Airport dedication cachets

These are marks designed to publicise the opening of new airports in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. These were applied to envelopes but did not cover the postage fees. Early American airmail pilots flew single seater biplanes with open cockpits and no radio and the airfields were usually just pastures which were often ankle deep in mud.

American mail was first carried by plane o the 15 May 1918 when the start of the regular airmail service was witnessed by President Woodrow Wilson.

Real developments began to happen when the Kelly act of 1925 alowed private contractors to develop internal airmail services. Spreading outwards from Washington and New York, the contractors quickly established airports in Chicago, Cleveland, Omaha, Iowa City and San Francisco.

In 1926 Lester D Gardner, the editor of Aviation Magazine, started a commercial air network using obsolete DH-4 planes. At this time there was no air traffic control and no saftey regulations. By July 1927 there were 16 operators, including Edward Hubbard's service between Seattle and Victoria on Vancouver Island, makeing the (at the time) dangourous sea crossing to catch the outgoing steamers and bring back mail from the Orient.

At this stage 1,000 airports were in operation with 1,200 more under construction. 6,400 were making regular flights covering a total of 25 million miles a year.