Commemorative cover with a cachet honoring "Gen. Italo Balbo and his Italian Air Armada to a Century of Progress," postmarked in Chicago on July 15, 1933, signed prominently in fountain pen, "Balbo." In fine condition, with adhesive remnants to reverse.
Known as the Decennial Air Cruise, Mussolini’s Minister of Air, Italo Balbo, planned and executed a display of Italian air strength that impressed the world. Twenty-five specially equipped twin-hulled Savoia-Marchetti SM.55X flying boats made a mass transatlantic flight from Orbetello, Italy, to the Chicago World’s Fair, an expedition that began on July 1 and ended on August 12, 1933. A publicity success for Fascist Italy, Balbo further viewed the expedition as a pioneering step toward commercial flights across the Atlantic.
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