Author: Hitchcock, Frank (1867-1935). Postmaster General under Taft, credited with establishing the first U.S. air mail service.
Title: The Former Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock's Autograph on an Envelope Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the First Air Mail Flight.
Description: Mineola, NY, September 23, 1931. 1931. Mineola, NY, September 23, 1931. 1931. Very good. - A 3-5/8 inch high by 6-1/2 inch wide envelope illustrated with vignettes of the First Air Mail Flight which took off from Mineola in 1911 and the 1931 equivalent. "Mineola Chamber of Commerce" and the date are stamped in green at the top left and three two cent U.S. postage stamps at right are postmarked with the date and canceled. Addressed to Seymour Halpern in type, the envelope is signed in ink vertically along the left edge "Frank Hitchock / P.M.G. 1911", indicating his position as Postmaster General when that first air mail flight took off in 1911. The envelope is opened and a return address is typed on the flap on the verso. Very good.

Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1909, Frank Harris Hitchcock (1867-1935) was Postmaster General of the United States under President Taft from 1909 to 1913. Hitchcock is credited with establishing the first U.S. airmail service and with cracking down on mail fraud.

The recipient, Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co- sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation. Very good .

Keywords: AMERICANA; POSTMASTER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES; AUTOGRAPH; FRANK HARRIS HITCHCOCK; SIGNATURE; COMMEMORATING FIRST U.S. AIR MAIL FLIGHT; MINEOLA, NY; CHAIRMAM OF THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE; TWENTIETH CENTURY; POSTAL HISTORY; PHILATELICS; STAMPS;

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