Middletown Crash, September
18, 1911. Photographic postcard depicting Rodgers and his mechanics
picking thru the twisted wreckage of his Wright Model EX with caption
"Wreck of Roger's [sic] Aeroplane, Middletown, N.Y. 1911", address side
with 1c Green tied by "Middltown N.Y. Sep. 18 4 PM 1911" wavy-line machine
cancel, no message but three different initials including that of James
Dunn, the chauffeur, to C. Meekel of Armour & Co. at Chicago, Very Fine,
the only recorded card postmarked on the day of the Middletown crash, which
occurred as Rodgers attempted a take-off on the next leg (flight resumed
Sep. 21) -- noteworthy are the speed of production of this souvenir and the
misspelling of Rodgers' name (Image)
1911/Aerial/Rodgers/Post/1911. Type 1 circular handstamp
with 5-line text, well-struck on address side of photographic postcard
depicting wrecked Vin Fiz with ms. labels "Part of Wrecked
Machine" and "C. L. Wiggin" (mechanic), both in his hand with
arrow showing him among those gathered around wreckage, 1c Green tied by
"Salamanca N.Y. Sep. 25 7:30 AM 1911" flag machine cancel, addressed by
Wiggin to L. A. Wiggin at Atlanta, his message "Salamanca N.Y. Sept.
24th C.L.W.", some toning and light creases, Fine, one of two recorded
examples of Type 1 circle handstamp (the only one used alone) -- 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 Sep. 28 (Image)
1911/Aerial/Rodgers/Post/1911. Type 1A circular
handstamp with additional "RODGERS AERIAL ROUTE" straightline
handstamp in matching ink on back of lithographic postcard depicting Cal
Rodgers and one of his wreck scenes, message from C. L. Wiggin
"Springfield Ill. Oct. 9th 1911. Arrived all OK from Peoria at 5:25 PM.
C. L. Wiggin. Leave for Kansas City tommorrow" and addressed to M. S.
Wiggin at Atlanta, his own cross-outs in address, 1c Green tied by
"Springfield Oct. 9 11:00 PM 1911" machine cancel -- 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 (Image)
1911, 25c Black, Rodgers "Vin
Fiz" Semi-Official Air Post (CL2). Cut close as always, short razor cut
at upper right, affixed upright on 1c McKinley postal card with additional
1c Green addressed to Otto Hunter in Cologne, Germany, cancelled by
"Pasadena, Cal. Nov. 8 8-PM 1911" machine cancel with Panama-Pacific
slogan, slight creasingVERY FINE. OF THE ELEVEN RECORDED EXAMPLES (SEVEN ON MAIL) OF THE VIN FIZ, THIS IS THE ONLY STAMP KNOWN ON A FLOWN CARD THAT REACHED THE WEST COAST DESTINATION OF PASADENA, THE ONLY ONE ON A UNITED STATES POSTAL CARD, AND THE ONLY ONE ON MAIL ADDRESSED TO A FOREIGN DESTINATION. IN THESE THREE RESPECTS, THIS CARD IS UNIQUE AND A MOST SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACT OF THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT.
The message on back from C. F. Threle to his brother-in-law in Germany reads: "Willcox Arz. Nov. 1, 1911. Dear Otto, As the first Transcontinental Rogers Aeroplane (Atlantic to Pacific Coast) passes through here to-day, I'll use these means of conveyance to send you a few lines, which please attach to your stamp collection. With kind regards to all, Your a.b.i.l. [affectionate brother-in-law] C. F. Threle", On November 1, this card was flown from Willcox, Arizona Territory, arriving at Pasadena on November 5 after stops at Tucson and Maricopa Ariz. (Nov. 1), Phoenix and Stoval Ariz. (Nov. 2), Imperial Junction Cal. (Nov. 3, where some mail was posted), Banning Cal. (Nov. 4), and Beaumont and Pomona Cal. (Nov. 5). Because of the overseas destination, it is possible that the card was deliberately held until the city of Pasadena was reached. The message and postmark date leave no question that the Vin Fiz stamp was used and the card was actually flown.
This card, discovered in 1926 in Europe, was last offered by our firm more than 25 years ago. Scott Retail for a domestic card (Image)
Compton Cal. Crash, November
12, 1911. Type 3 handstamps in purple, including 5-line flight cachet
and 3-line "Machine wrecked/at Compton/Aviator Injured", both in
purple on address side of lithographic postcard depicting Cal Rodgers and
the Vin Fiz Flyer, 1c Green tied by "Long Beach Cal. Nov. 16 10 AM
1911" flag machine cancel, addressed to Mrs. T. E. Peters at Long Beach,
bottom of card scuffed (presumably in crash), otherwise Fine, very clear
strikes of the markings applied to mail intended for the flight from
Pasadena to Long Beach, which crashed upon take-off from the stop at
Compton -- Rodgers was seriously injured in this crash and the plane was
wrecked totally, but one month later the last leg to Long Beach was
completed -- only seven recorded, ex Schoendorf
(Image)
"Greetings from the Sky"
Promotional Slips. Three different versions of small slips dropped from
the plane onto crowds below, a promotion that Rodgers grudgingly executed,
one identified as dropped on leg from Canisteo to Salamanca (pencil note
"Sept. 27, 1911"), another with pencil note "saw the first one
fly Sept. 30 1911", Very Fine and rare group
(Image)
Charles E. Taylor and R. P.
Richardson. Autographs on separate cards, Taylor was the master
mechanic at the Wright Brothers factory, who was assigned to the Rodgers
flight by the Wrights, Richardson was the first manager to Rodgers,
excellent collateral items with photographs for display (Image)