The Postal Service will issue the first of two 1-ounce domestic stamps commemorating the 100th anniversary of airmail service Tuesday, May 1.
The first United States Air Mail stamp will be printed in blue and will celebrate the first airmail flights performed by Army Signal Corps pilots in May 1918. The second stamp, which will mark the Post Office Department’s takeover of the service later that year, will be printed in red and released during the summer.
The stamps not only credit the department’s ability to innovate mail delivery, but also pay tribute to the courage of the pioneering airmail carriers and the foresight of those who fostered the new service and made it a success.
Both stamps will employ the intaglio print method — a design transferred to paper from an engraved plate — and will feature an image of a Curtiss JN-4H biplane, the model of aircraft used for early airmail flights.
The Postal Service will dedicate the first stamp at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. The stamp will be available for purchase at Post Offices and usps.com.