In 1938, the U.S. Post Office sponsored National Air Mail Week, held from May 15 to 21, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of Air Mail service, first launched by the Post Office on May 15, 1918. Carmel NY Postmaster Thomas Townsend served as chairman of the National Air Mail Observance Committee for Putnam County.
He fully embraced the celebration, which was aimed at boosting postal revenue during a time when the nation was emerging from the Great Depression and still reeling from the airmail contract scandal earlier that decade.
On May 19, 1938, Rockridge Airport on Townsend Ridge in Kent became the heart of Putnam County’s postal history. More than 3,000 commemorative cachet letters from the Carmel, Mahopac, and Garrison post offices were loaded onto a personal aircraft piloted by Hillyer Bennett of Mahopac Falls.
The day began with the Carmel School Band performing outside the Carmel Post Office as last-minute pieces of air mail were postmarked and packed into a special U.S. Mail bag. The band then traveled by bus to Rockridge Airport, where they performed for a crowd of over 300 attendees during a ceremony marking Putnam County’s first-ever air mail flight.
The flight was sponsored by the Marne Post No. 270 American Legion, and the event was documented by Willitt C. Jewell of The Courier. According to the paper, mail was addressed to every state in the Union as well as 17 countries, including England, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, France, Peru, Italy, Ireland, the Canal Zone (Panama), Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile, Australia, and what was then the U.S. Territory of Alaska.
As part of the week-long celebration, private pilots were recruited by local post offices for this one-day-only air mail event. Bennett flew his 1937 Model A Taylor Craft from Rockridge Airport to Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island marking the first airmail delivery by plane from any location in Putnam County.
Each participating post office designed a commemorative cachet for the event. Carmel’s cachet featured Enoch Crosby, a Revolutionary War patriot and inspiration for the character Harvey Birch in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy.
The design included his portrait and the text: “Patriot Spy of the Revolution and the Original of Harvey Birch in Cooper’s Novel ‘The Spy.’ Buried in the Gilead Cemetery, Carmel, N.Y.”
Printed on 2,500 air mail envelopes, these were sold at Hickman’s Department Store, Cornish’s Drug Store, and Wilkoc Drug Store. To ensure their inclusion in the flight, customers had to bring their mail directly to the Carmel Post Office and request that it be marked as part of the “First Flight.” Many envelopes from that day were signed by Postmaster Townsend and Pilot Bennett.
The Mahopac cachet featured a map of Lake Mahopac and Mahopac Point, with the slogan “Popular Beauty Spot of New York State.” In Garrison, Postmaster Arthur Walsh selected a design of four chain links, symbolizing the Great Chain used during the Revolutionary War to block British ships from advancing up the Hudson River.
That cachet read: “Garrison, N.Y. Where a Chain was Anchored During the War of the Revolution to Prevent British Ships Going up the Hudson River.”
In the Village of Brewster, Postmaster Seth B. Howes worked with a local committee to create a cachet featuring the Crosby Post G.A.R. Memorial, designed by noted sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956).
A metal die and rubber stamp were created based on a line drawing, incorporating the inscription from the monument: “Service For The Union,” symbolizing past, present, and future military service.
Although airmail from Brewster was not part of the Bennett flight, this cachet was used for all airmail sent from Brewster during National Air Mail Week.
This essay is provided courtesy the office of Putnam County Historian Jennifer Cassidy. Located in Brewster, NY, in the lower Hudson River Valley, the Historian’s office preserves, interprets, and promotes the history of Putnam County. Visit their website for more information and Putnam County resources.
Illustrations, from above: The first air mail flight on May 19, 1938, including (right) Carmel Postmaster Thomas Townsend, Clifton L. Smith, Ray Cole and Ernestine Hamlin Baker, along with decorated members of American Legion Marne Post 270 (courtesy the Willitt C. Jewell Collection); Postmaster Thomas Townsend hands over the 26-pound bag of air mail from Carmel residents to Pilot Hillyer Bennett at Rockridge Airport (For comparison, Mahopac’s air mail bag weighed 5½ pounds, and Garrison’s 9 pounds), courtesy The Courier, May 1938; a recent eBay listing showcasing a May 19, 1938 Carmel cachet honoring Revolutionary War spy Enoch Crosby; and 1938 cachets of Brewster from The Courier archives.
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