These photos show the nearly 100-year-old history of U.S airmail service, beginning on May 15, 1918.
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First day of the U.S airmail service, May 15, 1918 |
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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 |
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Airmail pilot E. Hamilton Lee, 1924 |
Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner and journal reporter Muriel Kelly, August 30, 1920 |
Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner, 1918 |
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Airmail pilot Edward Killgore, 1918 |
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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 |
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An airmail plane in front of a hangar on the Omaha, Nebraska airmail field, 1927 |
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Curtis JN-4H airmail plane taking off, 1918 |