Aug. 11 issue date for red stamp celebrating airmail

By Michael Baadke

The United States Postal Service has revealed the issue date for the second of two forever stamps honoring the U.S. airmail centennial.

The nondenominated (50¢) red U.S. Airmail stamp will be issued Aug. 11 in College Park, Md., according to information sent out in a May 1 USPS press release.

The red stamp will have the same intaglio-printed Jenny biplane design as the blue U.S. Airmail stamp issued May 1 in Washington, D.C.

Although the Postal Service did not reveal details of the first-day ceremony, the College Park Aviation Museum is holding its free Airmail Centennial Celebration Family Day on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., so it is likely the first-day ceremony will take place in association with the museum’s activities.

The red U.S. Airmail stamp is being issued specifically to commemorate when the U.S. Post Office Department “took charge of U.S. Air Mail service,” on Aug. 12, 1918, according to the Postal Service. The service began a few months earlier, with mail being carried by a small group of U.S. Army pilots.

“Airmail delivery, daily except Sundays, became part of the fabric of the American economy and spurred the growth of the nation’s aviation industry,” the Postal Service said.

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Both the red and the blue U.S. Airmail stamps were designed by artist Dan Gretta, working with USPS art director Greg Breeding.