Cachet art proof for Flying Post Office demonstration flight
Object Details
- Description
- This is a proof for the October 1, 1946, American Airlines demonstration flight of the Flying Post Office. The art is labeled “DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT, FLYING POST OFFICE” above the sketch of an airplane in flight. Below the airplane are the words, “En route, Los Angeles, New York – Boston, U.S. AIR MAIL.” The American Airlines emblem is located below the nose of the airplane.
- The Post Office Department worked with both American Airlines and United Air Lines to test the feasibility of using clerks to process mail in airplanes while in flight. The American Airlines demonstration flight was from Los Angeles to Boston. Official cachets were used along the route, with different colors designated for each city. Los Angeles, New York, and Boston cachets were blue; Tucson, Memphis, and Washington, DC cachets were green; El Paso, Dallas, and Nashville cachets were purple. Ft. Worth’s cachet was magenta and Philadelphia’s black.
- Reference:
- American Air Mail Society, A Priced Catalogue and Reference Listing of the Airposts of the World, American Airmail Catalog, 6th edition. Mineola, New York, Volume 3, 2004.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- 1946
- Object number
- 2002.2027.24
- Type
- Art
- Medium
- paper; ink
- Dimensions
- 7.7 x 7.7 cm (3 1/16 x 3 1/16 in.)
- Place
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- The Cold War (1945-1990)
- Postal Administration
- Record ID
- npm_2002.2027.24
