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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
1938 National Air Mail Week U.S. Commemorative Cover
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

1938 National Air Mail Week U.S. Commemorative Cover

Object numberMO 1949.129.1.7
Name Cover, Commemorative
Maker
Maker (American painter, 1900-1985)
Date1938
Mediumpaper, ink
Dimensionsoverall H 3 5/8 in x W 6 1/2 in (9.2 cm x 16.5 cm )
DescriptionA stamp cover commemorating National Air Mail Week in 1938. The white envelope has a printed border consisting of red and white, and blue and white, illustrations of planes, biplanes, hot-air balloons, and airships. On the left side of the envelope is a stamped red ink cachet featuring illustrations of man wearing a hat, an oil tower, and a mountain. Text in the cachet reads: LUDLOW / ♦CALIF♦ / ON OLD / SANTA FE / TRAIL / NATIONAL / AIR ♦ MAIL ♦ WEEK. Along the right side of the cachet is the original ink signature of the Ludlow postmaster: Vernie E. Sharradan P.M.

The envelope is addressed to (typed): Honorable F. D. Roosevelt. / President. / White House, / Washington, D.C. Adhered in the upper right corner of the envelope is a U.S. 1938 blue and red 6¢ Air Mail postage stamp (Scott C23). The envelope is postmarked Ludlow, California, May 19, 1938

On the reverse is a second cachet, this one in purple and in the shape of an arrowhead inside which is the illustration of a building at the base of a mountain range, and text that reads: SAN / BERNARDINO / CALIF. / HOME of the / NATIONAL / ORANGE SHOW / FIRST FLIGHT / AIR MAIL / WEEK / MAY 15-21-1938. The name of the artist is in the lower right corner of the cachet: THETIS ALTON. Hand written in ink on the right side of the envelope: First Flight from / San Bernardino.
Label TextFranklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong stamp collector who gathered over 1.2 million stamps into his personal collection during the course of his life. He began collecting stamps at the age of eight at the suggestion of his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, who passed on her collection to him.

After FDR's death, his personal stamp collection, including this stamp cover, was sold at public auction in 1946 in accordance with his wishes.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteLent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Charles M. Abbott in 1949. It was donated as a bequest of Abbott to the Library in 1952.
Credit LineGift of Charles M. Abbott
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesStamp Collecting Materials (National Archives Identifier 749938)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestricted
CopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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