Los 1142

1920 (Feb 14): 4 c. grey postal stationery card addressed to Alan Ramsey Hawley (1864-1938), President of the Aero Club of America, on reverse the message "Greetings from / Hong Kong by air mail / on the only postcard / we can get from here" and individually signed below by three pilots "Louis D. Beaumont, A.W. Brown and Chas. J. Glidden" in ink, and dated "Feb 14, 1920". The three famous pilots were in Hong Kong performing for the "Glidden First Aerial Derby Around the World" (held in Hong Kong between Feb 14-16) to demonstrate that flying (in this instance probably a Curtiss Seagull) was commercially feasible. The card itself probably not mailed but sent as an enclosure on their next stop (Singapore between March 13-15). An extremely rare souvenir usage as no Flight Cover is recorded from Hong Kong. Creased but a most extraordinary card. Note 1: Glidden First Aerial Derby Around the World Experimental Flights were madse in Japan (Nov 1919), Peking (Dec 23, 1919), Tientsin (Christmas Day), Shanghai in January 1920, Manila (Jan 17-19, 1920), Singapore and Ceylon (April 13-17, 1920). Note 2: The signatories were Arthur Whitten Brown (1886-1948) who famously flew with John Alcock and made, on June 14-15 1919, the first non-stop crossing between Newfoundland and Ireland. Commodore Louis D. Beaumont (1857-1942) chairman of the special commission of the Aerial Derby Around the World. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by France (1920), made a fortune in the shoe and clothing business and on his death he left $16 million to charities in Cleveland. Chas J. Glidden (1857-1927), another millionaire, he recognised the importance of Edison's telephone and controlled the 'phone lines in many States of the USA. He also realised that the automobile was not just for the wealthy but would soon be available to everyone. He was the first person, with his wife Lucy, to circle the world in an automobile