"Cleveland Greets the First Night Mail Plane," July 1, 1924

Summary

Early pilots depended on visual landmarks, preventing reliable nighttime navigation. When the postal service took to the skies with transcontinental mail delivery, a lighted pathway was formed to guide pilots at night. Throughout the 1920s, a series of powerful light beacons was built, eventually stretching from New York to San Francisco. This image celebrates Cleveland's first night mail flight.

Early pilots depended on visual landmarks, preventing reliable nighttime navigation. When the postal service took to the skies with transcontinental mail delivery, a lighted pathway was formed to guide pilots at night. Throughout the 1920s, a series of powerful light beacons was built, eventually stretching from New York to San Francisco. This image celebrates Cleveland's first night mail flight.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

01 July 1924

Creators

Unknown

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2001.0.107.26

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 5 in

Width: 7 in

Inscriptions

handwritten in image: 489 / Cleveland greets first night mail plane / July 1-1924

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