Two items: a vintage matte-finish 3.5 x 5 postcard photo of James Doolittle in uniform seated in his cockpit, signed in fountain pen, "J. H. Doolittle"; and a flown air mail envelope, 6.5 x 3.75, signed vertically in fountain pen, "J. H. Doolittle." The envelope bears a "First Experimental Flight, Lima, La Paz" stamp, a typed address, "Curtiss Airplane Export Co., La Paz, Bolivia," and postmarks to front and back dated February 26, 1928. In overall fine condition.
Lieut. Doolittle was granted leave of absence and went to South America to demonstrate the feasibility of a permanent air mail service between South American points. On each of the five test flights, about 450 covers were carried by permission of the respective governments. All of these covers are franked with the stamps of the country of origin and are front and back-stamped, with the exception of Asuncion, Paraguay, where the receiving cancellation was placed on the front of the envelope.
