BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 2A): Postmen of the Skies

DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 2A): Postmen of the Skies:

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Description of Pictures: Postmen of the Skies
May 1, 2018 – May 27, 2019
Level 1: Mail in America Galleries
May 15, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the world’s first regularly scheduled airmail service. President Wilson was on hand in Washington, DC to watch the historic take off. At first the service only operated between Washington, Philadelphia and New York. By 1920, airmail raced from New York to San Francisco. It was dangerous work. More than 30 pilots died doing their best to fly the mail. Americans recognized the bravery of these Postmen of the Skies, treating them as heroes. In 1927 the Post Office handed off the last of its routes to private contractors, paving the way for what became the nation’s commercial aviation system.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIPMPS_180501_005.JPG: Postmen of the Skies In 1918 the first regularly scheduled airmail service began operations. Planes carried mail between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. The nation greeted the new service with enthusiasm. Crowds surrounded airfields in all three cities, eager to watch history in action. The nation became more enamored with their postal pilots as the service grew. By September 8, 1920 mail was flying between New York and San Francisco. The Post Office operated the service until 1927, having begun in 1925 to turn over some routes to private airlines. The new airlines built their businesses on the postal routes, infrastructure and pilots. Over the next decade, airmail contracts financed the fledgling airlines, serving to help build the nation's commercial aviation industry.
2. SIPMPS_180501_007.JPG: From left to right: Pilots Jack Knight, Clarence Lange, Lawrence Garrison, "Wild" Bill Hopson and Andrew Dunphy, head of the Omaha-Salt Lake City Division posed in front of an airmail hangar in Omaha.
3. SIPMPS_180501_016.JPG: Pilots Vs. the Weather
4. SIPMPS_180501_020.JPG: The Wrong Stuff
5. SIPMPS_180501_023.JPG: DeHavilland: Look Up!
6. SIPMPS_180501_026.JPG: The Suicide Club
7. SIPMPS_180501_030.JPG: Tales from the Airmail Service
8. SIPMPS_180501_033.JPG: Getting Creative
9. SIPMPS_180501_036.JPG: Jack Knight Saves the Airmail
10. SIPMPS_180501_044.JPG: Airmail Takes Off
11. SIPMPS_180501_050.JPG: The First Flights
12. SIPMPS_180501_057.JPG: Envelope mailed by Benjamin Lipsner to Charles Cile
13. SIPMPS_180501_066.JPG: Lt. Edgerton's flight record from Philadelphia to Washington
14. SIPMPS_180501_070.JPG: May 20, 1919 issue of Airmail Age Weekly
15. SIPMPS_180501_077.JPG: 1917 postal route map of Maryland, Delaware, and Washington
16. SIPMPS_180501_081.JPG: Pilot Mas Miller is cheered by a crowd at this College Park, MD airmail field on August 12, 1918. The Post Office took over full control of the airmail service on that date.
17. SIPMPS_180501_090.JPG: The Post Office Takes Over
18. SIPMPS_180501_094.JPG: U.S. Post Office Department's "U.S. Air Mail" flag
19. SIPMPS_180501_099.JPG: Airmail schedule dispatch board
20. SIPMPS_180501_110.JPG: The Post Office Takes Over
21. SIPMPS_180501_130.JPG: Postmen of the Skies
22. SIPMPS_180501_133.JPG: Max Miller's charred log book
23. SIPMPS_180501_148.JPG: Clarence Lange's goggles and case
24. SIPMPS_180501_150.JPG: Clarence Lange's flight helmet
25. SIPMPS_180501_160.JPG: Original sketch from "The Mail Pilot" An original sketch by Les Clark, one of Walt Disney's original group of animators. The sketch shows Mickey Mouse "bucking wind and rain" and was prepared for the 1933 Disney short film, "The Mail Pilot." In the film, quick-thinking Mickey has to overcome bad weather and evil mail bandit Pete to get the mail through.
26. SIPMPS_180501_166.JPG: "Mail Pilot" toy In support of the 1933 short film, "The Mail Pilot," Disney authorized little Mickey Mouse mail pilot toys. The toy, manufactured in the late 1930s, has "Mickey's Air Mail" molded on the body. It was manufactured by the Sun Rubber Co., of Ohio.
27. SIPMPS_180501_172.JPG: Paul Stahr created this illustration for the February 1, 1919 cover of Judge Magazine. It is titled "Holding up the Male." His work also appeared in Collier's, Woman's Home Companion, and the Saturday Evening Post. in this illustration, Stahr showed how airmail pilots were often seen as heroic draws to women, in this case so many women besieging this pilot that the mail would be late.
28. SIPMPS_180501_178.JPG: Saturday Evening Post, featuring an airmail pilot on the cover
29. SIPMPS_180501_180.JPG: Air Mail game from 1929
30. SIPMPS_180501_192.JPG: Bringing Airmail Home
31. SIPMPS_180501_195.JPG: Advertisement for Pedal Car
32. SIPMPS_180501_198.JPG: Air Mail Pilot Game
33. SIPMPS_180501_200.JPG: Wings: The Air Mail Game
34. SIPMPS_180501_203.JPG: Wings: The Air Mail Game
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