Balbo Triptych Flight Stamps And Covers

A triptych is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections,

General Italo Balbo was a key figure in Italy's fascist regime. He was appointed as an undersecretary in the Air Ministry in 1926 following King Emanuel's invitation to Benito Mussolini to form a government in 1922. Balbo's task was to rebuild Italy's Air Force. This he achieved by organizing air shows, endurance tests and formation flights. The culmination of the latter was The Italian Formation Flight to the "Century of Progress Exposition 1933" held in Chicago. Twenty-four SM55X Savoia-Marchetti flying boats left Orbetello near Rome on July 1,1933 via Holland, Ireland and Newfoundland, with eleven scheduled stopovers. This was the largest mass formation flight ever undertaken. The formation reached New York and then Chicago on July 19. It would depart Chicago to complete a double crossing of the Atlantic, arriving in Rome on August 12.

The intention of the flight was to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Italian Fascist Government and as a display of Italian air strength. It was a great success and ranked alongside other major aviation achievements. General Balbo became an international celebrity and was promoted to Air Marshall. He was a politician but was first and foremost an exceptional aviator.

Italy issued two se-tenant triptych air-mail sheets on May 20,1933 to commemorate the flight. Each triptych sheet has three perforated individual stamps. On the left is an air registration label showing the Italian tricolor flag. In the center is a regular postage stamp with an image of the reigning monarch, King Vittorio Emanuel III. Depending on which of the two triptych sheets, on the right is one of two types of an airmail stamp, each of which has a distinctive Art-Deco design (see the exhibit at the beginning of this article). The inscription "Crociera Nord Atlantica" (North Atlantic Cruise) appears at the bottom.

The two sheets of stamps also bear the abbreviated name of each one of the twenty pilots who flew the flying boats, these being printed on the air registration label sections of the sheets. Note pilots BALB, PELL, and LONG on the below exhibit. This means that to own a complete set is not only a challenge but is also expensive.

The two Balbo Triptych sheets.

The Balbo Triptych flight covers that have both triptych variations are very attractive.


Pioneer cover servicer Henry Hammelman, upon retirement from the U.S. Post Office Department, set up his dealership as the Pioneer Stamp Company in room 816, at 116 Nassau Street, the hub of the stamp business in New York City in 1935. The Pioneer Stamp Company would become the mecca for collectors and dealers with "tough" cover want lists. Much of Hammelman's air post inventory was sold in a H.R. Harmer auction on Feb. 25, 1954. The following partial auction catalogue listing shows the extent of his Balbo Triptych holding at that time.

The SM55x Savoia-Marchetti Flying Boat

Nice. Can you link to "the exhibit at the beginning of this article"?

CjD,

Sorry, what I meant to do was direct your eyes back to the first image in my article, not to an exhibit prior to my article.

About 3500 triptych flight covers left Orbitello, Italy to be delivered to various destinations along the route of the 1933 Balbo flight to Chicago. Since each cover was franked with a triptych on which a plane pilot's identification letters were overprinted on the left panel of the triptych, they were each appropriately loaded aboard on that pilot's aircraft of each of the 20 aircraft designated to carry mail.
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<center>Pilot designation - BORG</center>
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