Air Mail Test, Interpex 1959

Q/ Are you familiar with an "Air Mail Test" that occurred at the time of Interpex 1959?



Fun fact: That stamp of the India 1958 exhibition in New Delhi is more easily researched than the exhibition itself



India New Delhi Exhibition
Catalog codes:
Stamp Number IN 323
Stanley Gibbons IN 421
Yvert et Tellier IN 106
Michel IN 303
Issued on: 1958-12-30
Perforation: comb 14½ x 14
Printing: Photogravure
Colors: Dark lilac
Face value: 15 Indian naye paisa
Print run: 11,916,340

http://www.historicimages.com/press...arayan-nehru ... a photo of Nehru visiting the India 1958 exhibition

Q/ Any other "Air Mail Test" covers & cards out there?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I believe that Pam Am's first regular flight from India to the US was on March 10, 1947 and it is listed in the American Air Mail Catalog as Foreign Air Mail route number F 18-51. Of course there were a great number of flights between India and US during the war though at that time the Pan Am personnel were drafted into the Army and so they were technically Army Air Force personnel and aircraft even though they were Pan Am personnel previous to being dragooned into the lower salary jobs in the Army.

I am not familiar with this cover as I do not specialize in India first flights, but on the surface it appears to be a purely philatelic creation by someone to promote Interpex 1959. That was the general timeframe of when Pan Am wes replacing their propeller aircraft with jet aircraft. It was also the general timeframe of the battle between Pan Am and the British BOAC in trying to be the leader in the international airmail routes through Asia.

If you cannot find the information here or some other place on the internet, and if you have more than a casual interest in finding out about this cover you should consider doing some research in the Pan Am records. When Pan Am went out of business back in 1991 they bequeathed all of their old records and files to the University of Miami Library. They welcome researchers who wish to dive into the old Pan Am papers.

Uh-oh. Only "... Fifteen hundred boxes of administrative, legal, financial, technical, and promotional materials as well as internal publications, photographs, audiovisual material and graphic material ..." to cover decades of Pan Am operations.

This leads me to fear that my postcard did not make the cut.

"... a purely philatelic creation ..." is certainly correct, but I wonder if the piece was "... to promote Interpex 1959 ...", or if it used the opportunity of Interpex 1959 to promote Pan Am which, as you note, was head-to-head with BOAC.

The card is addressed by hand. Perhaps there was a booth at Interpex, and you addressed the card yourself, and it was flown to India, where it was stamped & posted & speedily delivered.

Q/ Would you have paid a nominal fee for the card & stamp & service?

Q/ Was it a fundraiser to help pay for Interpex?

Now that you've got me thinking about archives, the library at the Collector's Club of New York is a more likely place to find contemporaneous reports in the philatelic press about Interpex 1959 and, therefor, this postcard.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Good idea to look up the local press and the stamp oriented press as well. I might try starting with Linn's Stamp News, and perhaps also the Air Post Journal (the American Air Mail Society's magazine).

A couple of other places to inquire might be:

The American Air Mail Society's Pan Am Study Unit at:
J. L. Johnson, Jr. 248 Shore Ave Groton CT 06340-5926 Email: fam14 @tvcconnect.net

and the American Air Mail Society's
Metropolitan Air Post Society c/o Ernest Wheeler 7 Evelyn Terrace Wayne NJ 07470-3446 http://mapsnewyork.org/ Email:ernest wheeler@hotmail.com These guys cover the New York City metropolitan region in membership, though of course their air mail interests span the entire range. I was just thinking that since Interpex 1959 was in their area that they might have some extra knowledge on it.

If anyone is interested in first flights and is not already a member, the American Air Mail Society is a great group of men and women who share your interest. Here is a link to their website where you can join for just $30 per year and get lots of great benefits including a subscription to the Air Post Journal which is a fun read. http://www.americanairmailsociety.org/

Excellent advice, Kimo!