Funny They Used These Stamps..?

I have an old (but not in good shape) cover sent to celebrate 100 years of flight...It was sent May 30th, 1931 from Birmingham to Cleveland.

Here is my question
If it was sent in 1931, why wouldn't they use a 1931 stamp and not a Scott 551 which was only used from 1922-1925..It that common to do..?

Robert



*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Robert, I do not know if it was common or not, but I do the same thing. I have oodles of all sorts of coils left over from the eighties and I try to use these up

Peter

It's useful to remember the purpose of the stamp. Rate mavens will correct me, but I recall that the US Post Office introduced 1/2c stamps in a scramble after the US Congress unexpectedly raised the postage rate for printed commercial circulars to 1 1/2c from 1c. Therefore a 1/2c stamp was needed immediately as a make-up rate stamp. They were almost always used by commercial mailers. The sender of this cover probably owned or was associated with a business that bought too many stamps in the 1922 time frame and then had leftovers when rates went up again. So if they are on hand, why not use them.

Not a looker, but a fun cover nonetheless.
Looks like one of the stamps got lost. Should be a total of 10 for the 5¢ airmail rate.

Interesting cover and use of stamps.

Are you sure it's not a 653?

Yes, using all sorts of odd stamps from earlier eras was common on first flights. The other common type of stamp used was airmail stamps. They seem to be about equally used on most flights, unless there was a special airmail stamp issued for a particular flight. Remember that most all of such covers were prepared by stamp collectors and back then it was fun for many to use odd or old stamps on covers rather than the ones everyone else was using at that point in time. By the way, your cover is listed as catalog number CAM 33E15 in the American Airmail Catalog. There were 106 pounds of mail flown on this flight which comes to about 4,200 covers, give or take a few, which makes this a relatively common cover. In the latest edition of the Catalog it lists for $3.00 in very nice condition on a number 6 size envelope. This particular cover is rumpled, missing a stamp, and on a legal size envelope which all significantly detract from its already minimal commercial/collector value but it is still something nice to have since it reflects a step in the progress of mail moving by air rather than by train or truck - going by air is quite commonplace today to the point of there not being any special airmail class of mail anymore.

Thanks guys..Thanks Kimo.

Robert

Wert:

Perhaps, a final note on this cover. It does not commemorate 100 years of flight. In the U.S., at least, the centennial of flight was celebrated during 2003, 100 years after the Wright Bros successful
powered flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Don

I stand corrected DonSellos..Thanks.

Robert

There are many 100 year anniversaries of the first flight. If one uses "documented manned flight in the world" then it would be 100 years after the Montgolfier brothers took off in France on October 19, 1783, but that was mostly just a quick up and down. Or the first anniversary of manned flight going somewhere then it would be 100 years after January 7, 1785 where a balloon was flown across the English Channel. Or the first "steerable balloon (dirigible) then that would be in France 100 years after 1852. Or if one wanted to say "in the USA, only" then the first would be 100 years after June 11, 1861 which was the first flight of the US Army Balloon Corps. Then if one wanted to restrict it to first heavier than air flight, that would be 100 years after the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. Or for the first US mail carrying flight that would be 100 years after September 17, 1911 which was the start of a transcontinental flight from New York to California. Or the first regular US governmental service of airmail would be 100 years after May 15, 1918.