Charles Lindbergh Delivers the First Mail from South America, Miami, Feb. 1929. --Paul Hampton Crockett This photograph documents beautifully an extraordinary moment in time, not only taken in Miami, but bearing directly on the citys unique path to world infamy! Lindbergh was a true pioneer in aviation history, and, at the time this picture was taken, almost certainly the single most famous and celebrated individual alive, in the United States and around the globe. Only two years before, on the morning of May 20, 1927, he had been virtually unknown in the field of aviation, or for that matter, anything else. But that was to be the very last date any such statement might be made, for by the next morning he had safely touched down on an airstrip in Paris, the first to successfully complete the trans-Atlantic flight following a marathon solo journey of forty hours in the highly customized Spirit of St. Louis, a plane covered by fabric over metal tubing, and not metal. without radio, or even windshield. Upon landing at 7:52 a.m., he became the first man in all of history to have been in New York one day, and Paris, the next. The French went absolutely wild, and showed up in huge numbers to enthusiastically greet this modern-day hero, that had by himself made the whole world smaller! And In a sense (and to the horror of the somewhat shy man), the celebration never stopped. The extent of his fame remains nearly unparalleled even today. In history, as in all else, much boils down to a question of timing. In 1927, even as Lindbergh had been planning and accomplishing his memorable flight, a young man named Juan Terry Trippe had tentatively begun piecing together an airline. It began rather modestly, with the award of a single government contract to deliver U.S. mail by air, from Key West to Havana, Cuba, some 90 miles away. That single contract proved the foundation upon which the mighty Pan American Airways would be built. The ever-innovative Trippe soon began offering seats on the planes to private passengers, a novel idea that went over smashingly. From that point forward, Pan American kept right on gaining additional mail contracts, for routes all over the world, and each soon evolved into lucrative passenger flights. An entirely new and extraordinary era in air travel had begun. Marketing genius Juan Trippe lost little time in courting an association between Lindbergh and the airline, as consultant, and adviser. Thus, this picture. Lindbergh has just returned from successfully navigating to and from a series of stops in Central and South America, and is shown here delivering faithfully to authorities the mail he has picked up along the way. And to a certainty, Pan Am founder Juan Trippe sees in those bags and packages, much more than just mail alone. ____ Despite efforts, Im unable to identify with certainty the others present. My best guess would be, left to right, extraordinary inventor/aviation genius/developer Glenn Curtiss, City Mayor E. G. Sewell, possibly Juan Trippe, and I give up on the fourth. All submissions are welcome, and just about any name will do! Thank you.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 23:10:03 +0000
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