These photos show the nearly 100-year-old history of U.S airmail service, beginning on May 15, 1918.
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| First day of the U.S airmail service, May 15, 1918 |
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| JR-1B mail airplane designed by the Standard Aircraft Corporation, 31 Dec. 1918 |
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| JR-1B mail airplane, 1918 |
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| Loading airmail in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1925 |
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| New York City postmaster Thomas G. Patten and airmail pilot Lt. Torrey Webb, 1918 |
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| Pilot Eddie Gardner posing in front of an airmail plane, 1918 |
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| Unloading Airmail in Chicago, Illinois, 1921 |
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| Unloading Airmail in Omaha, Nebraska, July 1, 1924 |
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| A de Havilland airmail plane parked on unidentified airfield next to a U.S. mail truck, 1922 |
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| A modified de Havilland airmail plane with number #299, 1920 |
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| A U.S airmail plane on take off, 1918 |
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| Airmail loaded for pathfinding transcontinental flight, July 29, 1920 |
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| Airmail pilot E. Hamilton Lee, 1924 |
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| Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner and journal reporter Muriel Kelly, August 30, 1920 |
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| Airmail pilot Eddie Gardner, 1918 |
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| Airmail pilot Edward Killgore, 1918 |
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| Airmail pilot James Hill ready for transcontinental night flight, July 1, 1925 |
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| Airmail pilot Lloyd Bertaud and an unidentified individual, September 6, 1927 |
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| Airmail pilot Lt. James Edgerton and his young sister, May 18, 1918 |
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| Airmail pilot Paul Collins and bag of first overnight airmail, July 1, 1925 |
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| Airmail pilot William Fillmore, 1925 |
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| Airmail pilots Edison Mouton and Rexford Levisee, 1921 |
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| Airmail plane at Chicago, 31 Dec. 1920 |
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| Airmail planes at Elko, Nevada, 1920 |
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| Airmail planes at Omaha, Nebraska, 1920 |
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| Airmail planes at Omaha, Nebraska, 1924 |
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| Airmail planes at Reno, Nevada, 1920 |
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| An airmail plane in front of a hangar on the Omaha, Nebraska airmail field, 1927 |
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| Curtis JN-4H airmail plane taking off, 1918 |
(Photos from Smithsonian Institution)