Skip to main content
Smithsonian main website

Search

Donate

EnglishEnglish
EnglishEnglishAfrikaansAfrikaansAlbanianAlbanianAmharicAmharicArabicArabicArmenianArmenianAzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniBasqueBasqueBelarusianBelarusianBengaliBengaliBosnianBosnianBulgarianBulgarianCatalanCatalanCebuanoCebuanoChichewaChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCorsicanCroatianCroatianCzechCzechDanishDanishDutchDutchEsperantoEsperantoEstonianEstonianFilipinoFilipinoFinnishFinnishFrenchFrenchFrisianFrisianGalicianGalicianGeorgianGeorgianGermanGermanGreekGreekGujaratiGujaratiHaitian CreoleHaitian CreoleHausaHausaHawaiianHawaiianHebrewHebrewHindiHindiHmongHmongHungarianHungarianIcelandicIcelandicIgboIgboIndonesianIndonesianIrishIrishItalianItalianJapaneseJapaneseJavaneseJavaneseKannadaKannadaKazakhKazakhKhmerKhmerKoreanKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)Kurdish (Kurmanji)KyrgyzKyrgyzLaoLaoLatinLatinLatvianLatvianLithuanianLithuanianLuxembourgishLuxembourgishMacedonianMacedonianMalagasyMalagasyMalayMalayMalayalamMalayalamMalteseMalteseMaoriMaoriMarathiMarathiMongolianMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)Myanmar (Burmese)NepaliNepaliNorwegianNorwegianPashtoPashtoPersianPersianPolishPolishPortuguesePortuguesePunjabiPunjabiRomanianRomanianRussianRussianSamoanSamoanScottish GaelicScottish GaelicSerbianSerbianSesothoSesothoShonaShonaSindhiSindhiSinhalaSinhalaSlovakSlovakSlovenianSlovenianSomaliSomaliSpanishSpanishSudaneseSudaneseSwahiliSwahiliSwedishSwedishTajikTajikTamilTamilTeluguTeluguThaiThaiTurkishTurkishUkrainianUkrainianUrduUrduUzbekUzbekVietnameseVietnameseWelshWelshXhosaXhosaYiddishYiddishYorubaYorubaZuluZulu
Smithsonian sunburst Smithsonian National Postal Museum
  • Visit
    Visit
    • Info en Español
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Location and Directions
    • Calendar of Events
    • Public Programs
    • Floor Plan
    • Tours and Itineraries
    • Amenities
    • Accessibility
    Visit »

    Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

    Admission is always free!

    2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
    Washington, DC 20002

    The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

    street map of Postal museum

    Learn more
  • Exhibitions
    Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Virtual Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    The museum's Atrium
  • Learn
    Learn
    • For Researchers
    • For Educators
    • National History Day
    • Topical Reference Pages
    • Oral History
    • Research Articles
    • Stamp Collecting
    • Social Media
    • Activities
    Front windows showing stamp images at night
  • Collections
    Collections
    • Search the Collection
    • Collection History
    • Donating Objects
    • Object Loans
    • Collection Projects
    • Object Spotlight
    • Digital Asset Collections
    • Rights and Reproductions
    • Preservation
    People in front of log post office building
  • About
    About
    • About the Museum
    • About Us
    • FAQs
    • Support the Museum
    • Host an Event
    • National Postal Museum Gala
    • Philatelic Achievement Award
    • Press
    • Site Map
    Historic Lobby
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Collections
  • Search the Collection
  • Pilot Edward Gardner’s flight suit
Click to view social media share links

Pilot Edward Gardner’s flight suit

Object Details

Description
Pilot Eddie Gardner wore this leather flight suit during his stint as an airmail pilot. The suit was manufactured by A.G. Spaulding and Brothers, originally located in Chicago, Illinois. Flight suits were essential gear for the early airmail pilots. The airplanes used for the service had open cockpits, which left pilots exposed to frigid temperatures. This suit included a diagonal pocket compartment on the pilot’s left front breast that could be used to carry items which the pilot might want to access quickly while in flight.
Before becoming a pilot, Eddie Gardner worked as a chauffeur and mechanic in Chicago. He loved auto racing, and in 1910 he purchased a sporty National Motor Vehicle Company racing car from Benjamin Lipsner. By the time Lipsner had been named the first superintendent of the Post Office Department’s airmail service, Gardner had logged over 1,400 hours of flight time and was a senior flight instructor for the U.S. Army. Lipsner selected Gardner to be one of the first four airmail pilots in August 1918. Fellow pilots nicknamed Gardner "turkey bird" because his wobbly takeoffs resembled a turkey trying to fly. Gardner insisted on shortening the name to "turk bird."
Superintendent Lipsner commandeered Gardner’s flight suit for actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. to wear in a promotional stunt in 1918. Fairbanks wore this suit and an aviation helmet covered with airmail stamps to complete a promotional stunt of being 'mailed' from Washington, D.C., to New York City. The actor was promoting Liberty Bonds, and a New York City brokerage firm pledged to purchase one million dollars worth of bonds if the actor made the trip in less than five hours. Fairbanks arrived in less than five hours, and the pledge was fulfilled.
Occasionally, early airmail pilots needed more than a good flight suit to protect them from bad weather. On November 18, 1918, Gardner drew the wrath of Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger when he refused to carry the mail in bad fog. Praeger insisted that Gardner fly anyway. Against his better judgment, Gardner attempted a trip that afternoon, but the weather was impossible. After Gardner and Robert Shank, the only other pilot available at the time, refused to fly, Praeger fired them both. James C. Edgerton rehired the pair a few months later when he was named Praeger’s chief of flying, but the animosity between the two and Praeger remained. Gardner and Shank left the service in April 1919.
Gardner found work flying for Nebraska Aircraft of Lincoln, Nebraska. He promoted the company by flying at air shows across the country and into Mexico. In early May 1921 Eddie was flying his airplane in the aerobatics competition during the Holdrege, Nebraska, aviation tournament. During the conclusion of the performance, Gardner’s plane went into a tailspin from which it did not recover. The airplane crashed to the ground. Gardner was pulled out seriously injured, but still alive. He was carried to a hospital, where he died on May 6, 1921.
References:
National Archives and Reference Administration, record group 28
Bruns, James H. Turk Bird: The High-Flying Life and Times of Eddie Gardner, Washington, DC: National Postal Museum, 1998.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
1918-1919
Object number
1982.0157.523
Wearer
Eddie Gardner, American, 1888 - 1921
Type
Employee Gear
Medium
leather
Dimensions
Height x Width x Depth: 60 × 24 × 2 1/2 in. (152.4 × 60.96 × 6.35 cm)
Place
United States of America
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
On View
Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
Topic
The Gilded Age (1877-1920)
The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)
Postal Employees
Record ID
npm_1982.0157.523
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm81eefb0f3-b49b-4979-9576-4aae69377f6b
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

Learn more
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • e-News
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Flickr

Have you signed up for our monthly e-newsletter?

Owney, the Railway Mail Service Mascot

Back to Top