Airmail imprint on an envelope (Thailand)An A.C. Roessler cover carried on the first scheduled U.S. Air Mail flight from Washington, DC, 15 May 1918 (The B.C. Cooper Collection)
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Air Mail

Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send. more...

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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.

In June 2006 the United States Postal Service formally trademarked Air Mail (two words with capital first letters) along with Pony Express.

Air-speeded

A postal service may sometimes opt to transport some regular mail by air, perhaps because other transportation is unavailable, but 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.

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 postage stamps may also be available, or required; the rules vary in different countries.

The study of airmail is known as aerophilately.

History

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 7 January 1785, on a balloon flight from Dover to France near Calais.

During the first balloon flight in North America in 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.

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.

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C15 $2.60 Zeppelin Blue Oglh Xf/S $750.00 $419.88 Us Stamps- 1941-44 "Bimotor Cargo" Mnh ** $10.00
Us #C8 Mnh Plateblock of 6 Xf $9.90 Us #C6 - 24c DeHavilland Mnh Og $170 $24.99
Us #C6 - 24c Airmail Mnh Og $170 $24.99 Us #C5 Mnh Og Airmail $24.99
Us #C4 - 8c Airmail Mnh Og Xf $9.90 Us #C3 - 24c Jenny Mnh Part Og $9.50
Us #C3 - 24c Jenny Mnh Og - $170 $24.99 Us #C2 - 16c Jenny - Mnh Og Vf $170+ $24.99
Us #C18 - 50c Baby Zeppelin Mnh Og Xf $9.90 1923 16¢ Air Service Emblem Us Airmail Stamp - #C5 $3.50
Airlines & Airmail - by F. Robert Van der Linder $4.95 U.S. Airmail Stamp # C22 Mnh $2.50
Legacy of Wings - The Harold F. Pitcairn Story $2.95 U.S. Airmail Stamp # C5 $5.00
Scott#C3 F-Vf;Og - Nh $49.00 Us - (14) Airmail Stamped Fdc's - 1949 to 1980 $3.99
#C-46 Hawaii Air Mail 80ct Cv$350.00 Mnh Og Superb 1954 $124.50 Sc C4 1923 Us Stamp 8c Air Mail Usa United States st99 $5.00
us sc#C24 vf lh 30c winged globe 1939 sc$12+ $3.00 Great Group of Mint Early Airs, Scv $70, Low Start Bid. $4.99
us sc#C21-#C22 vf nh china clipper set 1937 sc$22+ $7.50 Us Scott # C25 1941 Airmail Booklet Pane Mnh $2.50
Us Airmail C4- Extra Fine Mint Vlh-Og $19.99 33 Us Pl # M Nh Blocks Air 1936+ w/ C31 C46 Cv $181 $65.00
1935 Dow Chemical Co. Saint Louis Mo Advertising Cover $14.00 usa Very Old Stamps 19 Used $9.99
Us Stamps ~ Air Mail -C11 Fm/Nh $1.99 Us Stamps ~ Air Mail - C1 $8.88
C24 Us 30 Cent Air Mail-Transatlantic-Mint-L /H-Fine-V/F $3.50 Look!! Scott C6 Used F-Vf Cat $21! $8.00
Us Stamps - Air Mail Collection/Lot Sc C16/C118 Used $1.99 O127-133 Complete 1983 Official Set! $6.95
C18 Mint, F-Vf, Og, Lh Cat$55 $22.50 Scott# C-54 7c Jupitr Balloon Sheet Of 50 Vf-Nh $5.50
Scott# C-74 10c Curtiss Jenny Sheet Of 50 Vf-Nh $5.50 Us Mlh Zeppelin C13 Ef $99.00
C15 Us Zeppelin Mlh Ef $490.00 Scott# C-80 17c Liberty Crown Sheet Of 50 Vf-Nh $9.16
U.S. -C 3, Fvf,Nh,Og,Sharp And Fresh $80.00 U.S. -C 6, Vf,Nh,Og,Pristine 24 Cent Airmail $115.00
Scott# C-45 6c Wright Brothers Sheet Of 50 Vf-Nh $5.50 U.S. Unused C73,82,83 Mh Pairs (E073) $1.49
U.S. Unused C16 Mh perf 10 1/2x11 Scv$20 (E118) $6.99 U.S. Unused C91-96 Mh (E075) $3.49
U.S. Unused C65,73,82,83 Mnh Pairs (E036C) $2.99 U.S. Used C1 Scv$30 (D123) $4.99
Scott# C-40 6c Alexandria Bicentennal Sheet Of 50 Vf-Nh $5.50 Scott C39a Vb Bkc4 Retail is $27.00 $5.40
Scott C10a Bc8 61 cent Blue Retail $275.00 $100.00 Scott C64b Bkc 9 Retail is $24.00 $5.00
Scott C64b Bkc11 Retail is + $30.00 $6.00 2 Covers 1948 Naval Plane Constitution & Homeland Prot $3.00
#C25-C31-Us Airmail Transports-Mint-L/H-Fine- V/F $4.95 Scott #C21 1937 20 Cent Us Stamp, Mint Vf Never Hinged $7.99
25c Blue China Clipper Perf11 S# C20 Vf-Xf Mnh 1935 $4.99 Various Mnh U S Air Mail Plate Bks Stamps Ecv $50.00 $9.00
C19 Mnh U S Air Mail P Bk Of 4 Stamps $4.81 u.s. c-18 zeppelin $25.00
C46 80cent Diamond Head Single Mnh Well Centered $2.50 U.S. #C22 Vf Og Ph $2.49
C97-C100 Airmail Stamps 1979 to 1980 Mnh $2.75 C91-C96 Aviators Attached Pairs Air Mail Mnh $5.00
C84-C90 Airmail Stamps 1972 to 1976 Mnh $3.00 C72 to C83 1968 to 1973 Airmails Mnh $3.50
C64 - C71 1962 to 1967 Airmails Mnh $2.25 C53-C63 1959 - 1961 Airmails Mnh $6.00
C47 to C52 1953 to 1958 Airmails Mnh $2.50 C32 - C45 1946 to 1949 Airmails Mnh $6.00
C23 Xf-S-Og-Nh Sheet Of 50 $11.25 C3 F-Vf-Og-Lh $5.57
1938 Registered Air Mail Envelope Coral Gables Florida $3.00 C4 Vf-Xf-Og-Nh Plate Single $3.84
49 Us Airmail Unused Mint Postal Cards $9.99 56 Us Airmail Earlier Used Covers Wwii 1930'S-50'S $9.99
53 Us Airmail Earlier Unused Mint Covers Some Revalued $9.99 C3, 1918Curtiss Jenny Biplane, Vf, H $32.99
First National Airmail Week, Kitty Hawk, Nc, 5-19-38 $9.50 1938 Airmail First Flight, Fam 17, Baltimore - Bermuda $12.00
1929 Airmail, World's Endurance Flight Record, St. Loui $15.00 Us 1930 65c - $2.60 Zeppelins Vf (C13-15) Mvlh $1,350.00
Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C18 Nh Plateblock Vf Cat. $400 $250.00 Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C6 H Vf Cat. $80 $49.99
Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C10A Nh Vf Cat. $275 $137.00 Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C18 Nh F-Vf Cat. $100 $40.00
Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C6 Nh Block F-Vf Cat. $640+ $240.00 Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C2 Lh Xf Cat. $105 $42.00
Dr. Bob U.S. Scott #C1 Nh Block Vf Cat. $480++ $225.00 1952 80c Air Mail plate block (Unused) - Scott C46 $9.50
Us #C-1Mng,C17Mnh,C-7-C-9Mnh ,C-25-C-3Mnh Super Lot Gv! $1.25 Us Airmail Stamp C-4 Mint $7.99
U.S. #C11. Block of 4. Mint, Never Hinged. $7.50 U.S. #C24. Plate Block of 6. Mint, Never Hinged. $24.50
C1 C2 C3-6¢ 18¢ 24¢ - C4 C5 C6 -8¢ 16¢ 24¢ - Set of 6 $18.00 Us Graf Zepplin C18Ap12 used 50c Green Scott 01 Cv $60. $8.00
C18 Graf Zeppelin Vf Nh Block Cv $400 $199.00 Us #C-20,C-21,C-22,C-29,C-30 ,C-31 Mnh Mint ++Gv++ $5.75
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Prices current as of last update, 08/21/08 12:33pm.


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