Round-the-World Flights

Fidelity Stamp Company sends Air Mail Westward Round-the-World

Page 2hh (rev: 1000)

New York, NY	Hong Kong	Marseilles, France	New York BackStamp	Yankee Clipper

	On November 22, 1935 Pan American Airways began carrying mail across the 
Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines with its newly acquired 
Martin M-130 flying boat. Pan American decided to expand this transpacific mail 
service to passenger carrying service on October 21, 1936.
	On April 21, 1937 Pan American Airways inaugurated new passenger/mail service 
across the Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong with an intermediate stop in the 
Portuguese colony of Macao.  This opened commercial connections with Imperial Airways 
and KLM for onward transit round-the-world.  Several seized this opportunity to 
post mail round-the-world.
	It wasn't until May 20, 1939 when Pan Am inaugurated its transatlantic mail 
"Southern Route" air service and until June 24, 1939 when Pan Am inaugurated its 
transatlantic mail "Northern Route" air service that mail could transverse the globe
completely by regularly scheduled flights.  
	Who would be the first to send mail westward from the US round-the-world to be 
flown back to the US on Pan Am's newly scheduled transatlantic flight service?  
On June 20, 1939 Fidelity Stamp company sent an air mail multi-packet cover from 
New York to Hong Kong to be forwarded round-the-world via Marseilles, France returning 
to New York on July 11, 1939.

Cover Itinerary:

New York, NY            Pan American Airways          06/20/39
Hong Kong               Imperial Airways              06/29/39
Marseilles, France      Pan American Airways          07/07/39
New York, NY                                          07/11/39

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