1920 (Feb 14): 4 c. grey postal stationery card addressed to Alan
Ramsey Hawley (1864-1938), President of the Aero Club of America,
on
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
