detailed accounts of this event are sparse inbooks on the air posts of the world, possibly because the event wasarranged on short notice and as part of a large national exhibition in theCity of Allahabad, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

Mail flown on this special flight, a one-off journey, bore a specialpostmark. Some 5,000 to 6,500 items are said to have been flown. Includ-ed were about 40 to 50 large-size postcards that had been specially print-ed and signed by the French pilot, Henri Péquet. These "official" cardsare now rare.

The airmail flight took place during the “The United ProvincesExhibition” (present day Uttar Pradesh) in Allahabad under the auspicesof Lieutenant Governor Sir John Prescott Hewett.

The United Provinces Exhibition was scheduled to open Decem-

ber 1, 1910, run for threemonths and close onTuesday, February 28,1911. Allahabad, the cap-ital of the province, wasagreed on as the site.

In January eachyear, the great Hindubathing festival of MaghMela was held on theeastern edge of the cityon the river banks wherethe two sacred rivers,the Ganges and theJamuna, met togetherwith the mythical river, the Saraswati. It was therefore anticipated thatmany pilgrims would visit this exhibition and maybe take away ideas forimprovements in both the cultivation of their fields and also for villageindustries which were then coming under threat from machine-madegoods.

The site selected for the exhibition was 120 acres of open land,partly used as a military farm, to the west of the fort on the wide plain onthe banks of the river and within sight of the confluence of the blue riverJamuna and the muddy-brown Ganges. The only buildings there werethe fort railway station and an old ordnance warehouse. A railway lineand sidings were built into the exhibition itself to facilitate transport ofexhibits and materials.

It was agreed upon early in the planning stage that an aviationmeeting should be part of the exhibition, largely with the aim of educat-ing people to this new development in transport. In 1910, Captain WalterGeorge Windham RN (later to be Commander Sir Walter Windham) wasinvited to bring some aeroplanes from England to take part in the Alla-habad events. Windham joined the Indian Marine in 1884, was a King'sMessenger and one of the most influential pioneers of aviation. Hefounded The Aeroplane Club in 1908, and in October 1909 took part inwhat was (arguably) the first aviation meeting in Britain in Doncaster.He also appeared in Bournemouth's meeting in 1910.

For the Allahabad aviation event, Captain Windham arranged totake six aeroplanes, flyers Henri Péquet and Edward Keith Davies, andmechanics, Billon (French) and Haffkin (English). The aeroplanes were


shipped to Bombay inlarge crates and sentby rail in specialtrucks to Allahabad.There were twobiplanes and fourmonoplanes, all ofwhich were madeunder license by theCoventry-based firm of Humber. The biplanes were similar to FrenchSommer planes. One of these was fitted with a light four-cylinder rotary50hp Gnome engine and the other with a Humber four-cylinder 50hpwater-cooled engine. Both biplanes gave splendid exhibition flights. Themonoplanes were based on French Blériot designs and had three-cylin-der 30hp air-cooled engines. Unfortunately, the monoplanes were not asuccess at Allahabad. Somewhat underpowered, they didn’t rise morethan 20 or 30 feet and matters were not improved by air pockets causedby the varying temperatures over the ground due to the flow of the twobig rivers there.

The aeroplanes were put on view in the "sheds" to the south ofthe grandstand. The admission charge was one rupee. Anyone so takenwith flying as to wish to buy an aeroplane could order one there at a costof £1,000 for a biplane or £500 for a monoplane.

The idea for airmail arose in quite an informal way. The Rev.W.E.S. Holland, Chaplain of the Holy Trinity Church in Allahabad, wasalso warden of a hostel for Indian students. He asked Captain Windhamif he could help raise funds for the new hostel, then under construction.It occurred to Windham (ever ready to boost the cause of aviation) thatthis could be done by arranging an aerial post. Another purpose of theflight could be to demonstrate the possibilities of an aerial service for abeleaguered town.

Windham approached the Postmaster-General of the UnitedProvinces, Mr. Geoffrey Rothe Clarke, and he (with the approval of theDirector-General of the Post Office in India) soon gave permission.Arrangements went ahead rapidly. Windham, although he was (as hereadily admits in his memoirs) a quite unofficial person, appointed thechaplain as postmaster of the mail.

People wishing to have items flown were asked to send themaddressed and stamped at the appropriate postage rate to the Chaplainof the Holy Trinity Church before February 16, 1911. The post office

would not, of course, sanction a charge over and above the normalpostage rate, but a nominal sum of six annas (or sixpence) was asked as adonation to the new church hostel buildings. If stamps were sent, eightannas was requested. Only letters or cards under one ounce in weightwere accepted. Special rates were available for those wishing to sendlarge consignments of mail, such as clubs and regiments.

A special postmark was also authorized. Windham drew an out-line representing a biplane in flight over the mountains of Asia. The diefor this was cast at the postal workshops at Aligarh. The Postmaster-General announced the die “will be destroyed on the day following thecarriage of the first aerial mail. This will ensure the unique character andvalue of the stamps, and those who take advantage of the present oppor-tunity will secure a monopoly of the stamps thus marked." (February 12,1911 issue of The Pioneer Mail). The postmark, 4 cm in diameter, wasapplied in a magenta on public mail or in black on “privileged mail,”which is rare.

In addition, and on short notice, the committee responsible forthe event announced in The Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News on Feb-ruary 17 that special postcards would be available bearing a picture ofthe biplane in which the mail was to be carried. The black-and-whiteprinted photograph shows the Humber biplane with Péquet at the con-trols. The size of this is 141 x 92 mm. The cutting of the cards was notconsistent but is in the region of 160 x 120 mm. These were duly auto-graphed in advance by the pilot and sold at a price of one rupee each,again for the benefit of the hostel. Since the cost was very high for theaverage Indian and only short notice was given, only 40 to 50 cards wereflown. These cards are now a prized possession for any collector of Indi-

SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 363PAGE 362 AIRPOST JOURNAL

Drawing of a Humber Sommer biplane

Left is the rare cachet in black used for “privileged” mail.Right is the colored cachet used for all other mail.

an airmail.The mail flight was scheduled for February 20, 1911 at 4 p.m. but

was actually made on February 18, 1911, two days earlier than planned.Thousands of Indian citizens viewed Pequet's take off, as did UnitedProvinces Governor Sir John Hewett and Lady Hewett. At least one mil-lion Indian visitors were in Allahabad at that time to observe the reli-gious festival of Purna Kumbh, the occasion for the washing away of sinsin the sacred water of the Ganges River held only once in 12 years. Indi-ans were greatly drawn to aviation happenings because of a legend, verymuch alive in their cultural tradition, which emanated from the sacred

Vedas: the final days of the earth's existence were supposed to occur onethousand years after a man flies down to earth.

Henri Pequet, flying the Humber biplane, took off around 5 p.m.

from the aviation ground, circled around twice and then flew across theriver Yamuna to Naini Junction. The history-making flight carriedapproximately 6,500 letters and cards on the first official airmail flight.The flight itself, for reasons of safety and convenience, was limited toabout five miles. Pequet landed near the jail in the Naini junction, a sitewhich was cleared by the convicts from the central jail, enabling theplane to land and take off safely.

When Pequet landed, there was no crowd to greet him, a great


Rare UP Exhibition Camp cachet. An articlein the May 1941 issue of India’s Stamp Journalstates this cachet “is extremely rare and we havenot seen more than half a dozen examples of thispostmark which leads us to believe that it must havebeen used extremely sparingly.”

Type 1: FIRST “AERIAL POST,” FEBRUARY 18, ‘11. This is anextremely rare usage tied with UP EXHIBITION CAMP cachet. Itseems the cachet was prepared for the February 19 flight that tookplace February 18.

Type 2” FIRST “AERIAL POST,” ALLAHABAD, FEBRUARY 18,1911. Tied with rare usage of both magenta and black cachets.

contrast to his departure from Allahabad. He handed over the mail bagto the only post office official present and returned to Allahabad. Theentire trip lasted about 30 minutes. The mail was forwarded by surfaceto destinations all over the world.

The first official British airmail flight took off on September 9,

1911, at 4:58 p.m. Organized and paid for by the British government, thisflight was part of the celebration recognizing the coronation of KingGeorge V. Pilot Gustav Hamel flew a 50-horsepower (37-kilowatt) Blériotmonoplane from London’s Hendon Aerodrome 20 miles (32 kilometers)to Windsor Castle, carrying 23.5 pounds (10.6 kilograms) of mail. Duringthe next two weeks, until September 26, 1911, two other pilots flew 19more flights between the same airfields in a Farman II airplane. Theseflights are recognized as the first scheduled airmail service in the world.The person behind the pioneer service in both India and England wasCaptain Walter Windham.

This was the beginning of airmail. The news spread rapidly andexperiments began in several countries. Part 2 will focus on three rareflights associated with Indian airmails. These flights laid the groundworkfor the Indian airmails to grow and established India as the crucial pointconnecting West to the most distant corners of East.

References1. The World’s First Official Post by Aeroplane: Allahabad, Indian Sat-

urday 18th February 1911 by Ken Harman2. Indian Airmails, 1995, by Jeffrey Brown3. Indian Airmails Development & Operations 1911-1942, 2002, by

Pradip Jain— To Be Continued —


First Aerial Post black cachet on picture postcard, a rareexample of privileged mail.

UP Exhibition Camp registration handstamp with magentacachet.

Airpost JournalProcedures and Deadline

DeadlineDeadline for the receipt of articles, letters, advertising and news is

the first of the month preceding the month of publication. For example, weneed everything for the November issue by October 1, everything for theDecember issue by November 1, everything for the January issue by Decem-ber 1 and so on.

The preferred method of receiving copy is via an email attachment.Please send as an MS Word document. We also welcome compact disks(CDs). Hard copy is acceptable but it must be rekeyed so we prefer electron-ic transmission.

The Winds of War:An Unusual Aerophilatelic Saga

Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski and Jacek Kosmala

September 1, 2014 marks 75 years since Nazi Germany invadedPoland, the event that triggered the Second World War, the deadliestmilitary conflict in the human history. Shortly before, on June 15, 1939,the national Polish Airlines LOT (PLL LOT), one of the most rapidlygrowing European air carriers, celebrated its 10th anniversary. It’s exclu-sively serviced, multi–segment “Levantine” line between Helsinki (Fin-land) and Beyrouth (Lebanon) was the longest in Europe. Moreover, alarge portion of mail from Western Europe to the Middle and Far Eastwas now passing through the Polish postal system.

We have reported in The Airpost Journal on the development ofdomestic and international airmail services by LOT in 1929 - 1939 (1, 2).

Here, we present a quite fascinating story behind two letters, flown fromBritish Palestine to Germany-invaded Poland by the last regular LOTservice of 1939, on the very day World War II started.

The first item, shown in Figure 1, with intact content written inPolish and Yiddish, was posted at Haifa on Wednesday, August 30 at 8p.m. It is addressed to Lwów (present-day Lviv, Western Ukraine), thenthe third biggest city in Poland with 318,000 inhabitants, one-third of itspopulation being Jewish. The cover is correctly franked at 20 mils (air-mail rate for a 20-gram letter to Poland, effective October 27, 1937), andbears a “By LOT Air Mail” airmail etiquette that attests to its transportby the Polish carrier.

A somewhat damaged second item (Figure 2) was also dis-patched from Haifa to Lwów on August 30 at 8 p.m., and franked with asingle 20 mils adhesive. Instead of an airmail etiquette, “LOT” in manu-script was applied.

In summer 1939, there were two weekly flights, Mondays andFridays, by LOT Airlines (Flight No. 1578) originating in Beyrouth viaLydda (southeast of Tel Aviv; present-day Ben Gurion International Air-port) and Athens to Warszawa. One may expect both covers left Pales-

PAGE 368 AIRPOST JOURNAL SPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 369

Figure 1

Figure 2

tine by the first scheduled flight to Poland, i.e., on Friday, September 1,1939. The major LOT competitors of the era, providing airmail servicesbetween Europe and British Palestine, were Dutch KLM and BritishImperial Airways. KLM had three weekly flights from Amsterdam viaLydda to Batavia, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; Imperial Air-ways flew on Sunday and Wednesday via Lydda, on its England – Indi-an subcontinent route.

There is an interesting “real-life” story behind these airmailitems, which the authors only recently discovered when confronted witha memoir published back in 1993 by the second pilot of that particularLOT flight (3). In his book, Captain Aleksander Onoszko recalls that,accompanied by Captain Karol Pustówka, he took off from Warszawa-Okęcie Airport on August 31, 1939, at 1 a.m., flying Douglas-DC2 aircrafton the regular route via Athens and Lydda to Beyrouth. The crew carrieda mail bag, delivered a day earlier by British Airways from London toWarszawa, to be handed over to the Lydda-based Imperial Airways rep-resentative. Thus, instead of using slower Sunderland flying-boats viaGibraltar and Cairo, the transit time for Royal Mail carried from Londonvia Warszawa (British Airways) and Lydda (LOT) to the Indian sub-con-tinent (Imperial Airways) was shortened by some 48 hours.

Captain Onoszko also recalls his departure from Lebanon onSeptember 1, 1939, when the news about war activities in his nativePoland was known. Records show that LOT Flight No. 1578 took offfrom Beyrouth at 7:40 a.m., and after a short stop-over in Lydda at 8:40a.m. to pick up mail (including “our” covers), it arrived in Athens at 1:15p.m. Greeted by the local LOT office manager and Polish militaryattaché, the crew was introduced to a mysterious group of 17 British offi-cers under the command of Colonel Collin Gubbins. They were to beflown on a secret mission to Poland. The pilot’s first impression of Eng-lishmen was as merry-looking bunch of civilians of different trades goingon safari, nothing to do with the military.

Anyhow, they all happily boarded the Polish aircraft and LOTFlight No. 1578 took off from Athens at 2:15 p.m. However, instead of theusual direct route to Warszawa, the plane diverted eastward towardsBucharest. This maneuver prevented flying in a full daylight over thePolish territory and allowed British officers to communicate with theirsuperiors on the ground in Bucharest.

After arriving in the Romanian city of Cernauti (present-dayChernivtsi, Western Ukraine), just across the Polish border, the Britswere greeted by their consul, who informed the group about heavy Ger-

man bombardment of southern Poland. Consequently, now dressed inmilitary uniforms, the officers changed their travel plans. Escorted byCaptain Onoszko, they hired five taxi cabs and arrived at the Śniatyńrailway station to catch a night train heading to Warszawa. Meantime,after an overnight stay at Cernauti, the LOT crew took off on September2, flew at low attitude over bombed Lwów airport at Skniłów and themilitary training facilities of the Polish Air Force Academy in Dęblin.They landed safely at the auxiliary military airfield near Grójec, some 50km from Warszawa.

However, the saga of “our” airmail carried by PLL LOT FlightNo. 1578, on the very day World War II erupted, does not end here. Thefirst cover received German “ZURÜCK” and Romanian “ZURÜCK-Post-pen” cachets (front), along with its English “RETURN TO →” equivalent(reverse), and a Haifa arrival postmark of November 12, 1939 (front). Thesecond cover shows German “ZURÜCK” in additon to “retour” and“traffic interrompu” cachets in French. It was censored (boxed “PalestineOpened and Passed by Censor” handstamp plus pink paper tape alongthe left edge) and marked with “UNDELIVERED FOR THE REASONSTATED ON THE COVER” cachet, along with a Haifa December 10,1939 receiving postmark. The „BY AIR MAIL” etiquette seen on the sec-


Figure 1, reverse

ond cover was attached at some later time point over the “retour” cachet. We believe both covers, along with many others carried by

Flight. No. 1578, arrived in Poland and must have been retained at theGrójec military airfield until captured by the German forces (otherwisethe covers would show Polish censorship interference). The letters werethen processed by the occupying postal authorities who endorsed them“ZURÜCK” for return to Palestine. The first one was dispatched viaRomania, a neutral country at the time, where another “ZURÜCK-Post-pen” marking was applied. The second cover was most likely carried viaRomania as well. Ultimately, back in Palestine, both received "RETURNTO" markings and Haifa arrival postmarks. Unlike the first item, the sec-ond was inspected by the censor, explaining the additional month intransit. Thus, it took 73 days and 101 days, respectively, for two lettersflown on September 1, 1939 by PLL LOT from the Middle East to Ger-many-invaded Poland, to reunite with their senders in Haifa, Palestine. Ittook 75 years for the covers to miraculously reunite on the very sameexhibition page of the Polish aerophilately collection in California.

Bibliography1. Kupiec-Weglinski JW, Kosmala J: “Development of Airmail Services inPoland (1929-1939). Part 1: LOT Polish Airlines Domestic and Interna-tional Routes.” Airpost Journal, 83(9); 357-67, 2012.

United States Airmail Stamps 1918: History and Analysis of First Dayof Sale Postal Use by Joe Kirker. Monograph, 52 pages 8½” x 11” papercover, saddle-stitch. Illustrated (mostly in color). Self-published. Price:$25 for one copy which includes priority mail shipping and $20 each foradditional. US only rates. Foreign orders $30 to cover shipping. Allcopies autographed by author. Order from Joe Kirker, 529 Parton Drive,Gatlinburg, TN 37738 or through email at [email protected]. Paypalaccepted at that email address.

Review by Jim GraueJoe Kirker is the acknowledged authority on the U.S. “Jenny” air-

mail stamps issued in 1918, the first three U.S. airmail issues. He hasearned this status by dedicating more than 40 years to the collection,study and analysis of these three stamps. Quite simply, he knows moreabout them – design, production, varieties and usage – than anyone else.

Joe has written many articles about the Jenny issues in numerouspublications over the years, but this is his first monograph. It is dedicat-ed solely to the history and analysis of first-day-of-use material, thegreater part gathered over the years from auction offerings and experti-zation records.

First-day-of-use is not the first-day-of-rate, or even necessarilythe first-day-of-issue, so there is more substance to this study that onemight first think. It turns out that there are more forged items than onemight suspect, and this study separates, in its careful and thoughtfulstudy and analysis of the examples recorded, the wheat from the chaff.

From the production standpoint, the choice of 14-point Arialboldface is substantial overkill for the text, apparently chosen to makethe full-width (6¼”) format arguably more readable. Illustrations areprofuse, varying in quality from fair (reproductions from old auction cat-alogs) to excellent (items in the author’s collection), all very well-placedand utilized.

This information cannot be found elsewhere. It is an importantpart of the story for these issues. Joe is to be complimented for sharingthis trove. Anyone with an interest in the Jenny airmail issues will bedelighted.


Figure 2, reverse

APJ Book Review

AIRPOST JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 375

Canada’s First Airmail ServiceVictoria to Seattle

Canada’s first regular air mail service was actually part of U.S.Foreign Contract Air Mail Route No. 2, which operated between Seattleand Victoria from October 15, 1920 until 1937. This was also the first reg-ular international air mail service from the United States.

The main aim of the service was to carry mail to and from thesteamships between Seattle and Japan, when they stopped at Victoria.Flights from Seattle carried late mail for the Orient, which would other-wise be held for a sailing the following week.

Mail from the Orient to the U.S.A. was unloaded in Victoria andflown to Seattle. This was very useful to merchants in Seattle, as beforethe air mail they didn’t know what goods had been sent to them on aship before the ship arrived in port. Flights from Victoria carried invoicesand documents forinbound cargoes soadvance preparationscould be made beforethe arrival of the ship inSeattle.

At this timethere was intense com-petition between SanFrancisco, Seattle andVancouver for trade toand from the Orient,(particularly the highvalue silk trade), soanything that helpedspeed up the handlingof cargo was veryimportant.

The mail flightsalso carried mail fordestinations beyond Seattle. The flights often arrived in time for mail tobe put on evening trains from Seattle to eastern states, thereby gaining 24hours in delivery time.

In the early years of the service, mail from Seattle to Victoria,and from Victoria to Seattle, was carried on the flights without an addi-tional charge for the air mail service.

There were up to 10 round-trips a month at first, and a largeamount of mail was carried. In the first eight and a half months of theservice, some 927,000 letters were carried.[1] The frequency was laterincreased to 12 trips per month.

However, covers from FAM 2 are very scarce, as the letters car-ried did not require special instructions or additional franking and werenot normally given a special cancellation.

Figure 1 is a First Flight Cover from Victoria to Seattle flown onOctober 15, 1920. The route followed is shown on Figure 2.

Figure 3 shows a later cover from Seattle to Victoria, with aSEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 377PAGE 376 AIRPOST JOURNAL

Canadian Air Mail Notes

Chris Hargreaves

Figure 1Endorsed Per First International Canada US Airpost. Post-

marked VICTORIA OCT 15 1920. Handstamp AIRPLANE SERVICE. Nobackstamp.

Figure 2Map from Jim Brown’s Hubbard - The For-

gotten Boeing Aviator. Eddie Hubbard flewmost of the FAM 2 flights from 1920 to 1927.

boxed SEATTLE VICTORIA SEAPLANE MAIL handstamp. The Ameri-can Air Mail Catalogue (Sixth Edition) describes this handstamp as Mark-ing believed originally applied by Seattle post office to top cover of packets asrouting instruction. Later applied to some mail as cachet” (Vol.3, p.20).

Figure 4 shows a cover from Victoria to Seattle, with a circularcancellation VIA SEA PLANE VICTORIA,B.C., TO SEATTLE,WASH.

According to Jim Brown, “A member of my stamp club, who has passedaway, worked at the Victoria main post office and used the handstamps.The first was, AIRPLANE SERVICE, which was placed across thepostage. I am not certain how long this stamp was used. Then the roundhandstamp came into being.” [2]

Covers with this circular handstamp are more common thanthose with the boxed Seattle-Victoria handstamp, but they are usuallyfrom 1925 and are almost always addressed to A.C. Roessler or his pseu-donym A.C. Roe.

However, while the SEATTLE - VICTORIA and VICTORIASEATTLE handstamps are legitimate, some of the covers with thosehandstamps are not!

Figure 5 shows a cover from Victoria to Seattle in 1925 with a“1st Trip” handstamp. But the first flight was made in 1920. So what wasthe first trip?

According to some editions of the American Air Mail Catalogue,these covers mark the “Resumption of Seaplane Service Victoria to Seat-tle.” But research by Ralph Valles and Jim Brown has established that theFAM 2 Service was not interrupted!

It seems that Roessler heard of a plane crash in Seattle on July 26,1925, and assumed it was a FAM 2 mail flight. He had some covers flownfrom Seattle to Victoria, endorsing them “By S.S. Pres McKinley,” so hecould present them as interrupted flight covers. (See Figure 6.) Then, heSEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 379PAGE 378 AIRPOST JOURNAL

Figure 3Postmarked SEATTLE 11.30AM FEB 3 1926. Backstamped

VICTORIA 3 PM FEB 3 1926.

Figure 4Postmarked VICTORIA 1.30PM NOV 2 1925. No backstamp.

Figure 5Postmarked VICTORIA SEP 21 1925. No backstamp.

had some covers flown from Victoria to Seattle on September 21, 1925,added the “1st Trip” handstamp, and presented them as first flight cov-ers from the resumed service! [3]

These 1925 “1st Trip” covers have been controversial for manyyears:

• In 1931 Ian Morgan listed the 1920 Victoria - Seattle First Flight as#13 in his “Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Airmails.” The 1925 cov-ers were also listed, but as:

18. Victoria - Seattle. 21 September, 1925.First Flight was apparently made on this date and regular postal rates applied. Does anybody know anything about this one? Cachet illustrated was applied in purple. A first flight cachet appears on some covers in red. This was pri-

vately applied. All covers that I have seen were addressed to East Orange, N.J.

• Also in 1931, there was a note in the FAM 2 section of “The DworakSpecialized Catalog of U.S. and Canadian Air Mail Covers” after theOctober 1920 covers:

There appears to be some covers existing bearing a cachet read-ing: “1st trip’ and postmarked “Victoria B.C. Sept. 21, 1925.” According to the Superintendant of mails at Seattle, this was not a first flight nor was a special cachet used.” [p. 152]

• They were not listed in the Canadian section of the AAMC Secondedition (Vol.2, 1950).

• They were then listed in the Canadian section of the AAMC FourthEdition (1970):

35 1925, September 21, Resumption of Seaplane Service Vic-toria to Seattle.

In order to speed up service to and from Pacific steamers an air service between Victoria and Seattle was inaugurat-ed. Covers all bear a magenta cachet “First Trip,” and vio-let cachet “Victoria B.C. to Seattle, Wash. via Seaplane mail.” (Vol 3 - page 119.)

The 1920 Victoria - Seattle First Flight Covers were listed as #25 in theCanadian section.

The Fourth edition of AAMC also listed the “S.S. Pres. McKin-ley” covers, as part of the U.S. Souvenir Historical Flights section:

555 1925, July 26 - Attempted Resumption Seaplane Mail Ser-vice Seattle to Victoria, B.C.

For the purpose of speeding delivery of mail to Pacific steamers leaving Victoria, a seaplane attempted to resume service but crashed shortly after take-off and mail was forwarded by steamer. Covers have two blue-black cachets, contained in rectangles “Seattle - Victo-ria - Seaplane - mail” and “Seattle, Wash. - Seaplane mail - Victoria, B.C.” Covers are cancelled Seattle, Wash., July 26, 1925, 11A.M. with inscription in red “By S.S. Pres. McKinley,” and backstamped Victoria, July 26. (Vol 4 - page 57).

• “First Trip” covers were not listed in Holmes Specialized PhilatelicCatalogue of Canada and British North America (Eleventh Edition, 1968).

• The Fifth Edition of the AAMC (1980) had the same listings as theAAMC Fourth Edition (1970).

• In 1989, Ralph Valles wrote a series of articles on FAM 2 for the Air-post Journal. He examined the events of 1925, and stated that:

I examined the microfilm of the Seattle Daily Times newspaper for thewhole month of July 1925. After closely examining the film I found no crashesreported that involved Edward Hubbard or the Seattle - Victoria air mail. Onlytwo crashes were reported in the month of July 1925 - one on Monday July 27which involved a commercial hydroplane piloted by one Gerald Smith whichplunged from a height of 50 feet to the bottom of Green Lake in Seattle, and one


Figure 6Postmarked SEATTLE 10AM AUG 6 1925. Backstamped VICTO-

RIA 3 PM AUG 6 1925

on Tuesday, July 28 when L.C. Goldsmith, a commercial aviator, flying in aCurtiss plane developed engine trouble at 3,000 ft. above Lake Union. [4]

He also noted that he had seen four “Pres. McKinley” covers,but none of them matched the date of July 26, 1925, given in the listing.One was dated August 6, one August 19 and two August 26.

Valles summed up his research as follows: “I believe that theselistings are Roessler fantasy covers and should be dropped from the Cat-alogue.” [5]

• Jim Brown also did extensive research on the FAM 2 flights. Hewrote about it in the Airpost Journal and in his book Hubbard - The For-gotten Boeing Aviator. Like Ralph Valles, he studied newspapers from1925 and concluded that the July 26 crash never happened. [6] He alsoestablished from “The Times Shipping Chart” that:

the President McKinley left Victoria on July 26, 1925 for the Orient, returning September 14. It was impossible for it to have carried mail from Seattle to Victoria in August 1925. [7]

• The listing of the September 21, 1925 “First Trip” covers was carriedover from the AAMC Fifth Edition to The Air Mails of Canada and New-foundland. (PF-29, page 31.) However, while AMCN was published in1997, many sections were prepared around 1990.

• In the latest, 6th Edition of AAMC, (2004), there is no mention of thePresident McKinley covers in the section on Interrupted Flight Covers,(Vol.1, p. 139).

• In Volume 3 of the 6th Edition AAMC, there is a note in the FAM-2section that:

There was no interruption of service on FAM-2 in 1925. Therefore, it is recommended that 1925 FAM-2 covers, characterized as a “first trip” or “resumption” mail by dubious markings and/or dubi-ous representations, be viewed with suspicion, examined very carefully and rejected as records of airpost history. Collectors are, of course, free to collect whatever they want, and some choose to include bogus material in their collections. This is not objectionable, as long as it is correctly described.[8]

FAM-2 service ended on June 30, 1937, when the post office con-tract for 1936-37 expired. It was one of nine FAM routes a Special Gov-ernment Investigations Committee found to be unnecessary. [9]

More than 80,000 pounds of FAM-2 mail was carried during the1934 fiscal year, more than in 1925 (49,927 pounds) or 1929 (52,042pounds). However, the committee noted that: “Approximately 82% of

the cost of mail transportation on this route was for incoming mails, forwhich no additional revenue accrues to the United States Post OfficeDepartment for this special service.” [10]

Although mail volume had increased, the need for FAM-2decreased as the trans-Pacific airmail service from San Francisco to thePhilippines was inaugurated in 1935 and extended to Hong Kong in1937.

The once high-profile and lucrative silk trade through Seattlealso diminished by 1937. Not only had the price of silk fallen during theDepression, but silk was increasingly being shipped directly to NewYork via the Panama Canal. In 1929, West Coast ports received 90% ofthe trans-Pacific silk trade. By 1939, 90% of the silk was shipped directlyto New York. [11]

References[1] The Dworak Specialized Catalog of U.S. and Canadian Air Mail

Covers, 1931. Page 152.[2] Correspondence between Jim Brown and Ed Matthews,

reported in The Canadian Aerophilatelist, September 2001. Page 9.[3] Hubbard - The Forgotten Boeing Aviator by Jim Brown. Pages

106, 107.[4] “The History of the Seattle to Victoria Air Mail from 1919 to

1937, Part IV,” by Ralph Valles. The Airpost Journal, November 1989,page 512.

[5] Ralph Valles, The Airpost Journal, November 1989, page 511. [6] “FAM 2 Service Interruption Never Happened,” by Jim

Brown. The Airpost Journal, November 1993, page 462. [7] “No FAM 2 Crash on July 26, 1925," by Jim Brown. The Air-

post Journal, January 1994, page 17.[8] American Air Mail Catalogue, Sixth edition (2004). “Foreign

Contract Air Mail Routes” section, edited by Jonathan L. Johnson Jr.,George K. Sioras, William F. Turner.

[9] “The History of the Seattle to Victoria Air Mail from 1919 to1937, Part V,” by Ralph Valles. The Airpost Journal, February 1990, page58.

[10] Statistics from Valles: APJ November 1989 p. 511; February1990, pp. 56 and 58. Quotation from APJ February 1990 p. 58.

[11] Silk Trains by Bernard Weber, page 84. This book is a veryreadable account of the operation and economics of the silk trains.


AAMS Participates inRomanian Exhibition

Alexandru Dan Bartoc

AEROMFILA 2014 was held June 25 - 29 in Sibiu, Romania. Thisnational philatelic exhibition enjoyed international participation and wasthe 29th year of this all aero and astro exhibition. This show celebratedthe 120th anniversary of the birth of scientist Hermann Oberth (June 25,1894 in Sibiu) and the 60th anniversary of the founding of TAROM, theRomanian airline.

In attendance at the exhibition opening were: officials of the city;the first Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu; Mrs. Judith Urban,General Consul of Germany in Sibiu, and; Robert Adams, vice presidentof the aeronautical museum Hermann Oberth - Feucht (Germany).

The exhibition was held under the patronage of the AmericanAir Mail Society with the participation of 46 exhibits from the CzechRepublic, Romania, Slovakia, the United States and Hungary.

The international jury, consisting of Stephen Reinhard (USA),Bedrich Helm (Czech Republic), Gyorgy Lovei (Hungary), Alexandru

Dan Bartoc (Romania), Ioan Dejugan (Romania) and jury secretary Nico-lae Salade (Romania), handed out seven gold medals, four large vermeil,nine vermeil, 10 large silver, 11 silver and two silver-bronze. A pair oflarge silver and a silver were awarded to youth exhibits.

Of special note were the following gold-medal exhibits: • Alfredo Frohlich The Use of Scadta's Definitive Air Mail

(USA) Issue, 1929 - 1930• Robert Odenweller New Zealand 1898-1935 Airmail

(USA)• Daniel Timofei Bridging the Atlantic by Plane. Record

(Romania) Flights 1919 - 1939• Laszlo Fekete Air Mail Letters Circulated During the First

(Slovakia) World War• Vadim Alexandru Bartos Soviet International Manned Space Flight

(Romania)

The Airpost Journal received a gold medal in the literature class.We have noticed the quality of exhibits has improved in compar-

ison with other Aeromfila exhibitions. However, in general, theexhibitors need to show deeper research. They should also improve theexhibit plan and need to establish a balance in the exhibit.

Only nine members of AAMS attended this exhibition but weare confident that more members will participate in future shows.

A catalog, two cacheted envelopes, postal stationery, a medal, adiploma and a palmares serve as reminders of this exhibition held in thelounges of Sibiu City Hall, a city that was the European Capital of Cul-ture in 2007.


U.S. Patriotic Jenny MailJoe Kirker

When the first airmail issue was released in May 1918, the Unit-ed States had already been directly involved in the Great War for over ayear (since April 1917). There would still be six more months of conflictuntil the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

The decrease in the airmail rate from 24 to 16 cents took place inJuly 1918, with hostilities in Europe escalating. The final rate change forthe Jenny issues, to 6 cents, would come about one month after thearmistice signing, on December 16.

Patriotism was very high during the United States involvementand occasionally those sentiments were attached to flown cards and cov-ers during that period, much to the delight of stamp and postal historycollectors, even when posted into 1919 and later.

The most common patriotic endorsement is the rubber hand-stamp reading

SEND A LETTER BY AIRPLANE,ESPECIALLY TO ONE "OVER THERE",

IT WILL BE A REAL TREAT.Although no examples of this three-line handstamp have been noted onthe May 15 inaugural flights, they do occur on numerous examples of

flown mail from Washington, New York (Figure 1) and Philadelphiafrom mid-June 1918 through early 1919. There was no airmail serviceacross the "pond" to war-torn Europe and perhaps the individual whocreated this patriotic message was inspired by George M. Cohan's inspi-rational song Over There, which became a national rally cry.

Financing the war effort quickly became a national priority withLiberty Loans, war saving stamps, thrift stamps, rationing programs, anddonation drives such as the Treasure and Trinket Fund.

There are patriotic labels attached to the inaugural May 15 flightcovers, all being used on covers bearing the well-known blue and pinketiquettes and with the 24-cent rate paid with regular issue stamps.

Of the three examples in the my collection, all have the writtenstatement that they were prepared by John Wanamaker, who was thepast Postmaster General of the United States. No other copies of this


Figure 1Overpayment of the 16-cent rate, flown New York to Wash-

ington with patriotic handstamp.

Figure 2May 15, 1918 first flight with pink

and blue etiquettes on front. These are notattributed to John Wanamaker. The “Humblethe Hun” label appears on the reverse of thecover.

"Humble the Hun" label have been noted, whether on flown covers orsurface mail. It is not believed that Mr. Wanamaker was responsible forproducing the etiquettes on the front, which have been discussed in sev-eral past APJ articles (Figure 2).

The 25-cent Thrift stamp (Scott WS1) was not applied to the C2cover in Figure 3 as postage. Even though addressed to the AEF in

France, the 16 cents airmail postage was sufficient. The sender, GeorgeBeans, no doubt simply added the war stamp as donation to the fund, asit would never see redemption towards a war bond.

No doubt many different labels and stickers were made for sup-porting the war effort, and several different ones have been collected on1918 Jenny covers (Figure 4).

Liberty loans were a national endeavor and would eventuallyraise more than 15 billion dollars, much of which was inspired by ralliesheaded by the beloved actors of the era. Al Jolson, Mary Pickford, Dou-glas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin were major promoters for the bonds.

The Third Liberty Loan began in April 1918, followed by theFourth Liberty Loan in September (Figure 5). Even after the armisticethere was much to be done to heal the wounds and return to normalcy.Carrying mail by airplane, as well as the entire aviation industry, wasflourishing. Trained pilots and aircraft were available to expand theflown delivery of mail and cargo as the "Roaring ‘20s" approached. Air-mail service had become a worldwide phenomenon. SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 389PAGE 388 AIRPOST JOURNAL

Figure 3Proper 16-cent airmail rate to AEF address plus patriotic label

and “gift” thrift stamp.

Figure 4Post-armistice use of the second Jenny issue with patriotic label.

Figure 5Posted in France on

November 11, 1918, the dayof the armistice. 4th LibertyLoan label added on reverse.

Why I Bought ItSamuel J. Pezzillo

My collecting interest is Atlantic airmail during World War IIand especially the ItalianSouth Atlantic Line,LATI. Secondary inter-ests in that area are thevarious mailing schemesbrought on by the exi-gencies of war: schemesto circumvent censorshipor confiscation; to getaround prohibition onmailings between bel-ligerents, or; secretivedevices to disguise vari-ous aspects of the mail-ing. I also like covers

that reflect the human dimensions of the war, typically reflected in themailer or recipient. This cover (and another similar one offered by thesame seller on eBay) is such a cover and ranges over a number of myinterests.

It is a large cover, an element which initially attracted my atten-tion. Posted in Italy, it was destined for the U.S. via the North AtlanticClipper route. The censors at Bermuda caught it, held it and finallyreleased it after the war. It was such seizures that prompted the Italiansto route all mail destined for North America via the LATI line to SouthAmerica; previously this was an optional route which the British coun-tered by setting up a censorship station in Trinidad, prompting a routingin response via Buenos Aires, across South America and up the Pacificcoast.

Now, the fact that it was held by the censors and released afterthe war might have been enough reason to buy it; but I have a number ofsuch items in my collection. So why add another? I am often puzzled bythe reasons for confiscations. For smaller envelopes that suggest a merelypersonal correspondence I usually imagine that the contents revealedsome tidbit of strategic information the censor wanted to interdict. Larg-er envelopes are typically business mailings and might well containvaluable information of a commercial nature or the makings of a finan-cial transaction the British then wanted to disrupt

I was also intrigued by the name of the addressee: Eli WhitneyDebevoise, Esq. This is an iconic American inventor’s name coupled witha French last name. A quick Google search told me that he was a descen-dant of the inventor (his great-great-grandson) and an attorney whoestablished a prominent legal firm in New York. He was later DeputyHigh Commissioner for Germany and general counsel to the AlliedCommission that administered Germany’s affairs after World War II. Itturns out that 20 Exchange Place is the location of the City Bank – Farm-ers’ Trust Building, forerunners of Citigroup. That is interesting andintriguing enough, but it turns out the sender is equally interesting.

The Marchese Lippo Gerini is from a prominent Florentine noblefamily with a rich past and an even “richer” present. The Gerini familyfortune, estimated in excess of 600 million euro, continues to be involvedin a complex legal dispute in Italy. But for our purposes, the sender andrecipient in 1940 seem likely to have been involved in some commercialor financial transaction, possibly the transmittal of a letter of credit toallow a transfer of funds for safe keeping for the duration of the war.

My letter was mailed from a post office in the Piazza Rucellai,SEPTEMBER 2014 PAGE 391PAGE 390 AIRPOST JOURNAL

Reverse of cover above, postmarkedFlorence 6.12.10 (December 6, 1940)

named for the adjacentPalazzo of the Rucellai,prominent bankers sincethe Renaissance. The postoffice there is nowdefunct and an upscalestore occupies the loggiawhere it once stood. Atany rate, it is a bit of awalk from the Via Ricasoli where the Gerini Palace stood, adding to theidea that, following the execution of some financial document, Lippomailed it from the first convenient post office.

Enter a second letter which I bid on but was a little less interest-ed in acquiring although, in retrospect, I have a bit of non-buyer’sremorse. It is another large envelope to the same addressee and sameaddress. It was probably a bit too large for the seller’s scanner so themailer’s name and address do not appear, curiously likely at the top ofthe front of the envelope rather than the reverse. That would follow thepattern of the Marchese’s letter although the handwriting is different asis the spelling of Whitney as Whitnei, a phonetic equivalent in Italian,and the writer’s use of S.U.d’A (Stati Uniti d’America) instead of U.S.A.

What this cover adds to the intrigue of “why was it held by thecensors?” is that it was posted at the Casa del Fascio, the “House of Fas-cism,” one of many such structures built around Italy in that era serving

political or governmental functions. A mailing from such a place mightwell contain materials the British would want to intercept although sinceit is to the same U.S.A. address that still suggests an item of commercialvalue.

So that’s why I bought my cover despite the fact that it is inrather poor condition, something one might expect for such a large pieceeven though it is a fabric-reinforced envelope. It should be noted, ironi-cally, that it was mailed just days before the mandatory reroutingthrough South America was to take place. Had he waited a week, theMarchese might have gotten his “letter” through. The cover provides meadditional opportunities for research.

It is items like this that keep me looking and collecting.


Future AAMS Meeting SitesAEROPHILATELY 2014Bellefonte, PennsylvaniaSeptember 12-14, 2014

NAPEXMcLean, VirginiaJune 5-7, 2015

CHICAGOPEXItasca, Illinois

November 19-21, 2016

Philatelic ShowBoxborough, Massachusetts

May 5 - 7, 2017

St. Lous Stamp ExpoSt. Louis, Missouri

March 30 - April 1, 2018

August 2014Submitted by Membership Secretary Sergio Lugo

Reinstatements12262 Robert Gibson (New number, cannot locate former number)11814 Priscilla Gubi12263 Jesse Langman (New number, cannot locate former number)10878 Paul P. Leo

DeceasedCol. Henry W. HartsfieldJohn T. HollenkampMichael H. Johnson

Resigned09617 Gregory Leugers07756 Shinichi Toriumi

Lapsed12230 Michael Bloch09873 L. Steve Edmundson11235 Gerald T. Frazier11655 Neil S. Goldstein12186 George Hain11922 Ed Jackson09691 Carl P. Kimmich11772 Frederick C. Levantrosser11310 Bob Rosenbaum12045 James P. Yex11847 Stan Zimmerman

— Summary —Total Membership —July 1, 2014 .............................................................925New Members................................................................................................ 2Reinstatements ............................................................................................... 4Deceased ........................................................................................................ -3Lapsed.......................................................................................................... -11Total Membership — August 1, 2014 ...................................................917


AmericanAir Mail Society

Dedicated to the research, study, documentation andpreservation of aerophilately worldwide through education,

study, research and services.Organized in 1923, Incorporated in 1944 as a non-profit corporation of

the state of OhioIRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization APS affiliate #77

PRESIDENT: Jim Graue, 11911 East Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036([email protected])

VICE PRESIDENT: David E. Crotty, Ph.D., PO Box 16115, Ludlow KY 41016-0115 ([email protected] )

SECRETARY: Dr. Robert Dille, 335 Merkle Drive, Norman OK 73069-6429 ([email protected])

TREASURER: Stephen Reinhard, P.O. Box 110, Mineola NY 11501 ([email protected])

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Mark Banchik, P.O. Box 2125, Great Neck NY 11022 ([email protected])

DIRECTORS AT LARGE:Kent Kobersteen Steve TuckerDavid Ball Pat Walters

ADVISORY EXECUTIVE BOARD (Past Presidents):Cheryl Ganz Jonathan L. Johnson, Jr. Stephen ReinhardA.D. Jones Kendall C. Sanford Allen KleinDerrick Pillage Greg Schmidt Mark Banchik

Samuel J. Pezzillo Andrew McFarlane

LEGAL COUNSEL:Robert J. Horn, Jackson Lewis LLP, 10701 Parkridge Blvd., Suite

300, Reston VA 20191

Application for MembershipApplicant to provide two references, philatelic preferred.

AAMS Membership Report

AIRPOST JOURNAL

APJ ADS AAMS EXCHANGE DEPARTMENTBUY — SELL — WANT LIST

All members, including Life Mem-bers, are entitled to two free 25-word“Wanted and Exchange” or “ForSale” notices per year in the APJ Adssection of the Journal.

RATESTWENTY CENTS PER WORD.

Minimum $5 per insertion.Remittance must accompany orderand copy. The Airpost Journal, 11911E. Connor Road, Valleyford WA99036. Ads can also be emailed [email protected].

Ads must be received by firstof the month preceding publicationdate.

FOR SALE

FOR SALE? For trade? Looking forsomething? Want to add somethingspecial to your collection? Use theAPJ classifieds. AAMS members gettwo free ads per year. Write yourstoday and send it to the editor at theaddress above.WANTED and EXCHANGE

BUYING 1918 C-3 die proof; any C-3 Essays. Also, PF certified firstprinting top row C-3 stamps orblocks. Name your price! Don DavidPrice, [email protected] 941-355-3339. 5/15

Address ChangesRequested

When relocating, please provide as muchnotice as possible in order to keep your

Airpost Journalcoming in a timely manner.

Send all address changes or corrections toMembership Secretary Sergio J. Lugo, 1190S. Grape St., Denver CO 80246-3229 or email

[email protected]

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