Colombia Air Mail With Scadta Stamps:

;
Interesting marking on reverse:

Hi stampfan9

Nice cover. I believe I saw a write up on the "Use The Colombian Air Mail" back stamp. I probably have the article somewhere.

Jerry B

It is a nice cover. Some background on SCADTA - In 1920, SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aereos) which was a private airline created by some German investors was granted a monopoly for carrying airmail in Columbia so all internal air mail in Columbia was flown by SCADTA. Once it left the Country it would go by surface mail to the destination country. SCADTA was allowed to produce its own stamps for payment of its airmail fees. Later, to increase their profits they arranged for some of their air mail stamps to be overprinted with large black letters and sold at Columbian consulates in other countries to people (mostly companies) who wanted to have their mail they sent to Columbia to be expedited once it arrived in Columbia and receive internal Columbian air mail service. These stamps had to be added in addition to the regular postage stamps of that country that paid for internationsl mail to Columbia. The overprinted letters on their stamps referred to the country where those stamps were sold. For example, their overprinted stamps sold in the US had the large black letters EU printed across them - the EU stood for Estados Unidos which is Spanish for United States. These are perhaps the most common ones. There are many different overprints referring to all of the different countries in which these stamps were sold. Just a couple examples are A for Germany (Spanish for Alemania), E for Spain (Spanish for Espana), H for the Netherlands (Spanish for Holanda), F for France (Spanish for Francia), etc. etc.

Hi Kimo

Please spell the country as Colombia and not Columbia.

My Colombian wife would take exception and it is a sore spot with me Thanks!

For those who do not know, the Consular overprints are listed in the Scott Classic catalog.

I thought it was a nice cover because it had the Regular postage, presumably from sender to a SCADTA office, the SCADTA postage and the backstamp.

Since you know more than most about SCADTA, I must ask: Do you collect Colombia?

Jerry B

Hi Jerry. Yes you are correct and I apologize about the Colombia misspelling - I do know the difference and usually I am careful but I was not paying attention to my typing. I collect first flight covers with a specialization in Latin America and the Caribbean so I know more than the ordinary stamp collector about SCADTA. SCADTA was an interesting situation in that it was a private airline that successfully negotiated with the government of Colombia to provide air mail service, print their own stamps and keep the money to pay for their operations and profits. It was born just after WW 1 ended with Germany having the best aircraft technology but severe limitations on what they could do in Europe as a result of the crushing requirements of the peace treaty they were forced to sign. Applying their expertise in what was at the time a relatively undeveloped country with a minimal road network was an obvious step for some German investors who wanted to create a profit making enterprise. Eventually they fell victim to Pan American Airways in the late 1920s who were aggressively expanding their network throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and who had the political connections with the President to ensure they had a stranglehold on all US air mail contracts to and from the US. And at that time there was a growing concern about German politics and possible German influence in the Western hemisphere. There are many interesting articles on SCADTA throughout the years but I think one that does a very nice summary job is one that was published in the American Air Mail Society's Air Post Journal July, 2012 issue, starting on page 288. Here is a link - https://www.americanairmailsociety....uly_2012.pdf

Relax. The country is named after someone whose name is rendered differently in three languages - Colombo in Italian, Colon in Spanish and Columbus in English. Colombia has, therefore, long been represented in English as Columbia.

Great information and a wonderful link. Thanks!
Robert

Hi Kimo

SCADTA also contracted with Ecuador. However, most SCADTA articles refer to Colombia where SCADTA was more active. Lansa and Avianca, and 1 or 2 smaller airlines, also led to their demise.

Alex Rendon (who started me collecting Colombia) and Debbie Friedman had great SCADTA exhibits.

Thanks for listing the SCADTA article.

Jerry B

Very nice cover!