airmail
American Heritage Dictionary:
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air·mail
(âr'māl') 
tr.v., -mailed, -mail·ing, -mails.
To send (a letter, for example) by air.
adj.
Of, relating to, or for use with air mail.
n. air mail also airmail
tr.v., -mailed, -mail·ing, -mails.
To send (a letter, for example) by air.
adj.
Of, relating to, or for use with air mail.
n. air mail also airmail
- The system of conveying mail by aircraft.
- Mail conveyed or to be conveyed by aircraft.
Gale Encyclopedia of US History:
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Airmail
Following fifty-two experimental flights by the Post Office Department in 1911 and 1912, the first extended test of airmail service was made in May 1918, when the U.S. Army and the Post Office Department together set up an experimental line between New York and Washington, D.C., using army pilots. After three months, the department assumed entire control of the line and employed civilian aviators. This route was too short to give the plane much advantage over the railway and did not continue long. Other disconnected lines were tried, between New York and Cleveland, Cleveland and Chicago, and Chicago and Omaha, but all had the same fault—they were too short to attract mail at high rates. In 1920 the department installed a service between New York and San Francisco, with the planes flying only by daylight and the mail being transferred at dusk to railway trains and rushed on, to take to the air again early next morning. On 1 July 1924 a continuous, day-and-night service across the continent began operations. In 1926 the department began to contract entirely with private corporations to handle all airmail. Branch lines and north-and-south lines were rapidly added. In 1930, when the postal service designated two new routes—New York to Los Angeles via St. Louis and Los Angeles to Atlanta—there were only two bids for the former contract and one for the latter. Charging that there had been collusion among airline owners in the bidding, Postmaster General James A. Farley on 9 February 1934 canceled all airmail contracts, and for four months army planes carried the mail while an official investigation was conducted. There were several fatal accidents by army fliers. New contracts were signed in June, and the service, which by this time covered most of the United States and connected with lines to Canada, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central and South America, was returned to private planes.
In 1935 regular mail service was established across the Pacific, between San Francisco and Manila, along with transatlantic service between New York and London beginning in 1939. In 1948 the postal service began to offer both domestic and international parcel post air service. In 1953 a private company—United Parcel Service (UPS)—began to compete directly with the United States Postal Service as a "common carrier," offering two-day airmail delivery service to major urban areas on the East and West coasts. It expanded its service steadily, so that it operated in all fifty states by 1978. Federal Express, which soon grew to be UPS's major private competitor, began operations in 1973 and expanded rapidly, along with UPS, after the federal government deregulated air cargo in 1977—the same year that the U.S. Postal Service abolished airmail as a separate rate category and established "express mail" as its new category of rush delivery. In the 1980s both private carriers expanded their fleets of airplanes and added both overnight and international delivery service, and in the 1990s they began to offer computerized tracking services while continuing to expand their delivery areas.
Bibliography
Glines, Carroll. Airmail: How It All Began. Blue Ridge Summit, Penn.: Aero, 1990.
Harlow, Alvin F. Old Post Bags. New York: D. Appleton, 1928.
Holmes, Donald B. Air Mail: An Illustrated History. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1981.
Leary, William M., ed. Pilots' Directions: The Transcontinental Airway and Its History. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1990.
Wisniewski, Stanley. "Multinational Enterprises in the Courier Service Industry." International Labour Organization Multilateral Enterprises Programme, working paper no. 1, Geneva 1997.
—Alvin F. Harlow/A. R.; C. W.
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Columbia Encyclopedia:
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airmail
airmail, transport of mail by airplanes. Demonstration flights that showed the feasibility of carrying mail by air were made in Great Britain and in the United States in 1911. In the United States, after money for experimentation was appropriated by Congress in 1918, the first regular airmail service for carrying civilian mail began on May 15, 1918. Army pilots and army equipment were used. The first flight was from Washington, D.C., to New York City; although the pilot got lost and never completed the trip, regular airmail service was soon established. The Post Office Dept. took over operation of the line in 1920, but in 1921 the line was discontinued. In May, 1920, the transcontinental route from New York City to San Francisco was completed. On July 1, 1924, coast to coast service by air was scheduled for the first time (before then the mail had been transferred to trains at night). Transpacific airmail was introduced in 1935 and transatlantic airmail in 1939. Airmail service now extends throughout the world.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'airmail'
- Commercial Airlines, Airports, and Air Force - airmail: mail transported by air
- Postal Service - airmail: postal transportation by aircraft, formerly at higher rate than first-class mail, now at standard rate
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Airmail
For U.S. Air Mail, see Airmails of the United States. For the John Ford film, see Airmail (film). For the Epicure album, see Airmail (album).
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) |
Airmail (or "Air Mail", in French Par avion) is mail that is transported by aircraft, and more specifically, mail service by aircraft that is branded and sold on the basis of being airborne. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send. Airmail may be the only option for sending mail to some destinations, such as overseas, if the mail cannot wait the time it would take to arrive by ship, sometimes weeks. The Universal Postal Union adopted comprehensive rules for airmail at its 1929 Postal Union Congress in London.
For about the first half century of its existence, transportation of mail via aircraft was usually categorized and sold as a separate service (airmail) from surface mail. Today it is often the case that mail service is categorized and sold according to transit time alone, with mode of transport (land, sea, air) being decided on the back end in dynamic intermodal combinations. Thus even "regular" mail may make part of its journey on an aircraft. Such "air-speeded" mail is different from nominal airmail in its branding, price, and priority of service.
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Early airmails
Specific instances of a letter being delivered by air long predate the introduction of Airmail as a regularly scheduled service available to the general public.
Although homing pigeons had long been used to send messages (an activity known as pigeon mail), the first mail to be carried by an air vehicle was on January 7, 1785, on a hot air balloon flight from Dover to France near Calais. It was carried by flown by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries. The letter was written by an American Loyalist William Franklin to his son William Temple Franklin who was serving in a diplomatic role in Paris with his grandfather Benjamin Franklin.[1]
During the first aerial flight in North America by balloon on January 9, 1793, from Philadelphia to Deptford, New Jersey, Jean-Pierre Blanchard carried a personal letter from George Washington to be delivered to the owner of whatever property Blanchard happened to land on, making the flight the first delivery of air mail in the United States.[2][3]
The first official air mail delivery in the United States took place on August 17, 1859, when John Wise piloted a balloon starting in Lafayette, Indiana with a destination of New York. Weather issues forced him to land in Crawfordsville, Indiana and the mail reached its final destination via train. In 1959 the U.S. Postal Service issued a 7 cent stamp commemorating the event.[4]
Balloons also carried mail out of Paris and Metz during the Franco-Prussian War (1870), drifting over the heads of the Germans besieging those cities. Balloon mail was also carried on an 1877 flight in Nashville, Tennessee.
Introduction of the airplane
The introduction of the airplane in 1903 generated immediate interest in using them for mail transport. The first "quasi-official" airmail flight was conducted by Fred Wiseman, who carried three letters between Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California on February 17, 1911.[5] The world's second airmail flight came the next day, when French pilot Henri Pequet carried 6,500 letters a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi) from Allahabad, to Naini, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, India, then part of the British Empire.[6] The letters bore an official frank "First Aerial Post, U.P. Exhibition, Allahabad. 1911".[7]
The world's first scheduled airmail post service took place in the United Kingdom between the London suburb of Hendon, North London, and Windsor, Berkshire, on September 9, 1911.[8]
In the aftermath of the First World War the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) and the Royal Air Force pioneered a scheduled airmail service between Folkestone, Kent and Cologne, Germany. The service operated between December 1918 to the Summer of 1919, its purpose was to provide troops of the British Army stationed in Germany with a fast mail service [9] (see more at British Forces Post Office). Throughout the 1920s the Royal Air Force continued to develop air routes through the Middle East.
The first regularly scheduled airmail service in the United States was inaugurated on May 15, 1918, over a route between Washington, D.C. and New York City, with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The United States
In the 1920s and 1930s, the U.S. Congress used legislation (such as the Kelly Act and the McNary-Watres Act), and the U.S. Postal Service under Walter Folger Brown used air mail contract regulations, as tools to foster private-sector aviation companies (manufacturers, airlines, and conglomerates thereof) in order to encourage the development of a civil aviation system[10] that would provide passenger airline service and cargo transport by air as widespread facets of American life, on a profitable basis—an ambitious notion at the time for a nationwide infrastructure that mostly did not yet exist. These events devolved into ethically dubious backroom deals between the government and corporations just in time for the Great Depression to create a populist backlash against such "fat cat" behavior. The resulting Air Mail scandal led to the Air Mail Act of 1934, which mandated the separation of air carriers from their equipment manufacturers, breaking up companies such as the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation.
Air Mail within the United States was effectively ended as a distinct service on October 10, 1975 when all domestic intercity First Class mails began to be transported by air whenever practical and/or expeditious at the normal First Class rate. Domestic Air Mail as a separate class of service (and its rate structure) was formally eliminated by the successor to the Post Office Department, the United States Postal Service (USPS) on May 1, 1977.[11]
In June 2006 the United States Postal Service formally trademarked Air Mail (two words with capital first letters) along with Pony Express.[12] On May 14, 2007, Air Mail was incorporated into the classification First Class Mail International.[13][14]
International services
The first airmail service established officially by an airline occurred in Colombia, South America, in the 19th of October 1920. Scadta, the first airline of the country, flew landing river by river delivering mail in its destinations.
Australia's first airmail contract was awarded to Norman (later Sir) Brearley's Western Australian Airlines (WAA). The first airmail was carried between Geraldton and Derby in Western Australia on December 5, 1921. A memorial plaque to that effect is located at the Derby Airport. WAA commenced operations including Australia's first scheduled airline service eleven (11) months before Qantas got off the ground. [The State Reference Library — the Battye Library Perth Western Australia holds these factual records]. Distances being what they are, all international mail from Australia (other than heavier parcels) goes by air. International stamps are distinguished from internal mail stamps by a blue patch. International stamps do not pay GST of 10% unlike internal stamps which do.
The 1928 book So Disdained by Nevil Shute — a novel based on this author's deep interest in and thorough knowledge of aviation — includes a monologue by a veteran pilot, preserving the atmosphere of these pioneering times: "We used to fly on the Paris route, from Hounslow to Le Bourget and get through as best as you could. Later we moved on to Croydon. (...) We carried the much advertised Air Mails. That meant the machines had to fly whether there were passengers to be carried or not. It was left to the discretion of the pilot whether or not the flight should be cancelled in bad weather; the pilots were dead keen on flying in the most impossible conditions. Sanderson got killed this way at Douinville. And all he had in the machine was a couple of picture postcards from trippers in Paris, sent to their families as a curiosity. That was the Air Mail. No passengers or anything — just the mail".[15]
In the same year when this was published, the famous German pilot Gunther Plüschow carried out the first air mail from Puntas Arenas to Ushuaia, in the southern part of Argentina. Later, Plüschow was killed in an air crash, his memory still honoured in Argentina.
Zeppelin mail
The dirigibles of the 1920s and 1930s also carried airmail, known as Zeppelin mail or dirigible mail. The German Zeppelins were especially visible in this role, and many countries issued special stamps for use on Zeppelin mail.
Philately
Since stamp collecting was already a well-developed hobby by this time, collectors followed developments in airmail service closely, and went to some trouble to find out about the first flights between various destinations, and to get letters onto them. The authorities often used special cachets on the covers, and in many cases the pilot would sign them as well.
The first stamps designated specifically for airmail were issued by Italy in 1917, and used on experimental flights; they were produced by overprinting special delivery stamps. Austria also overprinted stamps for airmail in March 1918, soon followed by the first definitive stamp for airmail, issued by the United States in May 1918.
Air-speeded
A postal service may sometimes opt to transport some regular mail by air, perhaps because other transportation is unavailable. It is usually impossible to know this by examining an envelope, and such items are not considered "airmail." Generally, airmail would take a guaranteed and scheduled flight and arrive first, while air-speeded mail would wait for a non-guaranteed and merely available flight and would arrive later than normal airmail.
Names
A letter sent via airmail may be called an aerogramme, aerogram, air letter or simply airmail letter. However, aerogramme and aerogram may also refer to a specific kind of airmail letter which is its own envelope; see aerogram.
Some forms of airletter, such as aerogram, may forbid enclosure of other material so as to keep the weight down.
The choice to send a letter by air is indicated either by a handwritten note on the envelope, by the use of special labels called airmail etiquettes, or by the use of specially-marked envelopes. Special airmail stamps may also be available, or required; the rules vary in different countries.
Airmail stickers are coloured blue, with the words "air mail" in French, the home language. These are used to save having to write "air mail" by hand.
The study of airmail is known as aerophilately.
Media
A 1945 newsreel covering various firsts in human flight, including U.S. Airmail footage
See also
References and sources
- References
- ^ Schiff p.377
- ^ "Jean Pierre Blanchard: Made First U.S. Aerial Voyage in 1793". HistoryNet.com. http://www.historynet.com/jean-pierre-blanchard-made-first-us-aerial-voyage-in-1793.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Jean Pierre François Blanchard". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Dictionary/blanchard/DI10.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "'Stamps Take Flight' exhibit from Postmaster General's Collection showcases world's rarest 'uncollectibles' at National Postal Museum". Press release. USPS. 2005-04-06. http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2005/sr05_020.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- ^ Fad to Fundamental: Airmail in America http://postalmuseum.si.edu/airmail/historicplanes/early/historicplanes_early_wise.html
- ^ History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century by Camille Allaz, page 26.
- ^ "British Notes of the Week Flight March 18 , 1911
- ^ Baldwin, N.C. (1960), p. 5, Fifty Years of British Air Mails, Francis J.Field Ltd.
- ^ Wells, E. (1987), p. 86, Mailshot - A history of the Forces Postal Service, Defence Postal & Courier Services.
- ^ Fernandez 1983, pp. 39–43, 92–97.
- ^ The History of Postage Rates in the United States
- ^ USPS News Release #06-043 (June 20, 2006) U.S. Postal Service Expands Licensing Program
- ^ USPS International Mail Manual, Issue 35
- ^ USPS - First Class Mail International
- ^ Nevil Shute, "So Disdained", London, 1928, Ch. 1
- Sources
- Fernandez, Ronald (1983), Excess profits: the rise of United Technologies, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Addison-Wesley, ISBN 9780201104844.
- Richard McP. Cabeen, Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting (Collectors Club, 1979), pp. 207–221
- Schiff, Stacy. Benjamin Franklin and the Birth of America. Bloomsbury, 2006.
Further reading
- Newall, Alexander S. (1990) Airmail Stamps: Fakes & Forgeries. United Kingdom: Newall Consultants. ISBN 0-904804-96-8
External links
- UKweekly.com article on early airmail service
- British Postal Museum & Archive Information Sheet - Airmail
- The Flying Mail's Big Debt to War: America again takes front rank in the air with machines of mighty power, Popular Science monthly, February 1919, page 78, Scanned by Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=7igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA78
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Airmail
Dansk (Danish)
n. - luftpost
v. tr. - sende pr. luftpost
adj. - luftpost-
idioms:
- by airmail pr luftpost
Français (French)
n. - poste aérienne
v. tr. - expédier par avion
adj. - par avion
idioms:
- by airmail par avion
Deutsch (German)
n. - Luftpost, Luftpostbrief
v. - per Luftpost senden
adj. - Luftpost
idioms:
- by airmail per Luftpost
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αεροπορικό ταχυδρομείο
idioms:
- by airmail αεροπορικώς, με αεροπορικό ταχυδρομείο
Italiano (Italian)
posta aerea
idioms:
- by airmail per via aerea
Português (Portuguese)
n. - correio (m) aéreo
idioms:
- by airmail por correio aéreo
Русский (Russian)
воздушная почта
idioms:
- by airmail отправить воздушной почтой
Español (Spanish)
n. - correo aéreo
v. tr. - enviar por correo aéreo
adj. - relativo al correo aéreo
idioms:
- by airmail por correo aéreo, vía aérea
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - flygpost
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
航空信, 航空邮件, 航空邮寄, 航空邮政的, 航空邮递用的
idioms:
- by airmail 用航空邮件
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 航空信, 航空郵件
v. tr. - 航空郵寄
adj. - 航空郵政的, 航空郵遞用的
idioms:
- by airmail 用航空郵件
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 항공 우편
v. tr. - 항공편으로 보내다
adj. - 항공편의
idioms:
- by airmail 항공 우편으로
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 航空郵便の
n. - 航空郵便, 航空郵便物
v. - 航空郵便で送る, 航空便で送る
idioms:
- by airmail 航空便で
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) بريد جوي
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - דואר אוויר
v. tr. - שלח בדואר אוויר
adj. - של דואר אוויר
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gale Encyclopedia of US History
Encyclopedia of American History Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Airmail.
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