Page 17 - Demo

Gary, along with Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting, were first connected to Chicago with regular Air Mail service on November 21, 1949%u2014by helicopter. About 2%u00bd years later, on June 5, 1952, the city honored that first flight with an Air Mail Day celebration. The festivities included a luncheon at Gary%u2019s Marshall House, which was attended by a crowd of 300 dignitaries. Included were mayors, numerous civic leaders, newspaper reporters, as well as representatives of 14 different airlines, including the helicopter service. Also present were postal officials from nearby cities, as well as from Chicago and Washington, D.C.It was pointed out that the Post Office was the %u201clargest, most dependable public utility%u201d%u2014and it only cost an additional 4%u00a2 to send a letter by air, making it a %u201cfast service at low cost.%u201d Robert Hangstead, a local helicopter pilot, showed off a scale-model of a helicopter capable of carrying both mail and 20 passengers. Proudly, he noted that the Post Office uses the %u201cmost modern facilities.%u201dEdward P. Freeman, the assistant general superintendent of the postal transportation service, told the assembled crowd that the helicopter service operated 3 flights a day%u2014morning, noon, and night. The area%u2019s earliest pickup was at 6:30 am (in Hammond) while the last was at 7:04 pm, (also at Hammond). Stops were made at Gary at 6:42 am, 11:17 am, and 6:58 pm. All of the region%u2019s Air Mail was transported to and from Chicago%u2019s Midway Airport, where it was rapidly distributed to the rest of the country. The four Indiana cities were connected with Chicago by one route, and there were two other all-Illinois routes. According to Freeman, they made connections with 600 Air Mail flights daily, which meant %u201ca flight every 2%u00bd minutes%u201d.Specially provided cachets for the day were affixed at Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting, along with the Illinois cities of Lansing and Calumet City, which were on the same route.Air Mail Day, Gary, June 5, 1952. Backstamp, Chicago, June 5, 1952. Addressee, Perham C. Nahl, was Editor-in-Chief of several volumes of the American Air Mail Catalog, 5th edition.