After our experience with the "pony express" last week, I thought it would be interesting to learn a little about what seems to be the opposite of the Pony Express...Air Mail.
For our family's entertainment one night last week, I chose a video of The Waltons TV show. The episode, "The Air-Mail Man," focuses on an airplane pilot who delivers mail. The Walton family is enthralled with the pilot and his very important job. His first concern upon an almost-crash landing is to get the bags of mail delivered.
U.S. Air Mail service began in 1918. At the time, Air Mail was a special delivery-type of mail, and postage was for an Air Mailed letter was much more than than non-Air Mail service. At the time, it cost 2 cents to mail a one-ounce letter. A one-ounce Air Mailed letter cost 24 cents, initially, but the cost quickly dropped to 6 cents per ounce.
In 1977, all mail sent within the US was transported between cities by plane. By 1995, all mail, domestic and international, was delivered by plane, and the designation of "Air Mail" was eliminated. With that decision, the words "Air Mail" were deleted from stamps.
2 comments:
thank you so much for that info I just learned something .
Last week I visited my local library and they had a small display about "the golden age of airmail," including someone's fun airmail collection. Maybe I'll take a photo next time I visit!
Post a Comment