Skip to main content
Menu Collections
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 1949.129.1.22
Name Cover, Commemorative
Designer (American painter, 1919-2013)
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. On the left side of the white envelope is a stamped red-purple ink cachet consisting of an illustration of a cow jumping over the moon and text that reads: PHILATELIC SOCIETY / AIR MAIL / MAY WEEK 15-21 / MOUNT VERNON, WASH. / HOME OF CONTENTED COWS / DESIGNED BY ALDEN MASON." Below the cachet is the original ink signature of the Mount Vernon postmaster: C S Shrauger / Postmaster.

The envelope is addressed to (handwritten in ink): President Franklin D. Roosevelt / 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 Mount Vernon, Washington, May 17, 1938.
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 StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Collections
Non exposé