Special Delivery
This sub-album contains stamps used for special delivery postage. This includes air mail, express mail, and parcel post. It also includes some unusual mail service: mail sent through a pneumatic tube system in three of the largest cities in Italy; and mail sent on a special transatlantic flight.
First Air Mail
The stamps on this page are particularly fascinating. The Wright brothers made their first flight in December 1903, Alberto Santos-Dumont in October 1906, a few others not long afterwards. Then in May 1917, the Italian government released the first stamp on this album page. It’s an express mail stamp, overprinted with the words Esperimento Posta Aerea, which means Experimental Air Mail in English. To me, that’s interesting: In just a few years after the invention of the motor powered airplane, they’re experimenting with instituting mail that’s delivered by air. It was an exciting time in Italy, and in the world.
The second line of the overprint text says, Torino - Roma . Roma - Torino, meaning the service is offered between Rome and Turin. Those two cities are about 700 kilometers, 435 miles apart. At that time, it would have taken three days for a letter to be delivered between those two cities by then normal methods. Air mail would have cut that down to same day delivery – next day at the latest. If you’re thinking Italy was behind the times, a year later in May 1918 the U.S. issued their first air mail stamp, providing service only from Washington to Philadelphia to New York and back.
The second stamp here, issued a month after the first, is overprinted with text saying, Idrovolante Napoli Palermo Napoli, which means Sea Plane, Naples Palermo Naples. They must not have had an easy place to land in Naples and Sicily at that time, so they used sea planes to land on the water.
The rest of the stamps were issued in 1926 and 1928. So the experiment must have gone well and air mail service was being offered across the country from and to every major city.
What’s also interesting about all of this is that we no longer use air mail stamps. We don’t have to specify or have to pay extra for mail to be sent by air. That ended in the mid to late 1970s. The post office sends all mail by air when it’s the best choice. Mail sent on airplanes is no longer novel. We don’t even think about it. It was an invention and inovation that has come and gone as something to which we give any thought. With the prevalence of email and other methods of electronic communication, stamps and mail will also very likely be something of the past.
Note
This page has been completed. I own all of the stamps and they’re all unused. It may seem silly and nerdy or dorky or whatever, but I’m pleased with this. I’m very much enjoying the resumption of this almost forgotten hobby of mine.
Contains 11 spots: own 11 – 11 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Oct 28, 2022
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
Experimental Mail by Seaplane
✓ |
A1 |
Michetti, Overprinted Express |
25c (may 1917) |
||
✓ |
A2 |
Leoni, Overprinted Urgent Express |
25c (jun 1917) |
New Standard Air Mail
✓ |
A2A |
50c (mar 1928) |
|||
✓ |
A3 |
60c (mar 1926) |
|||
✓ |
A3A |
80c (jun 1928) |
|||
✓ |
A4 |
1₤ (mar 1926) |
|||
✓ |
A5 |
1.20₤ (feb 1927) |
|||
✓ |
A6 |
1.50₤ (mar 1926) |
|||
✓ |
A7 |
5₤ (mar 1926) |
Repricing Air Mail
✓ |
A8 |
Vittorio Emanuele III |
50c (sep 1927) |
||
✓ |
A9 |
Vittorio Emanuele III |
80c (sep 1927) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
remaining stamps & stories in sub-album
page |
story |
note |
used |
need |
ordered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
✓ |
✓ |
1 |
