World Through Stamps: The Stories Behind Postage Stamps, The (1953)

[Music] [Music] [Music] there are all kinds of Records I could break for demonstration possibly my mind is startled at its thought I could fly non-stop between New York and Paris hello I'm Bob TR here with another story in Stamps those were the thoughts the dreams recorded here of a young air mail pilot named Charles Lindberg as he flew his flimsy deavin bip plane from St Louis to Chicago one September night in 1926 his vision of the future of Aviation was was shared by very few others in the public mind the airplane was an invention fit only for carrying Freight and fools no sane businessman would give a second thought to risking capital in such a venture as a commercial airline what changed their minds let's begin at the beginning this 1949 air mail stamp commemorated the 46th anniversary of the Wright Brother's first flight December 17th 193 a year after Lindberg was born this 1934 French issue marks a monument in aviation history on July 25th 198 lario crossed the English Channel from Cal to Dover ending forever England's isolation from the continent of Europe all thinking about National boundaries had to be revived as usual War compressed within a few years technical advances that might otherwise have taken decades overnight the airplane became the eyes of the army scouting observing directing artillery fire photographing bombing enemy installations speed and range increased pH nominally and the war trained hundreds of pilots who when they returned home became devoted missionaries in the cause of Aviation on the night of May 16th 1919 three United States Navy Sea planes took off from newon [Music] Land 15 hours and 18 minutes later one of them the NC four put down in the harbor of horta in the azors the others lost forced down at Sea badly damaged unable to continue Lieutenant Commander Albert C Reed and his crew were received enthusiastically by the people of England France and Portugal but coming home to the United States was a depressing experience as Commander Reed remarked bitterly although considerable interest was manifested in the US that interest did not extend to the point of Furnishing Financial backing for the needs of Aviation airplanes to carry passengers no one could see it when it came to carrying mail the government had to put up the money in 1918 the first air mail service was inaugurated between Washington Philadelphia and New York and this was the first air mail stamp 24 cents it showed a Curtis Jenny in Flight the first few sheets of these stamps as a matter of fact showed Jenny flying upside down those stamps with the inverted centers are worth something like $4,000 each today after the war a lot of Jenny's were sold as government surplus the pilots who bought them came to be known as Barn stormers Gypsy Flyers flying fools all over the country they put on shows walking the wings of a plane hundreds of feet up [Music] jumping off with parachutes that sometimes fail to open throwing their frail craft into Loops spins Dives risking their necks for the benefit of the farmers shopkeepers Housewives and children who watched in awe on the ground below why did they do it one of them tried to explain it many years later he wrote there was a desire I could not explain it was the quality that led me into aviation in the first place when safer and more profitable occupations were at hand it lay beyond the descriptive words of men where immortality is touched through danger where life where man is more than man and existence both Supreme and valueless at the same instant that's how Charles Lindberg tried to explain it in his book The Spirit of St Louis it was as was a barnstorming parachutist wing walker and stunt pilot that he first learned to fly later he went through the Army flying schools at Brookfield and Kelly field and began flying the mail from St Louis to Chicago and to dream of flying non-stop from New York to Paris he knew it was possible he knew he could do it he needed money and a Plane by December of 1926 Lindberg had found eight St Louis citizens who were willing to back him financially in February of 1927 he told Ryan Airlines to go ahead and build the plane others were getting ready to try Lieutenant Commander Richard E bird was readying a huge three-engine foker monoplane Lieutenant Commander Noel Davis planned to use a trimotor keystone Pathfinder B plane in Paris Captain Charles nungesser World War I Ace expected to make the flight from Europe to America in a single engine plane Clarence Chamberlain and Bert aosta broke the endurance record that Lindberg had hoped to break and now they too were planning a transatlantic flight the others were all ready lindberg's plane was still under construction Bird's plane crashed at Teterboro [Music] Airport Davis and his co-pilot killed nungesser was the only one [Music] left the French Flyers were never found 11 days later his plane tested and flown from San Diego to New York without mishap Charles Lindberg watched it being towed dripping wet in the early morning r rain from Curtis field to Roosevelt Field for the long awaited takeoff escorted by motorcycle police reporters mechanics and a handful of onlookers it looked as he wrote later more like a funeral procession than the beginning of a flight to Paris the oversized tanks in Wings nose and fuselage were filled with fuel at 7:40 a.m. the engine started final interviews were held last minute pictures snapped [Music] and at 7:52 the Spirit of St Louis began to roll down the muddy Runway would it get off the ground or would it crash at the end of the runway twice its Wheels left the ground only to return and then the plane was Airborne it was 7:54 eastern daylight time the morning of May 20th 1927 3,600 M to Paris an hour later over Road Island the Atlantic Ocean less than 30 minutes away Cape Cod and stretching ahead the Limitless expanse of water Lindberg wrote I'm giving up a continent and heading out to sea in the the most fragile vehicle ever devised by man over Nova Scotia rain lashed the wings seeped into the cockpit the wind took the plane in its teeth and shook it as a dog shakes a rabbit over Newan land where 8 years before the big Navy flying boats had started their voyage across the Atlantic this would be his last sight of land for 2,000 mil as it grew darker and colder first the the fog came and then mountainous thunderheads through Haze so thick that only the Stars directly overhead were visible he wo In and Out Among the clouds he fought the storm the fog and the desire to sleep doubting his ability to endure knowing that the alternative was death and failure and finally he broke the spell the crisis passed he was wide awake it was 7:52 a.m. New York time 3 hours later he spied the fishing boats and knew that he was nearing land he glided down and shouted as loudly as he could which way is Ireland the crew just gaped within the hour he saw in the distance a rugged Coastline a bay a village the southwestern coast of Ireland 2 hours ahead of schedule and almost exactly on his route he set his course southeastward toward England the channel sherberg and Paris yesterday he exalted each strip of sea I crossed was an advanced messenger of the ocean today these islands down below are Heralds to a continent at 10:00 5 New York time he saw the lights of Paris he saw the hangers the roads jammed with cars safely on the ground he had barely cut the engine when the crowd reached the plane they shouted his name over and over again Lindberg Lindberg and when he opened the door of his cockpit dozens of hands seized him and carried him off Charles Lindberg had Unleashed a torrent of mass emotion the like of which has never been witnessed he had proved to the world once and for all that airplanes really could fly governments all over the the world issued stamps in his honor Lindberg awakened the world to the possibilities of flight well that's today's story just one of many stories of the world through stamps I'd like to tell you nice to have been with you and I hope you will come back soon so long now [Music]