Page 3 - Demo

For 57 years%u2014between 1918 and 1975%u2014the United States Post Office offered its customers a choice of mailing a letter in the U.S. by either Surface Rate, or Air Mail. Even though Air Mail cost more, this option assured customers that their letters would arrive at their destinations sooner%u2014and would have a special aura. At its beginning, the service was available only between a few select cities, but eventually it expanded to include the entire country. When International Air Mail began in 1920, it also had limited availability, then grew exponentially. While it lasted into 21st century, the Post Office quit calling it Air Mail in 1995.The JupiterWhile Air Mail officially began in 1918, it had actually been around for years in various experimental forms. Interestingly, the very first mail to be transported by air was way back in 1859, when John Wise took off in his balloon Jupiter from downtown Lafayette, Indiana carrying a pouch filled with 123 letters and some circulars. He planned to carry it all the way to New York, but made it only as far as Crawfordsville, a mere 30 miles away. Though far short of Wise%u2019s goal, it is considered the first Air Mail flight in the U.S., and a stamp commemorating the event was issued in 1959.Pioneer Air Mail FlightsDuring the short span between 1910 and 1916%u2014the U.S. Post Office Department sanctioned a total of 97 experimental flights to send mail by aeroplane. All were to demonstrate the feasibility of flying mail by fixed-wing aircraft. Not surprisingly, these brief demonstration flights occurred at aviation meets, exhibitions, circuses, and fairs, to impress as many onlookers as possible. To the American Air Mail Society, these are known as Pioneer Flights.The very first Pioneer Flight was scheduled for November 1910, with aviator Bud Mars as the pilot of a Curtiss biplane. He was to fly to Governors Island in New York Harbor from a special platform built on the S.S. Pennsylvania, which was moored off the coast of Long Island. Mail was prepared and collected for the attempt, but because of equipment problems, no flight ever took place. Sponsored by the New York Times, the last Pioneer Flight was scheduled to take off sometime between October 7 and November 1, 1916. It was to follow a 900-mile route from Chicago to New York City, but pilot Victor Carlstrom was unable to depart until November 2. Then after taking off, he was forced down along the way due to darkness, and didn%u2019t arrive in New York until November 3. Cancelled or delayed flights caused by various snafus were fairly common in those days.Mail in the U.S. has also been flown experimentally in other balloons besides the Jupiter, gliders, and rockets.Regular Air Mail ServiceWith the country focused on the Great War, there were no experimental Air Mail flights The Evolution of Air Mail in the United StatesThe Balloon Jupiter on the Square in Lafayette, Indiana on August 16, 1859. The takeoff was delayed until August 17.