Today’s #stamoftheday honors the first airmail delivery in the U.S., which was not delayed but did have a mishap and, truth be told, covered a grand total of six miles.
The flight occurred on September 23, 1911 when Earle “Ovie” Ovington took 640 letters and 1,280 postcards by air from Garden City, NY to Mineola, NY. The stamp I’m using to mark this milestone is the country’s first airmail stamp: a 24-cent stamp, issued in 1918. The stamp, which covered the cost of mailing a one-ounce letter, was soon outdated because a few months after it was issued, the price of mailing an airmail letter dropped to 16 cents and then, a few months later, to 6 cents.
Born in 1879 in Chicago, Ovington went to MIT where his frequent electrical experiments earned him the nickname “Volts.” After graduating, he formed the Ovington Motor Company to bring European motorcycles to the U.S. In 1910, he saw planes in the air for the first time. Entranced, he went to flight school in France, where, after completing a grand total of eight flights, he earned his pilot’s license. In 1911, he returned to America with his own plane. He was the first person to fly in Connecticut and over Boston.
That summer, Ovington was among several pilots preparing for the International Aviation Meet hosted by the Aero Club of New York, an event that also intrigued Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock, who had long supported the idea of delivering mail by airplane. Working with the event’s planners, he arranged to have the nation’s first airmail deliveries made throughout the gathering. Hitchcock contacted several other pilots before Ovington was given the honor. Some turned it down for lack of pay. One accepted but had mechanical issues the day of the flight. So he turned to Ovington who agreed when he learned this would be the first airmail flight in the U.S.
As the event approached, the Post Office Department handed out fliers informing the public of the historic first flight, deployed mailboxes all around the grounds, and set up Aeroplane Station No.1. The day of the fight flight, postal officials collected the letters and postcards, applied postmarks, neatly stacked the mail and tied it in bundles. Ovington’s wife later recalled: “About three in the afternoon a hush fell over the field….Noiselessly the big crowd watched Ovie’s three French mechanics wheel out his Bleirot monoplane…A murmur went through the crowd. A small boy broke away from his mother, ran up to Ovie, and asked him for his autograph. Ovie gave it to him. The mechanics made a few last minute adjustments. Governor Woodruff said something to Ovie. Flash bulbs went off, and cameras clicked. The police held the roped crowd back. Now the sun, which a few minutes before had dropped behind one of the white, fleecy clouds, came out again in all of its glory. The stage was set, and Ovie took center of it. Putting on his goggles and his “crash” helmet, he climbed into the cockpit of the plane. Taking a last look at the crowd, he winked at the little boy, and waved goodbye to me.”
He took the mailbag but had no place to put it. So he balanced it on his knees during the six-mile flight. Unable to land the plane while holding the mailbag, he dropped the bag from the plane. When the bag hit the ground, it broke open, sending the mail all over the field. The letters were then retrieved and taken to the Mineola post office. Ovington returned to the Garden City airfield about 10 minutes after he had taken off. He continued to fly mail throughout the event, ultimately delivering a total of 43,247 letters.
A stamp collector himself, Ovington signed thousands of covers honoring his historic flight. He continued to fly until he died in 1936. In 1961, the Post Office Department planned to release a stamp marking the 50th anniversary of his historic flight. But when U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold died in a suspicious plane crash, postal officials asked Ovington’s widow if she’d mind if the stamp was delayed a year. She agreed, but that stamp was never issued. That has to be a metaphor for something. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is.
Be well, stay safe, fight for justice and work for peace.