This story of the first Canadian airmail stamp is a bit … twisty. From the time of the first airmail delivery in 1918 (History Part One) to the issuance of an official airmail stamp in September 1928, Canada had a busy airmail service, just not always through the official post office. The bulk of airmail letters and parcels moved via independent companies that served remote areas. Bush pilot companies established routes and moved mail all over the country, using their own stamps that were sanctioned by Canadian postal authorities. (see A history of Canadian airmail pt one – The 1st flight takes off).
1927 was a year of experimentation for Canada. Airmail was becoming increasingly popular, with permanent routes being established for both internal and international deliveries, but not by Royal Mail – Canada. Until 1927, Canada’s postal system relied on 3rd party contractors such as Patricia Airways and Laurentide to deliver mail to and from remote areas. Cross border airmail was handled by the US postal system. By 1927 the post office recognised how important airmail could be in moving mail rapidly between large urban centres as well as remote areas. They didn’t want to be left behind, nor did they want to risk the US post office taking control of this valuable service.
Canada became serious about taking control of the routes and expanding the service in 1927. Post office records show, $75,000 was earmarked to maintain existing service and develop new routes that year. Among the planned developments was the creation of specialty airmail stamps to charge an appropriate fee for this faster service. The Canadian post office ran at least 10 experimental flights to test viability of airmail delivery, throughout 1927.
Until 1927, no air mail of any description had been flown either in Canada or in Newfoundland
directly under government contract. Therefore that year marked a decidedly
progressive step forward in our flying history, because the Dominion government
finally became aware of the fact that air mail was
becoming a popular and a paying proposition.
Early Northern Air Mail – Canada’s History (canadashistory.ca)
The first flight(s) – it’s never simple
The first airmail authorised by the Canadian post office (regular air service, not private company deliveries aka semi-officials), took place October 4, 1927. Western Canada Airways Limited pilot Wilfred Leigh Brintnell (1895-1971) took off from Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, with 85 lbs of mail destined for Bissette, Manitoba, a distance of approximately 132 km (82 miles), with a second hop to Wadhope, Manitoba.
Western Canadian Airways semi official CL40 stamp 1927
With no airmail stamp ready for use, regular postage was affixed to each cover. However, according to the June 2004 Canadian Aerophilatist, “some covers from this flight contain the semi official CL40, but that these are to be considered souvenir covers” (p. 20).
The actual first airmail flight in Manitoba took place a few months before this October delivery. It was a semi-official flight along the same route. Capt. F. J. Stevenson, also from Western Canada Airways Limited flew the route June 1, 1927. This was a pattern the Canadian post office would follow in the coming years – absorbing tried and true routes setup by private companies and using them for official post office flights.
Records aren’t clear which aircraft was flown, but during it’s life Western Canada Airways flew a number of airplanes, including Fokker G-CAGD, Curtiss, Ford, Junkers, Fairchild, De Havilland, and Bellanca aircraft.
A parachute, a plane and a plan
Roméo Vachon, c.1920, unknown photographer, Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre.
The Canadian post office quickly followed up the Manitoba success with 2 more experimental routes, this time along Québec’s North Shore (Air Mail Services (AMS)) and then from Rimouski to Québec, Montréal and Ottawa (Air Stage Services (ASS)). These flights served two purposes – reaching remote communities unreachable because of the weather and fast tracking mail to and from ocean liners delivering international mail.
This time the contracts went to the Canadian Transcontinental Airways Ltd. (Western Canada, Laurentide and Canada Airways are sometimes credited, but Archives Canada’s records indicate CTA was awarded the contract). Roméo Vachon (1898-1954), by dint of luck, was picked to run a Christmas flight, delivering mail by both parachute and ski landing. The route covered over 2 dozen isolated communities that dotted the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, between La Malbaie to Sept-Îles, Québec.
Parachute drops potentially meant vital mail reaching small communities that were isolated by winter conditions and lack of roads. Life along the north shore was not for everyone, it took a particularly hardy person to endure the months of winter conditions, with virtually no communication with the outside world, unless it came by boat or dogsled. Regular airmail routes meant opening up these remote communities to the world.
After a near fatal accident to Dr. Louis Cuisinier and his pilot, in the Bay of Sept-Îles, Québec, Transcontinental Airways of Québec summoned Roméo Vachon, who was then in the employ of the Ontario Government. That same day Roméo took off from his base at Sainte-Agnès in his single-engined Fairchild, G-CAIP, which he had personally fitted with skis. He was carrying 753 pounds of Christmas mail destined for those who were enduring the interminable winter along the North Shore in almost complete isolation.
In the icy dawn the Fairchild set out to serve 28 small villages, with the pilot flying by sight; he had no radio or modern instruments panel. Alone in the sky in his ill-warmed cabin he watched the coastline and listened to the regularity of his motor. Skillfully avoiding clouds and patches of fog, the pilot flew as low as possible whenever he observed a hamlet. On the ground, in an empty space marked by a flag, a man stood waving his arms in sign of welcome. Through a trap in the hold, Roméo Vachon dropped out the mail bag to which a small parachute was attached. At Sept-Îles he landed and exchanged mail bags with the post- master. After refuelling, he took off again for Sainte-Agnès which he reached on the night of Christmas Eve. In ten hours of almost uninterrupted flight he had completed the first regular postal service of the North Shore.
ROMÉO VACHON: “The Flying Postman of the North Shore” 1973, G. Vachon
This being Canada, the first doesn’t actually mean the first. The first actual experimental parachute drop took place December 21, 1927, just a few days before the historic Christmas run. Vachon, returning from a flight from New York, passed over Québec city. While circling the airport he tossed a bag, with a parachute attached, out of his Fairchild monoplane where it was successfully retrieved by staff on the ground. While it was the first drop, it wasn’t the first official Canadian post office drop because the covers were stampless. The post office wasn’t directly involved in this delivery.
The later experimental route from Rimouski to Québec, Montréal and Ottawa was established May 5, 1928. Once again, Roméo Vachon flew the route. The purpose of this flight was to demonstrate how airmail connections to incoming and outgoing ships could speed up international mail delivery. For businesses, this was a potential time and money saver, and the post office was eager to demonstrate how it would work.
1928 saw an explosion of experimental flights and contracts being awarded to private carriers. The difference this time, the airlines would be contracted to work on behalf of the post office. These new routes eventually formed the backbone of the Trans-Canada airmail network.
About that stamp – airplanes & allegory
Communication within the Dominion has been facilitated and improved by an extension development of air mail services, and communication to all parts of the British Empire by the restoration of penny postage.
Canada Gazette, 1867-1946 (Dominion of Canada), vol. 61, Index, 1927
A new stamp was needed. Now that postal authorities recognised the importance of controlling the expanding airmail trade, an order was given for the creation of an airmail stamp. There was a bit of confusion, on the part of the public, as to whether a stamp was already in use. As early as May 28, 1928, the Deputy Postmaster General of Canada was responding to public queries stating no such stamp was issued (Canada’s First Airmail Stamps, James E. Kraemer, FRPSC The Canadian Philatelist March 19, 1988). There was even a question raised in Parliament about whether an airmail stamp was in current use. The Postmaster General answered that any stamps in use were “private” stamps (semi-officials) issued by airlines to supplement the costs of carrying airmail. No funds went into the post office coffers.
At the time these questions were being raised, the post office was already moving forward with its own airmail stamp. Its unclear why the post office didn’t clarify that plans were already in the works and by mid June, they took possession of the proposed design model:
The General Manager of the Canadian Bank Note Company, Charles G. Cowan wrote to Mr. Gaboury on June 20, 1928 “Dear Sir – We wish to confirm having handed to you yesterday the model of the proposed bilingual Air Mail Stamp”. (ibid, p. 113)
The Canadian Bank Note Company (BNC) assigned Herman Schwartz the job of creating Canada’s first airmail stamp. He was the hand behind many of what would become iconic Canadian stamps, including the 1929 Bluenose. Even if his name isn’t familiar, his stamps will be.
Schwarz would design all airmail and special airmail delivery issues. New engraver Silas Robert Allen was picked to do the delicate engraving work. Allen would go on to become a master engraver with the CBN, working on more Schwartz designs including airmails and the 1946 Peace Issues.
Evolution of C1 – there could be scandal!
One of the best descriptions of C1 comes courtesy Patrick Campbell in his 2001 article The First Canadian Air Post Stamp
Now if the stamp is examined more closely, it can be seen to be rather well engraved, depicting two angels joining hands over a globe, with a single-engine monoplane passing overhead. From study of the angels, it seems to me that the one on the left is female, and the one on the right seems to be male, but I am creditably informed that there are nine orders of heavenly beings, the lowest being angels, and the highest seraphim, and I have been told that angels are hermaphroditic, so I will leave this identification to people who may be better informed. Canadian Philatelist May June 2001.
The official post office announcement (Bulletin No. 393 September 1928) does in fact state the two figures were indeed female. What other hobby offers a discussion on angelic genitals, monoplanes and stamp design – philately, more to it than you think.
Gaboury oversaw the design approval, directing a number of changes during the process. The first proof was sent June 20, 1928, and by July 4, the post office returned it for alterations, or “remodelling”. The stamp was returned to Gaboury July 11 and remained in his hands until July 28th when it was sent back to CBN for further changes.
The notes attached to the above model offers a bit of insight into the design’s evolution. A couple of notations were made clarifying the airplane’s depiction and something about the “angels’” arms:
- Wheels of under carriage – it was felt the wheels weren’t correct and the post office wanted them displayed clearly under the airplane
- Shorter wing spread – a slight shortening of the wings created a more balanced aircraft
- arms of figurines – this remains unclear
The design team was under pressure to complete the stamp sooner than they planned. On July 24th the Postmaster General’s office readied a press release announcing that the new stamp would be released September 1, 1928. Gaboury and his team still had not finalised the design, resulting in a flurry of activity to prevent any missteps.
An alert secretary in the Deputy Postmaster’s office contacted Gaboury, letting him know a news release was to go out that evening (July 24th). All credit goes to Miss Mary Doyle for her fast thinking in quickly sending a telegram to Gaboury, who was in Montréal at the time.
Not only was the design as yet unapproved, the price wasn’t firmly established and no printing date was set.
Mr. Gaboury sent a telegram shortly after lunch to Miss Doyle, to hold the announcement until his return the next day. Mr. Gaboury realized that it was impossible to have the stamp information released since it still had not been approved for printing. Although no date of issue or denomination was given, news of the P.M.G’s approval of a new stamp soon appeared in the press. The result was a deluge of inquiries from philatelists asking for information on the new stamp. The Post Office Weekly Bulletin No. # 388 dated Aug. 11, 1928 advised that a new 5 cent airmail stamp would be issued shortly and information as to which places (post offices) would have the new stamp on sale would be made known when the release date was announced.
Canada’s First Airmail Stamps, James E. Kraemer, FRPSC The Canadian Philatelist March 19, 1988 p 114
On August 18, the announcement was released before the final design was settled on. The new stamp would inaugurate both the first official airmail (between Toronto and Montréal) and the first cross border service (Montréal to Albany, NY) with a special event set for October 1st for the international flight. And true to the ongoing confusion about this stamp, the post office didn’t include any details about the design.
On August 27, 1928, the post office finally approved the design and on September 4 sent an order for a first run of 200,000 airmail stamps. Delivery was expected between September 14 and 15th for the Sept. 21 release.
Designer: Herman Herbert Schwartz Engraver: Silas Robertson c1 brown olive die proof, steel engraving on india paper Intaglio 5,050,000 copies
Angelic Depictions – there will be scandal!
When the new stamp was released on September 21, 1928, there was … much discussion. The stamp, Allegory of Flight, ruffled feathers. James E. Kraemer’s article Canada’s First Airmail Stamps in the1988 The Canadian Philatelist outlines many of the complaints about the angelic depictions, and yes, we are back to that pesky issue of angelic bits.
One eagle eyed collector noted the angels showed only one wing. So much consternation was stirred over this “oversight” that the post office’s Financial Superintendent, Mr. H.E. Atwater, directed a note to the Canadian Bank Note company, questioning the lack of wings. The CBN stated that, while “technically the comment was correct”, the artist opted to leave the second wings out because their inclusion would “crowd and spoil the general effect” [ibid p. 116].
The BNC was irritated over how such a simple design issue could be blown so out of proportion that even the national press discussed it. The BNC’s VP and General Manager’s peevish reply to Atwater shut down any further official inquires by post office officials:
I feel as you (Mr. Atwater) a certain modesty in discussing the habits of angels. It is possible that their powers are not circumscribed and that they are able to fly with one wing better than most earthly winged creatures fly with two. [ibid p. 117]
The controversy didn’t end there. More complaints popped up, this time with the Vancouver Sun. They ran an article titled Air Mail Males are Female:
… The article noted that the angels in Canada’s new airmail stamp were female while the Christian bible always referred to angels as being “Sons of God” or “God’s Messengers” and were, therefore male. [ibid p. 118]
And again, the wing kerfuffle reappeared on October 20, 1928. This time the Daily Province (Vancouver) seemed to have taken the artistic removal of the second wings as a personal insult:
There are two flying figures supporting the top half of the terraqueous globe and behold they have but one wing apiece. Turn or twist the stamp how you will but you will only find one wing on each figure. -And there seems to be something symbolical in this, too. For I have a letter from a stamp enthusiast who sent some covers away and they were received by her two days later than the ordinary mail. Obviously, it is the duty of the Post Office to add the extra wing without undue delay. [ibid p. 118
Neither the post office nor CBN took the advice. Allegory of Flight remained as Schwartz designed it. Oh, and if you are interested, Schwartz modelled the airplane on a Fairchild monoplane, a popular aircraft used during that era. No complaints were registered concerning its depiction.
Negotiations commence
Since 1919, Canadians could send airmail to the US using a combination of regular Canadian and an American airmail stamp. Canada post would honour the usage of the US stamp and dutifully send the mail along its way. It was in part, a fear of further American encroachment on Canadian sovereign territory that helped push the creation of a Canadian controlled airmail service.
In fact, the first airmail delivery from Canada to the US took place 8 years before the officially sanctioned service was established. On March 3, 1919, with the cooperation of both the Vancouver and Seattle Postmasters, pilot Eddie Hubbard (1889-1928) flew a Boeing Model C Flying Boat from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, Washington. On board was passenger William Boeing and a bag containing 60 airmail letters destined for US delivery. Each letter carried the first US airmail stamp – the Curtis Jenny.
This route ran for 8 years, covering 350,000 miles and carrying untold numbers of airmail between the two cities.
Over the ensuing years, thousands of pounds of mail crossed the border using the same stamp combination. Despite it’s peculiarly secretive behaviour about publicly announcing the creation of a Canadian airmail stamp, the Canadian post office opened negotiations with it’s American counterpart in the spring of 1928 to hammer out a cross border agreement that would allow Canadian airmail stamps to be used on US bound mail.
Both countries wanted to apply their domestic rates to each outgoing letter/parcel. That meant the proposed Canadian airmail price of .05c for the first ounce and .10c for each subsequent ounce would be charged and the US post office would honour the stamp. Once again Deputy Postmaster Gaboury took the Canadian lead and worked with Second Assistant Postmaster General (USA), W. Irving Glover, to create an equitable agreement.
Some concern was raised early in the negotiations that any such arrangement may run afoul of the 1927 Hague Convention of Airmail. The fear was a US-Canada deal could potentially conflict with the new international agreement on revenue sharing and pricing for international airmail delivery. But by July 14, the US assured Canada that no conflict would arise by their private agreement.
First official flight – Canada and beyond
The C1 Allegory of Flight stamp had 2 firsts – first internal airmail delivery and first international usage. The now well established Toronto-Ottawa-Montréal-Rimouski route, setup in December 1927, saw the first usage.
Even before the stamp design was finalised, plans were made to celebrate the first international delivery. It was decided the new route would go from Toronto, Ontario to St. Hubert, P.Q. (Montréal, Québec) and from there to Albany, NY. The honour this time went to Canadian Colonial Airways Pilot W. E. Reider, flying (appropriately enough) a Fairchild FC-2 monoplane.
From Archives Canada
According to the Citizen newspaper, an estimated 25,000 people showed up to watch the ceremonies. They mobbed the post office tables, feverishly buying up the special souvenir covers and envelopes. According to the History Museum of Canada, by “the end of the day, more than 35,000 letters, in addition to newspapers and magazines, had been transported.” To put this into perspective, Canada’s population in 1928 was 9,835,000. The estimate population for the Greater Montréal area was less than one million at that time. To have 25,000 show up for one event, demonstrated the importance this flight held for the country.
The stamp, officially titled The Allegory of Flight, remained unchanged and in service until 1946, despite the grumblings. Complaints about the un-angelic look faded rapidly and demand remained strong. Eventually 5,050,000 copies would be printed, including one error refered to as the “Swollen Breast” (plate 2, position 4).
Bibliography
- Canada’s First Airmail Stamps, James E. Kraemer, FRPSC, The Canadian Philatelist March 19, 1988, 113
This article is a rich source of information on the development of Canada’s first airmail stamps. - The First Canadian Air Post Stamp, Patrick Campbell, Canadian Philatelist May June 2001
- ca – Winged Messenger – Building a Transcanadian Airmail System (historymuseum.ca)
- Post Office Department archives / Library and Archives Canada / PA-061915
- Early Northern Air Mail – Canada’s History (canadashistory.ca)
- The history of air cargo and airmail : from the 18th century, Camille Allaz p 48
- Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame https://cahf.ca/joseph-pierre-romeo-vachon/
- ROMÉO VACHON: “The Flying Postman of the North Shore” 1973, G. Vachon
- History Museum https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1928ae.html
- New research on Canada’s 5 cents Air Mail rate – 1928, Chris Hargreaves
- Technology and civil aviation : How popular attitudes and government policies shaped civil aviation and the air cargo industry from the early years of aviation through the jet age, Pierre-Emmanuel Moyse (Internal/Supervisor)(Contributor)Lycos, Paul(Creator) Thesis, Dissertation 2010, McGill University 2010
- 1960 Canadian Philatelist magazine
- Canada Gazette, 1867-1946 (Dominion of Canada), vol. 61, Index, 1927
- Herald-Journal 6 Sep 1928
- https://www.earlyaviators.com/ehubbard.htm
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