EnglishAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)KyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScottish GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu
The National Postal Museum is home to hundreds of photographs documenting U.S. airmail history. Many of these photographs are on view throughout this website. The photographic archives includes images of pilots, airplanes, events, and related airmail materials.
Below are just a few examples of items held by the museum.
Airmail pilots Fleet and Boyle look over the map of the first regularly scheduled airmail service from Washington, D.C. to New York City.
Mechanics checking out the airplane and loading the mail on May 15, 1918 in Washington, D.C.
Army pilot Torrey Webb atop his crashed mail airplane, #39366, a JN-4H Jenny.
Photograph of army airmail pilot Edward Killgore addressed to his boss, Benjamin B. Lipsner, Superintendent of the Aerial Mail Service. Killgore's note to Lipsner, "From yours in the bog."
Airmail pilot Max Miller was the first pilot hired in the postal service's Aerial Mail Service program.
A twin engine de Havilland airplane being serviced during a snowstorm.
Airmail pilot William "Wild Bill" Hopson in his winter weather flying suit.
E. C. Hubbard (l) standing with William Boeing (r). Hubbard worked as a contract for Boeing shortly after he left the airmail service in January 1919. On March 3, 1919, the pair carried the first U.S. international airmail. Their flight, in the Boeing Model C aircraft, was made between Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Seattle, Washington in the United States.
Learn more:
» Photographic Archives
