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On July 4, 1953, Eastern Airlines celebrated two anniversaries at the Weir Cook Airport in Indianapolis. First was the 50th anniversary of powered flight by Orville and Wilber Wright. In addition, Eastern celebrated the 25th anniversary of the founding of its predecessor company%u2014Pitcairn Aviation.As part of the festivities, Lieutenant Governor Harold W. Handley welcomed a traveling air show to the airport. Indianapolis was the 12th major city in the nation visited by the troupe so far, and there were reportedly 30 more cities on its agenda. The show%u2019s highlight was a re-enactment of the first flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. However, a vintage 1910 Curtiss Pusher plane stood in for a Wright model. It was piloted by Captain Bill Boon.There were an estimated 50,000 aviation enthusiasts were on hand to see spine-tingling power dives and aerial stunts, hear a sonic boom as a jet broke the sound barrier, and view displays of picturesque antique airplanes. There was also a beauty contest with each lady dressed in the costume of a different aviation era.To further mark the occasion, Indianapolis Postmaster George J. Reiss opened the Weir Cook Postal Station for collectors to purchase commemorative covers. He had on hand plenty of the new 6-cent airmail stamps that had been released on May 29. Each featured the words %u201c50thAnniversary of Powered Flight%u201d with images of the Wright Flyer and a modern plane. Postal employees used a special rubber stamp to apply a cachet to each envelope. After the covers were stamped and cancelled, they were then loaded aboard an airplane on the %u201cshortest air-mail flight%u201d out of Indianapolis%u2014on the very plane that Eastern flew 25 years earlier on its inaugural flight along the eastern seaboard. It left at the ground at 3 pm, circled the airport, then landed so the mail could be distributed through regular channels, both locally and cross-country.Eastern Airlines postcard featuring a Silver Falcon (Martin 4-0-4), which it flew between 1952 and 1962.
