The Wright Brothers Envelope Collection contains one First Day Cover envelope (December 17, 1948) with a cachet entitled "Commemorating the Return of 'The Kitty Hawk' Wright Brothers' Plane" and postmarked at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
The Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, both grew up in Indiana. Wilbur was the oldest of the two by four years. The brothers started their own newspaper in 1889 and three years later they opened up a bicycle shop and began working on lots of mechanical projects. They were both interested in the German aviator Otto Lilienthal and decided to start experimenting with flight on their own. To increase their chance of success, they came to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, because of their strong winds. In Kitty Hawk, the brothers succeeded in flying the first heavier-than-air plane (December 1903).
Source: http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers
The Wright Brothers Envelope Collection contains one envelope with a cachet entitled "Commemorating the Return of 'The Kitty Hawk' Wright Brothers' Plane." The envelope details were made by the artist Day Lowry. Underneath the main title, there are two sentences informing the reader about the plane, where it has been, its significance and that it's being placed in the Smithsonian Institution on November 22, 1948. There are four of the same 6 cent Wright Brothers Air Mail United States Postage stamps on the envelope. It is postmarked to Kill Devil Hills, NC, dated December 17, 1949. The phrase "The Aristocrats" is printed in the upper left hand corner of the cachet.
Gift of Jonathan Dembo
Encoded by Mark Custer, March 26, 2008
Processed by Morgan Gurganus, December 19, 2017
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