The James P. Myerson Collection of Pioneer Flight Mail 1910-1916 continued...

FINE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE TYPE 1 VIN FIZ FLIGHT HANDSTAMPED CACHET. AN IMPORTANT PIONEER AIR POST RARITY.

Assuming that the card depicts the Redhouse/Cattaraugus crash site (near Salamanca) and the "Salamanca Sept. 24" message is a caption to the photo, this card could not have been flown, given the fact that Rodgers did not depart from Salamanca until September 28.

Ex Dr. Robertson and Gruys (Image)

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FINE. ONE OF TWO RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE TYPE 1 VIN FIZ FLIGHT HANDSTAMPED CACHET AND THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THE STRAIGHTLINE MARKING. A HISTORIC PIONEER AIR POST ITEM.

October 9, 1911, the postmark date, is the day that Mabel Rodgers reportedly received a telegram from Postmaster General Hitchcock, appointing her official postmistress (reference: Flight of the Vin Fiz, p. 180). Based on Wiggin's message, it seems that this card was not actually flown, but the use of the handstamp containing the word "Route" strongly suggests that the account of Mabel's appointment may be historically accurate, inasmuch as "route" was a term specially reserved for official postal routes.

Ex Dr. Robertson and Gruys (Image)

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VERY FINE. THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS THREE-LINE HANDSTAMPED CACHET, USED ON A CARD FLOWN DURING THE MISSOURI PORTION OF THE VIN FIZ FLIGHT. THIS IS A RECENTLY DISCOVERED MARKING AND FLIGHT CARD.

According to the official log of the Vin Fiz and contemporary newspaper articles, on October 10 Rodgers took off from Springfield Mo. and ended the day in Marshall Mo. after landing for gas in a cemetery in Nebo. He was persuaded to stay in Marshall for the night after landing nearby due to a faulty spark plug. On October 11 he flew from Marshall to Kansas City Mo. with a stop in Blue Springs. Rodgers flew around Kansas City on October 12 in exhibition flights, which explains the Oct. 12 machine cancel and use of flight card (with the old October 10-11 dates). He was delayed another day in Kansas City on October 13 and announced he would not do any more exhibition flying. He departed Kansas City on the morning of October 14.

The handstamp on this card was struck from a device in a style used for later markings, but the wording is uniquely represented by this example. It was probably used by Mabel Rodgers after her appointment as postmistress of the Vin Fiz flights.

October 10 was the expiration day for William Randolph Hearst's $50,000 prize, which stipulated that the transcontinental flight must be completed within one year of his October 10, 1910, announcement. Hearst added the date stipulation after his original offer, and there was some controversy over whether the flight needed to be started or completed by the 10th.

With 2014 P.F. certificate. This card was listed for the first time in AAMC's 7th Edition as AAMC No. 2c, the number previously assigned to his later Pasadena crash mail, which is now AAMC 2d. (Image)

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VERY FINE. THIS WELL-DOCUMENTED POSTCARD ORIGINALLY HAD A VIN FIZ STAMP ATTACHED, WHICH COULD BE REUNITED SINCE THERE IS REASONABLE CERTAINTY ABOUT WHICH OF THE THREE KNOWN OFF-COVER EXAMPLES ORIGINATED. THE STAMP REMOVED FROM THIS CARD IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN THE FIRST ONE SOLD BY MABEL RODGERS, THE POSTMISTRESS OF THE VIN FIZ FLIGHTS.

According to Flight of the Vin Fiz by E. P. Stein (p. 205), "on board the Pullman for the leg to Denison was Mr. Jasper Allen, the eminent editor and publisher of the Hartshorne Sun. Mabel promptly charmed him into purchasing a Vin Fiz stamp, her first such sale. Allen placed his stamp on a postcard addressed to his wife in Hartshorne. The card was flown from Fort Worth to Dallas and cancelled Oct. 19, 7:30 PM. A second card with the Vin Fiz stamp was purchased by Allen and delivered to his mother in Hartshorne." The whereabouts of the second card is unknown, but the single stamp (one of three off cover or card) is probably the unused copy sold by our firm (ex Lettick and Zoellner collections). This card with the stamp still affixed was described and photographed in the 1939 Kessler auction catalogue of the Dr. Philip G. Cole collection (Part 1). The photo is very much reduced, but the margins of the Lettick-Zoellner stamp match the stamp pictured on the card. Further, we can rule out the other two Vin Fiz stamps, leaving the Lettick-Zoellner copy as the only real possibility. We previously counted the Dr. Cole copy and the Lettick-Zoellner copy as two different stamps, but now we are now confident they are one and the same. Reuniting the stamp with this card would restore this flown card to its former greatness.

Ex Cole and Jones (Image)

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VERY FINE. A RARE CARD INTENDED FOR THE FINAL LEG OF THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT BY CALBRAITH RODGERS IN HIS VIN FIZ FLYER. ONLY NINE ARE RECORDED.

This card was intended to be carried on the final leg of the flight, from Pasadena to Long Beach, which crashed upon take off from the stop at Compton. Rodgers was seriously injured in this crash. He spent three weeks in the hospital and the plane was wrecked totally, but one month later the last leg to Long Beach was completed.

Ex Reinhar and Jones. Illustrated in AAMC 6th Edition on page 12. (Image)

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