32 amazing vintage photos showcasing the early days of transporting letters and packages by planes in America

   

These photos show the nearly 100-year-old history of U.S airmail service, beginning on May 15, 1918.

 
First day of the U.S airmail service, May 15, 1918

 

 
JR-1B mail airplane designed by the Standard Aircraft Corporation, 31 Dec. 1918

 

JR-1B mail airplane, 1918

 

Loading airmail in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1925

 

New York City postmaster Thomas G. Patten and airmail pilot Lt. Torrey Webb, 1918

 

Pilot Eddie Gardner posing in front of an airmail plane, 1918

 

Unloading Airmail in Chicago, Illinois, 1921

 

Unloading Airmail in Omaha, Nebraska, July 1, 1924

 

A de Havilland airmail plane parked on unidentified airfield next to a U.S. mail truck, 1922

 

A modified de Havilland airmail plane with number #299, 1920

 

A U.S airmail plane on take off, 1918

 

Airmail loaded for pathfinding transcontinental flight, July 29, 1920

 

 
Airmail pilot E. Hamilton Lee, 1924

 

Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner and journal reporter Muriel Kelly, August 30, 1920

 

Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner, 1918

 

 
Airmail pilot Edward Killgore, 1918

 

 
Airmail pilot James Hill ready for transcontinental night flight, July 1, 1925

 

Airmail pilot Lloyd Bertaud and an unidentified individual, September 6, 1927

 

Airmail pilot Lt. James Edgerton and his young sister, May 18, 1918

 

Airmail pilot Paul Collins and bag of first overnight airmail, July 1, 1925

 

Airmail pilot William Fillmore, 1925

 

Airmail pilots Edison Mouton and Rexford Levisee, 1921

 

Airmail plane at Chicago, 31 Dec. 1920

 

Airmail planes at Elko, Nevada, 1920

 

Airmail planes at Omaha, Nebraska, 1920

 

Airmail planes at Omaha, Nebraska, 1924

 

Airmail planes at Reno, Nevada, 1920

 

 
An airmail plane in front of a hangar on the Omaha, Nebraska airmail field, 1927

 

 
Curtis JN-4H airmail plane taking off, 1918