ROESSLER, ALBERT CHARLES, Pt. 1 - 1883-1929

Roessler covers are certainly the most exciting and challenging specialized collecting niches in American philately.

Fig. 1. Albert Charles Roessler, Jr. (1883-1952), in a photograph at age 46 published by himself in Air Plane Stamp News, Volume 114, March (1929) with the gag line the photo is of the manager of the import department.

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ATTENTION ALL ROESSLER COLLECTORS - DEALERS - SPECIALISTS

I'M PREPARING A STUDY FOR POSSIBLE NEW BOOK ON ROESSLER

Please send in any information about Roessler to add to this essay which is lacking or you think needs correction. All contributors will be cited and fully credited. Please write john@numismaticmall.com Thank you to all who contribute.

Well over 900+ Roessler Covers & Post Cards Available Will Keep Posting Them When Time Allows. Several Covers Plated in Barry Newton's A. C. Roessler Photo Cachet Catalogue Property of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel formerly the property of the Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Keep Watching!

NOTE TO THE READER

There are two different cataloguing systems used in this webpage. One is that used by Barry Newton. The other is my own revised numbering system based on strict chronology of cachets, covers, etiquette, labels, poster stamps, cinderellas, private service postage stamps, foreign postage stamps, post cards, album card specimens, collecting supplies, and periodicals. The new revised system is in large bold print found just above the scanned photographic digital illustration of the cover specimen in my collection or that of another. You will find 99% of the cover illustrations found on these webpages illustrating the career of A. C. Roessler are property of the Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Collection and are for sale.

Albert Charles Roessler, Jr. (1883-1952), was born on April 7, 1883, at Newark, New Jersey, son of Albert Roessler and Emma Roessler (1858-).

1958 Washington Avenue, New York. Coin and stamp dealer, began trading as a stamp dealer in Denver. His career can be conveniently divided into Pre-Aerophilatelic Era and The Aerophilatelic Era since airmail became his specialty. As a preliminary note I cannot but stress enough how Albert Roessler loved philately and the excitement and adventure it brings each new day. He relished that and through his creative genius he created interesting designs, neither the most polished nor refined, but nevertheless just as enthralling and appealing as any of the best. He didn't miss an opportunity to create a unique cover to celebrate each new development and change in airmail services. Collecting every sort of Roessler item or the Roessler Atlas is certainly well over 5,00 covers, cards, and stamps. That's something sizable and no collector known has such a complete and exhaustive Roessler collection. It will take a serious collector many years of excitement and enjoyment to assemble a collection of a wide variety and in the process a considerable amount of financial investment. But don't worry. If you've accomplished that your collection is worth a fortune. That would be true even if you only collect a third or less of the speculative forecast of well over 5,000 covers and other items. This is a perfect hobby to do alone or to assemble together with a loved one or business partner bringing countless hours of research and amusement in the process of learning and appreciating the scope and magnitude of what Albert Roessler brought into the field of philately. If you study the accomplishments of Albert Roessler through this perspective you will find a very warm hearted dealer who loved his work and the people he serviced. Yes, he did fudge that one time in his offering of the Antartic mail but it was only to not disappoint customers and naturally not to loose the business and confidence of his market.

Fig. 2. Roessler's 1904-7 ads give his address as 21 Club Building, Denver, Colorado. Later he removed to East Orange, New Jersey. Advertisement in The Philatelic West, Volume 28, No. 1, September (1904) leaf 13 recto. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

OVERVIEW

Roessler was both a stamp and coin collector and dealer. His coin business lasted over thirty years. His heyday was from 1928 to 1932. Just as John W. Scott was dubbed the octopod by Edouard Frossard so too can we give this title to Roessler. His stamp business was both indefatigable and extraordinary, and we should add - novel, introducing a myriad of artistic illustrations for stamps some of which were used by the government or at least based on his drawings but without credit or acknowledgement and also for his myriad of cacheted covers illustrating contemporary themes that took the collecting world by force. Because he was slighted by the government for his artwork inspiring several postage stamps Roessler became a spokesman for criticism of the U. S. Post Office, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the U. S. Postmaster, all of which eventually backfired on him in the 1930's. Due to his excessively novel and innovative activity in philatelics his numismatic business and dealings unfortunately have become obscured by time and little or scarcely none of his numismatic literature is known to be extant and rarely if ever seen on the market. His weekly bargain list for coins was titled The Coin News which grew out of his original Coin List offering coins at highly competitive bargain prices. One aspect of Roessler's coin business that will prove to be noteworthy to numismatists was his advertising and promoting medals and commemorative coins and his illustrated cacheted covers of them that popularized them to a new generation of collectors. Commemorative coins were not exclusive to centennial, bicentennial and tricentennial celebrations since stamps were also issued and Roessler pioneered and innovated the cacheted first day cover concept to stimulate collectors to collect both the stamps, covers, and coins and medals that accompanied them in their issues. For the medal and commemorative collector, scholar and dealer Roessler played an important role in helping to establish a stronger market for this specialized niche. Moreover, he evidently did business with Henry Chapman as several pieces of mail are found in the Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive. It may be too difficult to hunt for them since there are over 28,000 pieces of mail stored in over 325 binders, but when found they will be posted here. He owned a stamp and coin shop in the Ampere section of East Orange, New Jersey. The shop was taken over by Frank Gerardo Spadone (1924-2000), who may have worked for Roessler at the end of his career or else it was his brother John Gerardo Spadone. John Spadone (1922-2010) is famous as the creator and originator of The Coin Press in 1955, while Frank Spadone is the numismatist famed for his specialization in coin oddities of misstrikes and both author and publisher of Major Variety-Oddity Guide of United States Coins. Under Spadone's ownership the shop was known as Ampere Coins since stamp sales were discontinued by him though he had what was left of Roesslers hoard hoping someone would come and buy the lot. Some of the coin and medal inventory of Roessler was still there in the late 1950's and early 1960's of fond memory of this writer, and included ancient and U. S. Colonial coins, among them Fugio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York Cents, as well as Washington pieces, and a variety of American and foreign medals. I remember Spadone talking about Roessler and his arrests and the Federal agents that came into the shop and seized everything.

1. Pre-Aerophilatelic Era

Early Life

He was born in Newark New Jersey on April 7, 1883, son of Austrian-German ancestry of both parents, Albert Roessler, Sr. (1859-1890), a newspaper man who became a letter carrier for the Newark Post Office, and Emma Katherine Erbe (1858-), who had recently moved to New Jersey from New York. He had an older sister by two years Estelle, and a younger sister by two years named Wilhelmina. The family name in German is spelled Rössler, or Rößler. His paternal grandfather was Johann Rössler a native of Vienna, Austria, and his wife Mathilda a native of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. His father Albert Roessler, Sr., died on September 26, 1890. According to the U.S. Census 1900 his mother remarried in 1893 after the death of his father to John Mulcahy. The Mulcahy family lived on Mt. Prospect Street, Newark, New Jersey. They had two children, Albert Mulcahy and Hattie Mulcahy, Albert C. Roessler's two half siblings.

1893 - A Star is Born

According to a biography of Roessler published in The Collector's Journal of Chicago, September (1915) : 16, "He became interested in stamps in 1893." During the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 from May 1 to October 30, coins and stamps were issued by the U. S. Mint and the American Bank Note Company as collectible commemoratives as well as to be used in commerce. The excitement of collecting during a period of excitement and profound change captured the imagination of ten year old Albert Charles Roessler who emerged a collector and dealer.

He became hooked on stamps and coins at the age of ten, and later on specialized as a First Day Cover (FDC) cachet maker and servicer for most of his entire career. He was a talented artist illustrator and cartoonist and advertised his gummed labels and Stamp News in Cartoons Magazine. He used his artistic skills to create many illustrations for his three main publications : A. C. Roessler's Stamp News, Stamp Dealers News, and Air Plane Stamp News, as well as a myriad of illustrated cacheted first and second day covers. While living with his parents at 140 South [now called the Oraton] Parkway, East Orange N. J., he moved to Colorado as a young man, first working in the mines and on a ranch. (Newton, 1977, p. 99).

Fig. 3. Roessler's imprint ad for his three publications : A. C. Roessler's Stamp News; Dealers' Stamp News [actual title : A. C. Roessler's Stamp News, Dealers' Edition], and Air Plane Stamp News. Eugene Klein of Philadelphia first published Air Mail in 1922 five years before Roessler's Airplane Stamp News. Dealers' Stamp News, is listed in Smith as No. 20, A . C. Roessler's Stamp News, Dealers' Edition.

1903 - 1908 - The Denver Years

He was trained as an artist at the Evening Drawing School, now called the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts. After graduation we find him first listed in the Ballenger & Richards 31st Annual Denver City Directory for 1903 as a printer’s apprentice to the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Times. While in Denver he ran a mail order stamp business, and wrote columns and advertised his bargain stamp products in The Stamp Journal of Denver and Philatelic West.

A. C. Roessler's very first advertisement in The Philatelic West and Camera News, Vol. 22, No. 2, February (1903) : 5th leaf recto after front cover. Lupia has gone through every page of every issue for the two years prior and confirms this to be the first appearance in that publication.

Egypt's 1892 Salt Tax Stamps were sold by A. C. Roessler in 1903 as a dealer in Denver, Colorado. The vignette of the Sphinx and pyramid became logos used by two stamp dealers : Richard Rezeau Brown, Keyport, New Jersey and Samuel P. Hughes, Howe, Nebraska.

December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur designed, and Orville successfully test flew their prototype at Kitty-Hawk, and Wilbur held the edge of the wing to balance the plane running with her as she lifted into the first air flight of a sustained powered and controlled airplane. The paradigm shift from railroad transport to that of airways for the purveyance of postal mail service would make its first attempt 7 years 8 months later. in September 1911.

In 1905, according to the New Jersey State Census, he lived at 72 Mt. Prospect Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, working for a newspaper. Apparently, he moved or returned to Denver sometime that year since we find him there listed as a founding member of the Denver Stamp Club organized on December 13, 1905. The minutes of the January 1908 Club meeting state that a photographer for the Denver Republican took a Club photo that was published in the February issue of the Illustrated Sunday Magazine of the Denver Republican. The photo is reproduced in Newton, 1977, at p. 108. The photo certainly includes Roessler, who was present at the January 1908 Club meeting, but he had a passion for anonymity, and never allowed another photo of himself to surface. (In 1913, Roessler drew a cartoon of himself showing only the back of his head, and published it in the December 1913, A. C. Roessler's The Stamp News, with a humorous note saying it was in response to readers asking him to publish a=======[ picture of himself.) Newton noted in 1977 that no one knew what Roessler looked like, sufficiently to identify him in the 1908 Denver Stamp Club photo. (Id., p. 108). The 5'-11" Roessler weighing 210 pounds would never permit his photograph to be published and no confirmed pictures of him are known. Dan Barber in his "Via Air Mail" column in Stamp Collector (September 13, 1980), reproduces two photographs which might be those of Roessler. Originally Barry Newton reproduces the two photographs on page 108 purporting to contain Roessler in group shots. The first one he cites was published in red ink on the cover of Philatelic West, Vol. 20, September (1902). However, Brodstone also published Charles H. Nast's list of names of those in the Denver Stamp Club in "Our Illustrations," and Roessler is not in the photo since everyone is named except him.

ROE-1 & ROE-2

ROE-1 Earliest known Roessler Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

ROE-2 Roessler's Change of Address Scalloped Edge Cinderella

ROE-CC1. A. C. ROESSLER DEALER IN Postage Stamps DENVER, COLO. Perhaps, the earliest graphic illustrated advertising cover of A. C. Roessler, who while in Denver, Colorado, using as his logo a rare Newfoundland 16 cents issue of 1865. worked at various jobs and was a part-time stamp and coin dealer working hard towards making that his full-time career goal. NOTE : Sticker with change of address A. C. ROESSLER STAMP DEALER 1958 Washington Ave. New York City applied to old envelopes. Black on blue tinted paper envelope postmarked New York, November 4, 1910. Roessler Corner Card Cover found in Barry Newton, A. C. Roessler Photo Cachet Catalogue, page 85. Note : ROE-CC2a White on red seal attached to the lower left corner showing he used remaining unused covers from Denver when he moved to New York requiring change of address. Newton nomenclature should be CC-2, not 2a since logic dictates when a dealer relocates he immediately has mailing stickers (CC-2) and rubber stamps (CC-2a) made and then orders new printed envelopes which would be Newton's ROE-CC-2, which sold be CC-2b. NOT in Lupia Collection.

Roessler is believed by this author to be the next to last man far right back row deduced by his height and age being twenty-five at the time. Denver Republican, Illustrated Sunday Magazine, page 5, February 23, 1908.

The second is the Senior Stamp Collectors Club of Denver published in The Denver Republican, Illustrated Sunday Magazine, page 5, February 23, 1908. Roessler is believed by this writer to be the next to last man far right back row deduced by his height and age being twenty-five at the time and seems consistent with the 1929 photo in Air Plane News.

The May 1908 issue of The Stamp Journal in Denver announced that Roessler was leaving his job as President of The Stamp Journal Co., and transferring his stock in the company, to return to full-time residence in New York City.

A Note to the Collector - This marks the first period of Roessler materials in the following schema of chronology :

I. 1900-1909

a.1900-1904 - Unknown? - uncollectible?

b.1905-1909

II. 1910-1919

a.1910-1914

b.1915-1919

III. 1920-1929

a.1920-1924

b.1925-1929

IV. 1930-1939

a.1930-1934

b.1935-1939

V. 1940-1949

a.1940-1944

b.1945-1999

1909 - April 1910 Roessler Begins His Independent Stamp Dealership

Period 1b-2a.

1958 Washington Avenue, New York

The April and May 1909 issues of The Stamp Journal published humorous articles by Roessler on the stamp dealer scene on Nausau Street in New York City – about monopolistic auctions and the appearance of imperforate stamps from the First Bureau Regular Postage Series of 1902-03. On May 1, 1909 Vol. 1 No. 1 of [A.C. Roessler’s] Stamp News appeared, the first of 209 issues published from 1909 to 1937. Originally titled simply Stamp News in May 1909 Roessler changed the title in December 1909 prefixing his name to it as A.C. Roessler’s Stamp News. In 1909 in New York, Roessler worked as Manager of the Federal Stamp Co. in the Tribune Building on Nassau St, and lived at 1958 Washington Ave. (Id., pp. 99-102). In 1909 he was APS Member No. 3086, listed in the American Philatelist Yearbook, and in The Numismatist, September-October, 1909.

He ran a display ad selling U. S. copper coins, and mixed lot of foreign coins in the Philatelic West Vol. 44, No. 1, April 1909 (9th leaf from end)

He applied to the ANA in September and joined the ANA in November 1909 with an address at 1958 Washington Ave. . This is the earliest known numismatic activity of Roessler within the mainstream of American numismatics. From here on we find Roessler involved with the coin and stamp business until he retired in 1940.

ROE-3

ROE-3 Roessler's New York Address

ROE-4

ROE-3 Roessler's Rubber Stamp Return Address

ROE-CC2c. Old English rubber stamp corner card. (Should be CC-2a) Roessler to Gilbert Gaylord Stiles (1850-1913), sent in Ecuador postal stationery cover uprated postmarked Tremont, New York, February 5, 1910. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-CC2c. Old English rubber stamp corner card. Roessler to Gilbert Gaylord Stiles (1850-1913), sent in U. S. postal stationery cover uprated postmarked Tremont, New York, February 12, 1910. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-4

ROE-4 Roessler's Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

ROE-CC2. Black on white envelope. Roessler Corner Card Cover found in Barry Newton, A. C. Roessler Photo Cachet Catalogue, page 85. NOT in Lupia Collection.

May 1910

10 and 10-1/2 Clay Street, Newark, New Jersey

By May 1910 Roessler moved across the river to his native city of Newark, New Jersey, to 10 and 10-1/2 Clay Street, where he resided, dealt in stamps, coins and covers and published A.C. Roessler’s Stamp News. Roessler was a great enthusiast for variety in covers and printings so he used his address as just such an opportunity and variably printed or wrote his address as 10 Clay Street, and at other times 10 1/2 Clay Street.

ROE-5

ROE-5 Roessler's Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

Should be ROE-CC3. Unlisted Roessler Corner Card Cover sent to W. R. Ricketts mute postmark 1910. NOT in the Lupia collection. Ex-Garrett Pennington.

He married Elizabeth Ann Koch (1905-1983). He became vice president of the Newark Stamp Club in 1911 and the President in 1914.

- 1911 -

Period 2a.

ROE-6

ROE-6 Roessler's Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

ROE-CC3 (Should be CC-4) Vermillion. Only 10 printed. Roessler correspondence with Ricketts 1911. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

The 1911 Newark City Directory, page 1093, lists him as a stamp dealer boarding at 10 1/2 Clay Street. His first return address rubber stamp gave the address as 10 Clay Street.

ROE-7

ROE-7 Roessler's Rubber Stamp Return Address

Roessler to Lee Tibbals, Kansas City, Kansas, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, July 31, 1911. Tibbals was APS Member No. 2831. Chipped corner has been restored with original fragment. Another 3c Tarjeta Postal (postal card) of El Salvador a different design from 1911, dated September 7 is plated in Barry Newton on page 107. Note : rubber stamp corner card in red ink should be ROE-CC4b. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

The American Airmail Age - September 1911

Postmaster Frank Hitchcock handing a mailbag to first U. S. airmail pilot Earle Ovington at Mineola, New York on September 25, 1911. This event captured the imagination of the world. Among its greatest enthusiasts is the subject of our sketch, A. C. Roessler who in the next seven years will devote his philatelic career to chronicling airmail first flights , contractors, and air routes.

THE MONA LISA OF ROESSLER COVERS

ROE-8

ROE-8 Roessler's Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

Unlisted. An amazingly enchanting and enthralling Christmas 1911 A. C. Roessler's Stamp News, Vol. III, No. 8, with cover illustration of a stylish woman, perhaps his wife Liz reading A. C. Roessler's Stamp News, printed in black ink on white paper envelopes. Franked with Scott #352, vertical coil 1c dark green, Machine cancel with mute CDS, Newark, New Jersey, 1912. The areas of the illustration appearing gray are actually an optical illusion of the eye mixing a tight array of tiny black dots in pointillism technique. The illustration is a self-reflecting depiction of the cover girl reading A. C. Roessler's Stamp News that is echoed in miniature with her portrait repeated again identically reading A. C. Roessler's Stamp News on the cover of the Christmas 1911 issue. The design is from an engraving by Christopher J. Strakal dated 1911, when in the employ of Capital Engraving Co., Springfield, Illinois. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Rare. No other specimen known. Perhaps and apparently unique. For sale. Estimate $3,000 - $5,000 USD. A true museum showpiece. Write john@numismaticmall.com

- 1912 -

Period 2a.

ROE-9

ROE-9 Roessler's Corner Card Graphic Illustrated Philatelic Dealer Advertising.

ROE-CC4. A. C. Roessler's Stamp News advertising cover classified by Barry Newton as a corner card his illustrated example postmarked August 10, 1912. The design is from an engraving by Christopher J. Strakal dated 1911, when in the employ of Capital Engraving Co., Springfield, Illinois. Above : Roessler correspondence with APS Hall of Fame recipient W. R. Ricketts. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-10

ROE-10 Roessler's Corner Card.

Unlisted Corner Card ROE-1912. Postmarked Newark, New Jersey, March 2, 1912. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-11

ROE-11 Roessler's Return Address Envelope.

Roessler cover postmarked Dominican Republic, June 6, 1912. Ex-Kunzer. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Unlisted ROE-CC. Roessler to Mr. D. L. Weaver, Welland, Ontario, Canada, on recycled postal stationery with pasted over address label, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, June 20, 1912. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 9 & 10. Note : rubber stamp corner card in red ink should be ROE-CC4b. Roessler postal stationery cover Scott #U116-U35 = Thorp-Bartels #362 with uprated franking with a very scarce Scott #392, postmarked Guam, June 10, 1912. This is a remarkably early Roessler cover that was originally printed all-over advertising backside for Dashwood Medicine and Chemical Company of Fort Worth, Texas, on Plimpton postal stationery issued 1874-1876. In 1912 this was an antique unused cover some 36 -38 years old when Roessler came upon it and self address rubber stamped it in red ink. Note the right handed Roessler favored the far left side when stamping the rubber stamp leaving the right side with a weaker impression thereby causing the maladroit impression of the address 10 CLAY ST., to appear as if reading 10 CLAY CT. The C of what seems to be CT., is actually composed of the upper and lower lobes of the S of ST. Apparently, he sent this cover in a larger envelope either to a postmaster at Guam or someone he knew at a military base in Guam and requested they mail it back to him with the Guam postmark. Many dealers used to do this sort of thing to get postmarks they wished to have either for themselves or for a collector/client. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.

ROE-12

ROE-12 Roessler's Return Address Label.

Fig. 11. Note : label stamp corner card in red ink should be ROE-CC4c. Roessler to Mrs. E. S. Watkins, Vice-President of the State Teacher's Association, Columbia, South Carolina, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, September 30, 1912, uprated Postal Stationery with Scott #413, 1912 Coil 81/2 Perf- Vertical, corner card. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com

- 1913 -

Period 2a.

ROE-CC4. A. C. Roessler's Stamp News advertising cover sent to Hall of Fame W. R. Ricketts. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-13

ROE-13 Roessler's Return Address Envelope.

Fig. 13. Self-addressed stamped business envelope of A. C. Roessler postmarked Honolulu, Hawaii, February 3, 1913, A.M., Flag Cancel - H-14. Special postal marking in violet stamped "Received at Honolulu, Hawaii under cover from the Post Office At Newark, N. J.Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Roessler correspondence with G. C. Norman, a partner in Seevers, Norman & Co., Jewelers. Earliest Roessler Stamp News Graphic Illustrated Advertising Cover with Roessler's fictitious daughter Roberta Roe, postmarked March 3, 1913, franked with Schermack private vending machine stamp perforations. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. Roessler was in charge of the "Coin Department" for Everybody's Philatelist, Volumes 4, No. 8, August, 1913, page 190

Roessler registered mail Dominican Republic franked with overprint Revenue stamp postmarked September 20, 1913. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale Write john@numismaticmall.com

Roessler to Ricketts, September 23, 1913. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale Write john@numismaticmall.com

- 1914 -

Period 2a.

ROE-14 & ROE-15

ROE-14 Roessler's Corner Card Envelope.

ROE-15 Roessler's Return Address Rubber Stamp.

Fig. 14. Roessler postmarked VERACRUZ, Mexico, May 8, 1914. That was just 17 days after USA occupied Veracruz. On April 9th U. S. sailors entered Tampico Bay fueling station and were arrested. President Wilson ordered the U. S. Navy to occupy Veracruz and release the sailors. The cover is franked with a Scott #444 issued April 25th making this an early use. Roessler probably franked this the first day of issue placing it in a larger mailing envelope to the postmaster at Veracruz. The postmark and cancellation were made by a roller self evident in the repetitive CDS and four wavy line killers. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale $450. Write john@numismaticmall.com

By December 1914 he had moved his residence and stamp and coin operations into his new home at 140 South Parkway, East Orange, New Jersey.

Clay Street, Newark is an industrial section of Newark with scattered apartment buildings and overhead apartments. Apparently Rosessler owned his own shop there since he advertised print jobs in various periodicals. Owning a print shop allowed him to print his magazines and envelopes at cost.

- 1915 -

Period 2b.

Roessler becomes a U. S. agent/representative for some of the largest European stamp firms

ROE-16

ROE-16 Roessler's Stamp News Cinderella.

Roessler printed his own poster stamps inaugurating his new address early in 1915. Below you will find an early example used to seal the back flap posted March 3, 1915. For sale. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Lewis Brodstone's cinderella for Philatelic West was introduced in 1915 and Roessler also created a similar one. Who's zooming who?

Samuel Jones & Company, Newark, New Jersey was an established gummed paper dealer for poster stamps and was his supplier. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Beginning 1915 Roessler was located at 140 South Parkway East Orange, New Jersey until his retirement, with a minor sub address later.

New England Philatelist, March (1915) : 96

Roessler's registered post from Belgium postmarked April 11, 1915. For sale. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-17

ROE-17 Roessler's Graphic Illustrated Corner Card Envelope.

Figs. 15 & 16. Roessler May 3, 1915 corner card with Roessler's fictitious daughter Roberta Roe, cinderella A. C. Roessler's Stamp News on back flap. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 17. Roessler's advertisement soliciting to print labels and for a mere 2 cents will send his 40-page catalogue of printing services and rates published in Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 5, May (1915) : 6

- 1916 -

Period 2b.

The term "poster stamp" is as it's name suggests a stamp imprinted with the design of a poster that won an award in a poster contest. The City of Newark, New Jersey, for example, for the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the City 1666-1916 had a Committee of the One Hundred organize in 1915 a poster contest inviting ten internationally known poster artists to compete against any other artist in the public forum who wished to enter the contest. The 1st prize won by Adolph Treidler with the poster No. 56 Robert Treat directing the landing of the Founders of Newark, the 2nd prize, by Helen Dryden, poster No. 19, and 3rd place poster No. 24, by A. E. Foringer became just such poster stamps that were manufactured by the Newark Lithograph Company.

ROE-18

ROE-18 Roessler's Corner Card Label.

Roessler reused a pre-printed postal stationery embossed envelope pasting over the imprinted address with a slip of paper writing in the addressee over which he pasted in the upper left corner his return address label used as a corner card to J. Taylor, Huddersfield, England with censor seal during WWI. Back flap sealed with A. E. Foringer's award winning poster stamp for Newark's 250th Anniversary. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

- 1917 -

Period 2b.

ROE-19

ROE-19 Roessler's Stamp News Cinderella.

A. C. Roessler's Stamp News cinderella circa 1917.

ROE-20

ROE-20 Roessler's Stamp News Return Envelope.

Roessler 's Stamp News Advertising cover the return envelope version of ROE-CC3, postmarked Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, May 18, 1917. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Roessler 's Stamp News Advertising cover the return envelope version of ROE-CC3, postmarked Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, May 29, 1917. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale. Write john@numismaticmall.com

- 1918 -

Period 2b.

2. Aerophilatelic Era

A. C. Roessler will devote over twenty years to chronicling airmail first flights, contractors of the various AAMC's, and the air flight routes mapped by the U. S. Post Office Department with their contractors, as well as non U. S. Post Office Department airmail events. The earliest established airmail of 1918 and throughout the remainder of his life A. C. Roessler never ceased chronicling as many new postal routes as possible. He was also a pioneer and developer of the private airmail cover niche. As he would publish later in life, Standard Historical Souvenir Airmail Catalog (1932) "mail carried by famous aviators on some important project" is how he defined his specialized niche of aviator pilot signed and carried covers he termed "Historical Souvenir Airmail". When he penned that name the first time he sensed it did not do justice to appropriately express and convey the magnitude of importance he felt this cream of the crop collectible niche should have in its sheer prestige and esteem for its historical significance and value as an heirloom. Moreover, he deliberated on the word "important" regarding historical airmail flights. Since Lindbergh, for example, had flown so many airmail flights which of these flights among the multitude should reasonably considered as "important". Roessler made it very clear he did not post mail on every Lindbergh flight and only on the principal flights : trans-Atlantic, and "Round-the-World". If an airmail flight was not considered important in an aeronautical way then Roessler would not post any covers since the flight was ordinary and not of principal importance. Collectors, keep Roessler's guidelines in mind when assembling a collection.

Postmark Fox Harbor, Nova Scotia February 15, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Military Postal Express Service (MPES) - April 10, 1918

United States - Postal Express Service, St. Mihiel postmarked (in French) Avril 10, 1918, Postal Express Service, No. 313 in exergue under arch below EXPRESS. The cover is an American YMCA envelope franked with 10 pfennig red SG 85a most probably it seems to have served as a souvenir for stamp dealer A. C. Roessler to mark the event of the first mail to be flown sent from an officer in the Military Police Company, IX Army Corps, St. Mihiel, who apparently sent it during the Lys Operation. The letter is rough opened across the top of the envelope due to haste of the Censors who had to clear all mail in haste.

Consulting Christopher Berg's informed article in U. S. air force and planes used during WWI, The History of the U.S. Air Service in World War I," (https://centenaire.org/en/autour-de-la-grande-guerre/aviation/history-us-air-service-world-war-i) we see the arrival of U.S. planes and how the U. S. also used planes of British and French manufacture in April 1918. In 1914, the American pilots were but few and organized into the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps thereby replacing the former Aeronautic Division, that comprised 44 officers and 224 enlisted men. The Escadrille Lafayette of 1916 was not incorporated into the American force until spring 1918. It was only in September 1917 before an air service was officially attached to the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It was only in May 1917 the Aircraft Production Board began training pilots in America to fly in WWI. American production of aircraft was very slow due to poor factory designed assembly lines in the factories. Consequently, U. S. air force personnel sometimes used French aircraft such as the SPAD VII and SPAD XII The "Smith IV" and original SPAD XIII is on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C. The first air squadrons arrived in Europe in April 1918.

The military mail was collected and flown out through their flight course patterns eventually arriving to USA addressees. The above shown cover is postmarked five months prior to Battle of St. Mihiel. Though the AEF and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing for combating German forces during WWI encamped since late 1917 military personnel from Mihiel headquarters were able to send mail when they first arrived in April evidenced here with this cover. Apparently some time after the 10th of April 1918 the U.S. War Department which directed overseas post offices for military personnel were now called the Military Postal Express Service (MPES) becoming the first regular run military air mail service. According to George Thompson, "American Military Operations and Casualties in 1917-18," University of Kansas Medical Center (http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/index-of-essays/american-military-operations-and-casualties.html). "By the late spring and summer, as the number of American units increased and were ready for combat, they fought with the French Army in defensive battles that ended the series of German attacks begun in March 1918 that were intended to defeat the allies. . . . April 9-27, 1918-The Lys Operation: three regiments of US Army engineers and one pursuit squadron are attached to support the British Army's defense against the German's ‘Georgette Offensive' in Flanders."

The very first postmarked specimens prior to the new MPES design as the above illustrated cover are rare since they are simply postmarked Postal Express Service legend in single double ring of dial segmented by a Star of David design. This cover was mailed during the Lys Operation April 9-27, 1918, and chronicles that defense initiative and its mail flown out under General Pershing's command. According to aerophilatelic experts the new duplex handstamp with MPES in the dial and Barred Ellipse with numeric APO in the barrel first appeared at Limoges, France, in May. If true then all Mihiel mail prior to that date and new MPSE design would or should appear the same as the illustration above. Note lower left hand corner U. S. Censor stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Regular Scheduled United States of America Airmail Service Begins

AAMS 101(I)

A. C. Roessler serviced First Flight Cachets, but not First Day Cachets, on the Scott #C3 24c Red Jenny Airmail issued May 13, 1918 for the inauguration of the U. S. airmail between New York and Washington. He printed his own Winged Letters ROE-FD-1 designed envelopes and post cards with the text Inaugural Aerial Post Washington-Philadelphia-New York. franked with 24 cents airmail rate postage either in the single #C3 or in combinations of postage totaling that amount and sometimes with a surprise stamp or stamps on the reverse flap side.

ROE-21

ROE-21 Roessler's Inaugural Aerial Post - Winged Letter Envelope.

ROE-FD-1 Brown, First Flight Washington-Philadelphia-New-York, May 15, 1918, franked with Scott #507 strip of two, and two Scott #504 placed apart. Scott #501 on back flap. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale

According to Tom Clarke, A Catalog of Philadelphia Postmarks, Part II, 12-59 "Philadelphia's air mail began on May 15, 1918 at Bustleton's Flying Dutchman Airport when the first government-sponsored airmail plane touched down on its way to New York from Washington. For the next 14 months air mail cancels were utilized by the Philadelphia PO, to cease on July 18, 1919 when air mail, except for experimental, emergency, or public relations purposes, went out of existence."

In The Stamp News he published an early report of the C3 Inverted Jenny.

Six months after the issuance of the Scott #C3 he founded The Air Plane Stamp News, publishing 167 issues between November 1918 and 1938.

He operated his commercial and postal printing business operations at 37 So. 8th Street, in the Roseville Section of Newark, and addressed his covers to this address from March 1921 until March 1924, after which he reverted to exclusive use of his home address at 140 South Parkway, East Orange. (Id., p. 101-106).

On July 11, 1918 the Scott #C2 16c Dark Green Jenny postage stamps were first sold. First postmark cancel July 15, 1918.

FDC Scott #C2 Cover addressed to Dr. Harvey, Brookline, Massachusetts, postmarked Air Mail Service July 15, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale $800

ROE-22

ROE-22 Roessler's Airplane Post Envelope.

ROE-FD-3 Red-Brown, A. C. Roessler to Herman Boers, Detroit, Michigan, postmarked August 7, 1918. Courtesy Tom Clarke, A Catalog of Philadelphia Postmarks, Part II, 12-59 .

On August 12, 1918, the U. S. Post Office Department took over all phases of airmail service, using newly hired civilian pilots and mechanics, and six specially built mail planes from the Standard Aircraft Corporation.

First Flight New York-Chicago, September 5, 1918

ROE-FD-3 Red-Brown, only 12 printed. Postmarked September 5, 1918, Colleyville, Texas, franked with Scott #C2 with postal auxiliary marking FORWARD. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FD-1 Brown, 91 were printed and Barry Newton speculated that others may have been printed in different colors, though none so far have surfaced to my knowledge. If anyone has one printed in a color other than brown please write john@numismaticmall.com. No census of the number of surviving specimens has been made as yet. First flight, 60 days after issue of Scott #C2-AP1 16c green issued July 11, 1918. Note the unusual VIA AER O PLANE, when American spelling was adopted as airplane in 1911. This odd stamp is found on first flight covers posted at the Lock Haven airport on September 9, 1918. Postmarked Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1918, Flag Cancel Dial A14 , Flag Die 17-227. Langford notes the majority of Roessler's first flight covers were posted at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and this can be validated in Barry Newton who illustrates this cover with that postmark. This one here was posted instead at Lock Haven, where pilot Max Miller spent the night having flown in from Chicago and Edward Gardner picked up the mail the next day. Also, note the ink bleed on the back of the cover from partially wet inked covers stacked in a pile when Roessler was printing them. The bleed on the back shows features in reverse. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-23

ROE-23 Roessler's Stamp News Envelope.

Fig. 19. ROE-CC6 A. C. Roessler’s Stamp News, Advertising cover, postmarked Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1918, first flight, 60 days after issue of Scott # C2-AP1 16c green issued July 11, 1918. Very early Air Mail before the establishment of the Transcontinental route from Cleveland to Chicago. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. If this were a regular mail cover alone it would be worth from $150 on up. Early Air Mail covers sell typically $600-$800. This one was bought in Germany. For Sale $475.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 20. ROE-CC6 This is the actual cover plated in Barry Newton on page 86, franked with Scott #C2 16c green, September 9, 1918,. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Early Air Mail covers sell typically $600-$800. For Sale $575.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 21. ROE-FD3 Roessler "By Airplane Post" cover September 9, 1918, franked with Scott #C2 16c green, addressed to F. A. Howard, Los Angeles, with postal address correction. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $475.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Charles L. Schmid of Los Angels, California to Roessler with a cover franked with a strip of 2 Scott #529, #C2, C3. Schmid was a German immigrant who came to America in 1905 at the age of seven with his parents Ludwig and Anna. He worked as a blue printer. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

Fig. 22.. Roessler mail from Columbia, South America, with bisected postage. Letter opened by Censor labeled and resealed. Postmarked September 23, 1918. $400. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. 23 & 24. Roessler, Netherthands Antilles - Curaco, franked with Scott#74 with 5 cent surcharge overprint on 12-1/2 c blue Queen Wilhelmina, postmarked Curaco, October 5, 1918, double ring black, back hand stamped in magenta double ring "Passed By Censor". Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $400.

ROE-24 & ROE-25

ROE-24 Roessler's Address Label.

ROE-25 Roessler's Stamp News Cinderella.

Roessler October 7, 1918. Cinderella on back flap We Take Subscriptions to Roessler's Stamp News. Roessler changed the name of his magazine to A. C. Roessler's Air Plane Stamp News a few weeks after this cover was postmarked. For sale $400. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

November 1918, Roessler changed the name of his magazine to A. C. Roessler's Air Plane Stamp News. His New Logo Design is a Winged unlatched and opened Air Mail Bag shown dropping 9 letters from the sky; above : text placed along an arched or dome curved invisible line reading : Air Plane; below : reverse curve Stamp News as the above in a relaxed casual font.

On December 1o, 1918 the Scott #C1 6c Orange Jenny stamps were first sold.

ROE-26 & ROE-27

ROE-26 Roessler's Return Envelope

ROE-27 Roessler's "By Airplane Mail" rubber stamp etiquette.

Early Use Roessler December 17, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-28

ROE-28 Roessler's Business Envelope

Roessler December 18, 1918. franked with Scott #C2 16c green. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library. Roessler sent out only twelve of these first flight via Chicago covers franked with Scott C2 issued July 11, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $475.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-29

ROE-29 Roessler's Return Envelope

ROE-CC7 First New York to Chicago airmail flight, December 18, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $350.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-30

ROE-30 Roessler's Via Air Plane Etiquette

ROE-CC7 First New York to Chicago airmail flight, December 18, 1918, franked with Scott #468. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Ex-Samwells of Bath. For Sale $350.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-31

ROE-31 Roessler's Second Winged Letter Envelope

Figs. 29-32. Roessler's Airplane Stamp News (ROE-CC7) and Winged Letters (ROE-FD2b) postmarked December 18, 1918. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $350.00 Each

ROE-FD2b - AAMC #110, Crash #18.4, Winged Letter postmarked December 18, 1918, sent to P. F. Robertson, Peoria, Illinois. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $350.00

- 1919 -

Period 2b.

Fig. 33 A. C. Roessler’s Stamp News, May 1920. In 1919 his address was East Orange, New Jersey; in 1924 his address was 37 South 8th Street, Newark, New Jersey.

Roessler came into possession of three sheets with 18 blocks of 4 stamps of the 5c error Chattanooga, Tennessee postage stamp, as reported by Dr. C. W. Hennan, "Preancel Notes," The American Philatelist, March 1 (1919) : 185-186. Not in the Lupia Collection.

Albert C. Roessler’s First Corner Cards were for the #614/616 Huguenot-Walloon Set of 5/1/24. (#614/616 ROE-1, ROE-2 and ROE-3, in Newton, 1977, p. 5; #614/616-4, -4a & -4b, in Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, pp. 29-30). The First Roessler Cachets were for #620/621, the Norse-American Set issued 5/18/25 (#620-621 ROE-1 and #620 ROE-2 in Newton, 1977, pp. 6-7; #620/21-1 and -9, in Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, pp. 37-38; Monty et al., First Cachets Revealed, 2006, p. 6). There are no known Roessler FDCs, either manufactured or serviced, for the #617/619 Set (3) Lexington-Concord, issued 4/4/25. (Newton,1977, p. 7; Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, pp. 33-36). The First Pictorial Roessler Cachet was the #623-1 17c Woodrow Wilson issued 12/28/25. (Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, p. 41; Newton, 1977, pp. 8-9). As a printer, Roessler also produced and sold to other FDC Cachet makers and Servicers as well as the general public, many varieties of distinctive air envelopes, beginning with the Roessler double-bar envelope on 3/20/25, two types of “barber-pole” air envelopes in 1928, and three types of “checkered” air envelopes in 1929-1930 (Newton, 1977, pp. 3-4). The #620-9 and 620 ROE-2 March 18, 1925 cited above have a printed advertisement for Roessler envelopes on the back. (Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, p. 38; Newton, 1977, p. 7).

A. C. Roessler return envelope with strip of two imperfs, postmarked May 21, 1919. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. 34. ROE-CC7 Roessler May 24, 1919 Air Plane Stamp News franked with Scott #C1 Orange-Brown due to oxidation of ink batch, first Cleveland to Chicago airmail flight. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $350.00

A. C. Roessler self addressed stamped envelope sent from St. John's Newfoundland, Canada postmarked June 11, 1919 . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FD2a Roessler July 15, 1919 Winged Letters cachet in myrtle green, franked with Scott #C1 Red Orange due to oxidation of ink batch, to young stamp collector Philip Ashenfelder, Asbury Park, New Jersey. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FD2a Roessler July 16, 1919 Winged Letters cachet in myrtle green, franked with Scott #C1 Red Orange due to oxidation of ink batch, to young stamp collector Philip Ashenfelder, Asbury Park, New Jersey. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-32

ROE-32 Roessler's Return Address Rubber Stamp

ROE-FD2b Winged Letters, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, August 15, 1919. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FD2b Roessler Air Mail postmarked Chicago, Illinois, August 16, 1919, franked with a rare Schermack vending machine stamp with a mimic Doane 4-Bar killer. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FD2b August 17, 1919, Yellow-Orange Winged Letter printed in Yellow ink, improperly franked for airmail rate with Scott #482 Washington 2c carmine coil imperforated type I, with Schermack Type III perf, Mimic Doane 4-Bar cancel. Compare to James S. Cline Collection Private Vending Machine Coils, Daniel F. Kelleher Auction, March 5, 2014, lot 187. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $325.00

Roessler's Canadian Aerophilately

ROE-FD2b Red. Exhibition Chat Card - Lupia Numismatic Library. The Aero Club of Canada, the CNE, and the American Flying Club sponsored a round trip air race between Toronto and New York, August 25-27, 1919. This Roessler cover shown above, addressed to H. A. Bernard, Toronto is franked with a scarce Scott #540 2c Carmine Rose with Guide Line across top of original coil then perforated 11 x 10, postmarked New York August 25, 1919, was carried on the return trip to Toronto from New York flown by pilot W. G. Baker. Two air mail etiquette markings, one, a Roessler printed labe issued December 1918l, the other, a rubber stamp in red ink "Aero Mail" on the engine head with side wings. A semi-official label was authorized for mail originating in Toronto only. This cover is signed by flying ace W. A. Bishop, who was a partner of W. G. Baker. Back flap has a large poster stamp or cinderella of A. C. Roessler with a cartoon caricature of an American Colonial Pilgrim in period garb wearing over that the advertising boards in orange with black frame border that says : Read the Air Plane News, while the hukster clangs his brass bell. A prominent collector, Harry A. Truby, signed his expert authentication to the right of the Roessler cinderella advertising stamp. Very rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.

ROE-FD2b Yellow. An item from the historic U.S.-Canada Air Race, addressed to Fred J. Melville, London, franked with a scarce Scott #540 2c Carmine Rose with Guide Line across top of original coil then perforated 11 x 10, postmarked New York August 25, 1919, was carried on the return trip to Toronto from New York flown by pilot W. G. Baker. Back stamped Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Brixton, SW2, London, England. Lupia Numismatic Library.

Roessler from England postmarked Leeds, August 30, 1919. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $175.00

Roessler postmarked Kingston, Jamaica September 10, 1919. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $225.00

ROE-33

ROE-33 Roessler's Backside Advertising Business Envelope

Roessler Airplane News "back flap text type advertising cover," postmarked December 8, 1919. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

- 1920 -

Period 3a.

Roessler First Flight Los Angeles to San Francisco, California, May 27, 1920, franked with strip of 2 Scott #535 Imperfs. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-34

ROE-34 Roessler's Return Address Rubber Stamp

ROE-FD2a Winged Letter postmarked August 16, 1920, franked with Scott #C1 Red Orange due to oxidation of ink batch, and reposted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of commercial flight on March 19, 1976, postmarked Chicago, Illinois. Very unusual and rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $300

Overprint revalued postage Three Cents, St. John's Newfoundland, September 18, 1920. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $225.00

ROE-FD2a Overprint revalued postage Three Cents, St. John's Newfoundland, September 18, 1920, on Green Printed Winged Letter. . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $275.00

- 1921 -

Period 3a.

ROE CC9, New York February 17, 1921, from Cuxhagen February 19, 1921 to Berlin, Germany. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $275.00

ROE CC9, New York February 17, 1921, from Cuxhagen February 19, 1921 to Berlin, Germany. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's advertisement renting commercial space at 37 South 8th Street, Newark, New Jersey. New York Times, Thursday, April 28, 1921, page 28

Roessler's post card received from the King Albert I's Belgian Philatelic Exposition May 26-29, 1921, Palais d'Egmont. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler to Hoyt at Brooklyn, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, August 29, 1921, Scott #U458 doubled entire. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler, First Flight Cover between Kansas City, Missouri to Ohaha, Nebraska, winged US hand-stamp in purple AMERICAN LEGION NATIONAL CONVENTION Kansas City, October 31, 1921. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $275.00

- 1922-

Period 3a.

A. C. Roessler would have made a great continuity editor for the film industry. His review of Island Wives (Vitagraph Company of America, released March 1922) pointed out several flaws to logic by director Webster Campbell. What is curious is the Kansas newspaper carrying his film review.

- 1923 -

Period 3a.

The American Air Mail Society was found.

- 1924 -

Period 3a.

Roessler begins creating FDC's

1. FDC Huguenot-Walloon on Roessler Return Envelopes (Newton, 5)

POSTMARKS :

Albany, New York

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Charleston, South Carolina

Jacksonville, Florida

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Mayport, Florida

New Rochelle, New York

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Rochester, New York

10 CITIES

614-16 ROE-1. FDC Huguenot-Walloon 1c, 2c, 5c issues franked on A.C. Roessler's business envelope printed in red ink with address to Roseville, Newark, New Jersey, postmarked New Rochelle, New York, May 1, 1924. Only 11 known. Other postmarks known for this variety include Allentown, Albany, Jacksonville, and Mayport. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

614-16 ROE-2. Sulfite Envelope

614-16 ROE-3. FDC Light Rose (5 known) Huguenot-Walloon 1c, 2c, 5c issues franked on A.C. Roessler's business envelope advertising corner card "Printers for Cleaners & Dyers" on very Art Deco pink tinted paper with text in black ink. Barry Newton described this envelope not as pink, which it is, but rather, as light rose. Only five of these were ever franked as FDC's, with postmarks of either New York or Reading, Pennsylvania. From this cover we learn five things : (1) Roessler liked the First Day Cover craze among collectors creating an opportunity to be capitalized on by producing them for clientele. Although not yet cacheted he provided his own branding using his business stationery. (2) We learn about his printing business targeted to the dry cleaning and dying industry. (3) We learn about his avant-garde artistic inclination with his very Art Deco pink and black business envelope and his sense of design in the typography and layout. (4) We learn of yet another business address and time span at 37 South 8th Street, Newark, New Jersey. Barry Newton (page 85) mentions this address but says "Roessler used 37 South 8th Street, Newark, address from March, 1921, to March, 1924." However, we see this very first FDC bears that same address with a postmark New York, May 1, 1924, bringing that period for the address two months further in time. Fifth, we see a postmark outside the scope of the 10 cities to have set FDC's. Reading, Pennsylvania is the other postmark for this variety. This one New York, New York, C. P. G. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

Roessler U. S. Government Flight - Democratic National Convention, postmarked June 24, 1924 Service Marking : Delayed for Directory Service; pointing hand Return to Sender. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $175.00

On July 1, 1924 U. S. transcontinental Airmail 8c per zone begins.

The first ever Coast to Coast Airmail Flight, July 2, 1924, franked with Scott #C4 AP2 8c dark green. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $175.00

First Roessler Zeppelin ZR3 Flight Cachet

ROE FZ-2. Note Sieger 20.a lists this as a cachet made not by Roessler , but rather, by George H. Jaeger, Editor of 'The Airpost Stamp', Libau, Latvia. It is clear that Roessler made this cachet. He apparently sold Jaeger a batch printed with his name at the bottom to send as branded items celebrating the maiden voyage of ZR3 for his clientele. This too is clear since it does not say anywhere copyright George H. Jaeger. The Sieger editors made an error claiming Jaeger prepared this as a commemorative cachet. Obviously, no infractions against Roessler are known in copyright violation for his continued use of this cachet and those years later of this modified for later Zeppelin designs. No case ever surfaced in philatelic literature as an infringement lawsuit. Jaeger and Roessler both published early aerophilatelic magazines and very likely were in constant communication.

ROE FZ-2. Sieger 20.a Roessler ZR3 Cachet imprint on postcard. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE FZ-2. LZ126-ZR3. Friedrichshafen - Lakehurst Delivery : Friederichshafen, September 15, 1924, Friedrichshafen, October 10, 1924, - New York, October 14, 1924, Brooklyn, New York, October 15, 1924, sent to R. Amort, Brooklyn, New York. The purple oval Mit Luftschiff Z. R. 3 befördert is the official German Post Office cachet. Roessler for Jaeger Zeppelin LZ126 or LZ R3, cachet in dark blue, From Editor "The Airpost Stamp, George H. Jaeger, Libau, Latvia, postmarked September 15, 1924, franked with Scott #C20 (2), #C22 (2), and #C23. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE FZ-2. Z-R3. LZ126-ZR3. Friedrichshafen - Lakehurst Delivery : Friederichshafen, September 15, 1924, Friedrichshafen, October 10, 1924, - New York, October 14, 1924, Brooklyn, New York, October 15, 1924, sent to R. Amort, Brooklyn, New York. The purple oval Mit Luftschiff Z. R. 3 befördert is the official German Post Office cachet. Roessler for Jaeger Zeppelin LZ126 or LZ R3, cachet in dark blue, From Editor "The Airpost Stamp, George H. Jaeger, Libau, Latvia, postmarked September 15, 1924, franked with Scott #C20 (2), #C22 (2), and #C23. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE FZ-2. Z-R3. Note the cachet is not with the text From Editor "The Airpost Stamp, George H. Jaeger, Libau, Latvia, since the cover is reduced at the bottom. The purple oval Mit Luftschiff Z. R. 3 befördert is the official German Post Office cachet. Roessler Zeppelin Cachet in medium/light Bluegreen, LZ R3, postmarked September 15, 1924. sent to R. Amort, Brooklyn, New York. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's training in art at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts provided him with the knowledge and skill requisite to designing his own typography. Largely, all the typography on Roessler covers are his own designs. In the early 1920's Roessler designed his own sans serif in square type style which anticipated the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris. Roessler's early Art Deco typography is emblazoned in very large letters on his return address business envelopes. These covers offer an amazing treat to serious collectors allowing them to appreciate a dimension of Roessler frequently overlooked, his creative and artistic genius producing avant-garde designs gracing his covers with their distinctive Roessleresque chic look. The letter A looks like a number 7 with a reversed F. Their is something reminiscent to the distinctive A in the signature of Albrecht Durer only here rendered by Roessler in his own Art Deco flair.

The form his name took on these return address envelopes was A. C. Roessler, a trade name that begins with the first letter of the alphabet A. This empowered his company name to appear in the top of alphabetical lists in directories. This desire to come first in a directory gave businesses obvious advantages allowing customers to come across their name first. Consequently his branding himself and his firm as : "A.C. Roessler," provided a few advantages and a certain form of distinction.

Orville Wright Day, Dayton, Ohio, October 2, 1924. franked with Scott #C4 AP2 8c dark green. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $250.00

On November 14, 1924, The Daily Postal Bulletin announced the the Double Bar Air Mail Envelope with Via Air Mail in the lower left corner.

Addressed to Airplane Stamp News, Scott #86 1898 Christmas Stamp, strip of 2 Half-Cent Victoria. postmarked Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 17, 1924. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

- 1925 -

Period 3b.

ROE CC-11 Black. postmarked Varick Street Station, New York, February 18, 1925, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library . (Newton, 87, 107)

The 1925 Directory of the City of Orange lists Roessler as a painter.

ROE CC-11 Black. postmarked Varick Street Station, New York, February 18, 1925, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library .

The Lupia Discovery Piece of A. C. Roessler's Double Bar Air Mail Envelope EKU January 11, 1925 68 days earlier than published in Barry Newton.

The design of "The Wrestlers" has a frame based on Greek Doric order architecture taken from Brodstone's cover design for his magazine Philatelic West that appeared from January 1907 to January 1911. One wonders if Roessler is making an allusion to a wrestling match of sorts he was having with Lewis Brodstone. Moreover, one additionally wonders if the Nebraskan accent pronouncing Roessler's name sounded like "wrestler" and the cartoon is a resulting pun.

According to Barry Newton, A. C. Roessler Photo Cachet Catalogue (1976): 3, tells us that at the time of his publication the March 20. 1925 date was the Earliest Known Use (EKU) of A. C. Roessler's Double Bar Air Mail Envelope bearing a postmark of this date.

Barry Newton lists only six varieties of the Double Bar envelopes. Other varieties are shown here below. Generally, Roessler's Double Bar's are wide and heavy and wrap around the front to the back to one extent or another. He had different print runs of these and some batches show the wrap-around is entire, while other runs are just to the edge. Obvious variants to those shown in Newton have lighter and more attenuated bars, which frequently do not go to the side edges of the front but fall short leaving a quarter inch gap or more on each side. Some of this seventh type or variety have their own design for an air mail corner card either boxed or not and in blue, black, or red. Other variants are non blue and red bars but of the same color matte blue.

Scarce Cachet Via Los Angeles/ Air Mail/ Via Air Mail/ By Airship/ Los Angeles/ From Lakehurst, N. J./ To Porto Rico. Sieger 20N. New York to Bermuda, postmarked Air Mail Service CDS with 4-Bar killer in bright red ink, New York, April 15, 1925, and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, May 5, 1925. $175. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. (Newton, 93)

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Cachet Via Los Angeles/ Air Mail/ Via Air Mail/ By Airship/ Los Angeles/ From Lakehurst, N. J./ To Porto Rico. New York to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, postmarked Air Mail Service CDS with 4-Bar killer in bright red ink, New York, April 27, 1925, and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, May 5, 1925, franked with Scott #595 Superb rich and intense deep carmine. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $700

2. Scott #620-621 FDC Norse American - First Special Printing (Newton, 6)

Postmarks :

7 CITIES :

Altura, Minnesota

Benson, Minnesota

Decorah, Iowa

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Northrop, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Washington, D. C.

620-21 ROE-1 FDC : Roessler's First FDC cover Norse-American Centennial Celebration, May 18, 1925, Planty #1, postmarked Decorah, Iowa, May 18, 1925, franked with Scott #620 + #621. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $275.00

620-21 ROE-1 FDC : Roessler's First FDC cover Norse-American Centennial Celebration, May 18, 1925, Planty #1, postmarked Washington, D.C., May 18, 1925, franked with Scott #620 + #621. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $275.00

3. Scott #620 FDC

May 18, 1925, Scott #620-ROE-2 back flap text advertisement centrally formatted :

ENVELOPES PRACTICALLY FREE--Send this envelope and

$1.25 and we will send you 250 with your return card on front and

this ad. on back. On every order we receive with your card on

front we will send you 15c. One order only out of 25 letters

you send out makes your envelopes free. This envelope

must be sent with your order. A. C. Roessler,

Roseville, Newark, N. J.

(Newton, 7)

EXPERIMENTAL FLIGHT COVERS

1. Overnight Airmail New York to Chicago

Carl F. Edge, General Superintendent of the Post Office Department's Air Mail Division, and Col. Paul Henderson, Second Assistant Postmaster General, jointly announced overnight Air Mail Service New York to Chicago in April 1925. The 780 mile route had emergency landing fields for safety. Curtiss "Carrier Pigen" selected published in U.S. Air Service, Vol. 10, No. 4, April (1925) : 20. Contracts were made in May 1925. The final advertisement "Only A Night's Flight," was published in U.S. Air Service, Vol. 10, No. 6, June (1925) : 7.

First Experimental Flight New York - Chicago, Over Night Airmail, Test Flight, June 5, 1925, franked with Scott #C4 AP2 8c dark green. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

2. Sea Plane Flight Seattle to Victoria

Boeing B-1 Sea Plane built in 1919 was sold for mail routes on the west coast at Seattle to Victoria and the First Flight was December 27, 1919. These flights continued until 1927. Roessler began commemorating this airmail route in July 1925 when the S. S. McKinley

ROE-AAMC 555. Seattle, Washington - Victoria, British Columbia Via Sea Plane, etiquette in a red manuscript perpendicularly inscribed By SS Pres. McKinley; violet boxed etiquette SEATTLE/VICTORIA/ SEA PLANE/MAIL and purple rectangular etiquette SEATTLE, WASH./SEAPLANE MAIL/VICTORIA, B.C., postmarked machine cancel, Seattle, Washington, Terminal Station, July 26, 1925. Some specimens observed have the purple and violet etiquette rubber stamps closer together. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Left edge : Signed in red ink By S.S. Pres. McKinley; Purple rubber stamped service marking :Seattle Victoria Seaplane Mail , Black rubber stamped service marking : "Seattle, Wash. Seaplane Mail Victoria, B. C." Seattle Wash., Terminal Stamp, franked with Scott #618 2c Birth of Liberty, carmine rose, August 6, 1925, 10 AM, franked with Scott #618 A182 Lexington Concord Issue 2c Carmine Rose Birth of Liberty - April 4, 1925. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $150.00

ROE-CC. Roessler Unlisted Corner Card, Left edge : Signed in red ink By S.S. Pres. McKinley; Purple rubber stamped service marking :Seattle Victoria Seaplane Mail , Purple rubber stamped service marking : "Seattle, Wash. Seaplane Mail Victoria, B. C." Seattle Wash., Terminal Stamp., August 19, 1925, 10 AM, franked with Scott #618 A182 Lexington Concord Issue 2c Carmine Rose Birth of Liberty - April 4, 1925. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $150.00

Sea Plane post postmarked Victoria, Nova Scotia, September 21, 1925. This cover is somewhat controversial among the Canadian philatelists. Many correctly hold the red rectangle with 1st Trip is not a Roessler etiquette simply because that postmark should be August 6, not September 21. These red rubber stamp etiquette were apparently made by a collector who mistook this as the first trip or else it signifies something else not yet clear. Recent research has vindicated the CDS. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Sea Plane post postmarked Victoria, Nova Scotia, September 21, 1925. This cover is somewhat controversial among the Canadian philatelists. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-AE-10-30-1925. Roessler American Escadrille Cachet only 17 issued, postmarked Oujada, Morocco, October 30, 1925. Above : Memo from A. C. Roessler to Lodigiani informing him only 17 of these were produced and mailed. Backstamped, Kenitra, Morocco, November 1. Very Rare. The 10 pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille recruited into the French Army of Africa during the Rif War (1920-1926) who formed the "Chérif Squadron" were inducted into the French Foreign Legion in July 1925. Around the time Roessler made this cachet the American tide turned in protest of the Squadron. The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial was built in Paris in 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

- Victoria to Seattle - VIA SEA PLANE, postmarked November 2, 1925. November 2, 1925. To A. C. Roe. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

London stamp dealer Alex Kaleva correspondence with A. C. Roessler, postmarked November 9, 1925. Roessler was an important stamp dealer of international repute. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Sea Plane post postmarked Victoria, Nova Scotia, November 12, 1925. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

In 1925 this letter was mailed from New York postmarked November 26, 1925, 7 AM and 13-1/2 hours later arrived at Chicago, November 26, 8:30 PM. In 1925 that was astounding speed time. The same flight today is less than 2 hours. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $175.00

Fig. A.C. Roessler label pasted over preprinted advertising postal stationery cover, uprated with brown 1/2 cent Nathan Hale, addressed to Philatelist William McFarlan, Downington, Pennsylvania, postmark December 19, 1925. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $125.00

4. Scott #623 FDC 17c Wilson -

City Hall Station, New York

Princeton, New Jersey

Stauton, Virginia

Washington, D.C.

623 ROE-3. FDC Roessler double bar No. 2 envelope, 9th month of use. FDC 17c Wilson, Airmail Night Flight, postmarked New York, December 28, 1925.

623 ROE-3 variant. FDC Roessler unlisted double bar envelope, 9th month of use. FDC 17c Wilson, Airmail Night Flight, postmarked New York, December 28, 1925. sent to Raymond Bahr, Springfield, Illinois. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $85.00

5. Scott #623 FDC First Photo Cachet (Newton, 7-8)

623-ROE-1. FDC first Roessler pictorial or photo-cachet, and first ever for American FDC's. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale

623 ROE-3. FDC Roessler double bar No. 2 envelope, 9th month of use. 2nd Day 17c Wilson, Bellwfonte, Pennsylvania, postmarked Airmail Field New York, December 29, 1925.

6. Scott #623 FDC

623-ROE-2.

- 1926 -

Period 3b.

7. Scott #622 FDC 13c Harrison (Newton, 9)

622 ROE-1. FDC uncacheted on plain envelopes sometimes a recycled makeshift cover with paste overs and stickers, postmarked Washington DC, January 11, 1926, franked with Scott #622 A186, 13c green Benjamin Harrison. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

8. FDC C7 10c MAP Air Mail Stamp, February 13, 1926 (Newton, 13)

C7 ROE-Unlisted CC. FDC Roessler Corner Card envelope, postmarked Detroit, Michigan, February 13, 1926, franked with Scott #C7 10c Map. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

9. Government Flights and Contract Airmail C.A.M. Began February 15, 1926.

First Flight Ford Feeder Lines / Chicago-Detroit-Cleveland Dearborn, Michigan, February 15, 1926 on Roessler double bar envelope No. 3, postmarked February 15, 1926 Barry Newton published a First Flight Cover postmarked September 4, 1926 as an early use for a double bar envelope No. 5. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. British Colony, Grand Cayman Islands, February 17, 1926, franked with SG #58, 59, 60 overprint War Tax Stamp with revaluation. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $175.00

Elliott-Fairchild Air Service private postage stamps, one inverted on sheet of eight (8) and one cover addressed to A. C. Roe, April 7, 1926. Ex-Michael Rogers. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For sale $1,500.

Roessler double bar envelope No. 6, postmarked Charlevoix, Michigan, April 12, 1926. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Star Route postmarked Charlevoix, Michigan (Beaver Island), April 27, 1926, Scott #599 coil 2c Carmine, "Via Airplane" label, Roessler Corner Card, backstop Saint James, Beaver Island. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

6. FDC 2c Sesquicentennial Exposition (Newton, 9)

Postmarks :

2 CITIES :

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Washington, D. C.

ROE-CC12 used as (627 ROE-1) FDC Sesquicentennial Exposition Cancel on Scott #627, postmarked Washington, D. C., May 10, 1926, on Air Plane Stamp News cachet. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-CC12 used as (627 ROE-1) FDC Sesquicentennial Exposition Cancel on Scott #627, postmarked Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1926, on Air Plane Stamp News cachet. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

7. FDC Ericsson Memorial (Newton, 10)

These are found on a variety of Roessler covers.

628 ROE-1. FDC Ericsson postmarked Chicago, Illinois, May 29, 1926, franked with Scott #628, 5c Ericsson. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

628 ROE-1. FDC Ericsson postmarked New York, May 29, 1926, franked with Scott #628, 5c Ericsson. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

The Ericsson Memorial FDC's also were produced on five different covers : 628-ROE-2 - 628-ROE-5.

The Ericsson Memorial postmarked Cheyanne, Wyoming, May 31, 1926, franked with strip of two Scott #628, 5c Ericsson on double bar. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Double Bar No. 5 Air Mail Envelope : Hartford Connecticut - Boston to New York First Flight Inaugurating Contract Air Mail, July 1, 1926, franked with Scott #C7 AP5 with guide line on left edge. Roessler began issuing his double bar postal envelopes on March 20, 1925. He had six varieties and these have been classified and catalogued by Barry Newton. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library For Sale $60

Roessler Double Bar No. 5 Air Mail Envelope : July 6, 1926, Commemorative Cacheted Air Mail cover serviced by Roessler, Sesquicentennial Air Route First Trip July 4th, 1926, Philadelphia to Washington, front franked with Scott #627 Liberty Bell + #C7, on back Scott #C7, Sesquicentennial International Exposition cancel. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $150.00

Roessler double bar No. 4, First Flight Bakersfield, California, postmarked September 15, 1926. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler to cachet maker Al Gorham, Washington, D. C. September 16, 1926, 2c due + strip of two Scott #544. . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $125.00

8. FDC C8 15c MAP Air Mail Stamp, September 18, 1926 (Newton, 13)

Roessler Double Bar Type 3, Scott #C7 postmarked Chicago, Illinois, October 1, 1926, service marking "Forwarded by train from Chicago, Ill. account of delay for mail plane", back stamped Kitchener, Ontario. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $250.

Roessler special Trial Flight Fonk's Plane on cacheted Sesquicentennial Air Route cover, Floyd Bennett Guggenheim Tour Cover, postmarked Washington DC, October 7, 1926, front franked with Scott #E12 grey violet and strip of two Scott #578; back postmarked Chicago, Illinois, October 21, 1926, Scott #554. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. For Sale $150.

9. Scott #629 FDC White Plains, New York cancels of October 18, 1926

Cachet & Plain (Newton, 11-12)

Roessler created his design submission for the proposed 2c stamp and used it as his pectoral cachet. Roessler's big blunder was the elision of the "S" from WHITE PLAINS printing instead WHITE PLAIN. There were different types of cachet covers as follows : (1) Plate number blocks of 4 [sold for 15 cents each], (2) with killer New York Intl. Philatelic Exhibition Starts., in red ink 629 ROE-2, (3) same as 2 but violet ink, (4) Airmail to Chicago, (5) five stamp overnight airmail express, (6) Dr. Parker. signature, designer of the stamp [priced at $1.00 each], (7) Washington, D.C. with special printed envelope imprint October 28 629 ROE-3, (8) covers franked with Souvenir Sheet stamp, (9) Black rectangle imprint lower left corner FIRST DAY COVER U.S.A., (10) A. C. Roessler corner card with address his rubber stamp self-address in violet ink. Also, Roessler created an Album Card with reproduction of Dr. Parker's painting design for the stamp printed on calendared stock. [priced at 35 cents each]

629, White Plain/First Day of Issue/Cut shows rejected design

629 ROE-2 with ROE CDS Cachet dated October 22, 1926 in black ink, postmarked New York, International Philatelic Exhibition Station October 18, 1926. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

629 ROE-2 with ROE CDS Cachet dated October 22, 1926 in magenta ink, postmarked New York, International Philatelic Exhibition Station October 18, 1926. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

10. FDC White Plains, International Philatelic Exhibition Station

ROE CDS Cachet postmarked October 18, 1926 in magenta ink. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Scott #629 2c Battle of White Plains with plate number #18770.

The #629 2c White Plains issued 10/18/26 was Roessler’s First “Stamplike” Cachet, featuring distinctive enlarged perforation framing a picture of a stamp. (#629-9 in Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, p. 55; 629 ROE-1 and ROE-2 in Newton, 1977, p. 11). This Cachet had original artwork by Roessler inside the perforation frame that Roessler had published in The Stamp News as a proposed design for the new White Plains issue. The cachet picture duplicates the “U.S. Postage” words, and the face of the cachet states that ”Cut shows rejected design.” During the early 1930s, Roessler continued the practice of printing FDC Cachets with artwork resembling the announced design, eliminating, however, the prohibited “U.S. Postage” words. His cachet for the #704-715 Washington Bicentennial Series featured an enlarged engraving of young Washington’s portrait lifted exactly from the #703 Yorktown stamp’s engraving of Washington. Bad blood between the Post Office Department and Roessler fomented with Roessler’s continuing to claim prior design of U.S. stamps, publishing uncomplimentary articles about the Post Office Department, and producing cartoon-like cachets that appeared insulting because they parodied official Post Office Department designs. The Post Office Department refused to mail most of Roessler’s original cachets for the #724-8 3c William Penn and the #725-29 Daniel Webster, both issued 10/24/32. Roessler produced censored versions that eliminated the perforated border and the phrase “Use Air Mail.” (#724-9, Mellone, Planty Vol. I, 1994, p. 98, and ROE-2 in Newton, 1977, pp. 49-50; #725-30 in Mellone, Planty Vol II, 1995, and ROE in Newton, 1977, p. 51)

11. FDC White Plains, Washington, D. C. cancels of October 28, 1926

629 ROE-3, postmarked New York, International Philatelic Exhibition Station October 28, 1926. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

- 1927 -

Period 3b.

Canada's Department of National Defense advocates the establishment of flying clubs for pilots to be formed across Canada. The Canadian plan modeled on that of the British called for local pilots to join together and build an airfield with a hangar and hire an instructor and air engineer to teach a class of at least thirty to fly. If they could perform all of this the government would fund each pupil with a $100 gran and provide two aircraft for that club, Havilland Cirrus Moths. Sixteen clubs were formed across Canada. The Saskatoon Aero Club was the very first one formed.

FDC Uniform 10 Cent Rate Air Mail, Blue & Red Stripes or Bars Design Air Mail Envelope (Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope ), lower corner card, postmarked Oklahoma City, February 1, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

FDC Uniform 10 Cent Rate Air Mail, Blue & Red Stripes or Bars Design Air Mail Envelope (Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope ), lower corner card, magenta rubber stamped "First Day New Rates" with printed Harry E. Klotzbach, P. O. Box 862, Buffalo, N. Y., postmarked Boise, Idaho, February 1, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

.Fig. 15. Stamp dealer and philatelic writer and columnist Philip Ward mailer to A. C. Roessler franked with 19 cent air mail rate postmarked Philadelphia, registered mail, February 21, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale $200. Write john@numismaticmall.com

U. S. Navy Plane Flight - Key West to Habana, Cuba - Possible FAM 4 PAA route survey flight for resumed service - Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, rare and unusual, postmarked Key West, Florida, March 14, 1927, and Habana, Cuba, April 18. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. $375

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. 18-19. Roessler's prankish double sided cover. Front side a mimic air mail cover "Letter carried by Sir Bunk de Bunk From Newark to Philadelphia Via the Plane The Steam Roller" franked with a nicely centered Scott #554-A157, postmarked East Orange, N. J., March 26, 1927. Back side self stamped addressed to A. C. Roessler, franked with Scott #627-A188, Liberty Bell Sesquicentennial Exposition carmine rose 2c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Miss Pittsburgh, a Waco 9 biplane powered by an OX-5 water-cooled engine owned by Clifford Ball Airline which flew the inaugural First Flight CAM 11 by pilot Dewey Noyes. See Walt Bohl, "The Aircraft History of Capital Airlines 1927 to 1961," AAH Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, Spring (2001) : 10.

Clifford Ball Airline inaugural First Flight Cover CAM 11. Clifford Ball Airline owned three Waco 9 biplanes. Roessler hand stamped in magenta his flight cachet on his double bar airmail envelope. The flight was from Pittsburgh's McKeesport's Bettis Airport to Cleveland's Glenn Martin Airplane Factory Field , postmarked April 21, 1927, franked with Scott #C4 8c dark green, Airplane Radiator & Wooden Propeller, #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. This first flight was flown by pilot Dewey Noyes. This airmail flight was first awarded on March 27, 1926. Will Rogers sat in the cockpit with the mailbag. Youngstown, Landowne Field airmail service stop was added to the flight route (see below). The following year, April 1928 three 4 passenger Fairchild FC-2's were added. See Walt Bohl, "The Aircraft History of Capital Airlines 1927 to 1961," AAH Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, Spring (2001) : 10. Rare - Roessler cinderella Air Mail on back flap. Rare- Raymond V. Bahr rubber stamped. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $175

Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Dewey Noyes flown CAM 11, Cleveland- Pittsburgh Route, Youngstown, Ohio, April 21, 1927, strip of 5 Scott#546 A140 rotary carmine rose type III. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $1,500

Block of four- Western Canada Airways Limited, May 1, 1927. Ex-Michael Rogers. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $200

Roessler Event Cachet, All America Aircraft Display Bolling Field May 2-6, 1927, P. O. Sub Station Washington, D. C. postmarked Washington, D. C., May 2, 1927, franked with Sesquicentennial 2c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Event Cachet, All America Aircraft Display Bolling Field May 2-6, 1927, P. O. Sub Station Washington, D. C. postmarked Washington, D. C., May 3, 1927, franked with Sesquicentennial 2c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Western Canada Airways Initial Flight, May 10, 1927, on Roessler Double Bar No. 4, with Graphic Illustrated Corner Card, franked with Canadian stamps, postmarked Red Lake, Ontario, Canada, May 10, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-XMAS-17. Roessler Christmas Island Cover, with nomenclature based on Roland Klinger's 20 Groupings with those of 17th having postmarks dated May 30, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

c10 ROE-1 variant. Roessler Double Bar Envelope Type No. 5 with cachet over-stamp Lindbergh Day Special Flight Washington to New York, postmarked June 11, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp, sent to E. Strasser, Cleveland, Ohio. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

American Booklovers Society (ABS) patented Lindbergh Tribute Seals depicting his mother Evangeline Lindbergh "The Mother of A Hero" and Captain Charles A. Lindbergh - New York to Paris May 20-21 - 1927. These poster stamps were available for purchase to all stamp dealers and collectors.

Above : An example of this poster stamp used by Brooklyn Stamp Company. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler used these to decorate his commemorative covers celebrating Lindbergh's first transatlantic flight. He also photographed canceled covers with these and printed a post card advertising circular announcing a lay-away plan to purchase one with merely a $5 deposit paying over time. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Chamberlin ship-to-shore cover, Roessler Commemorative ABS Cinderella Celebrating the first New York to Paris, World's Hero, Captain Charles A. Lindbergh, May 10-11, 1927, postmarked Detroit, Michigan, June 11, 1927, Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Scott #C4 8c dark green Air Mail Map Stamp + Scott #583 2c carmine deep. Clarence Chamberlin made the second historic flight aboard Columbia with co-pilot Levine on June 7, 1927, from Roosevelt Field to Helfta, Germany, intended for Berlin. They land in Berlin on June 7, 1927. Roessler began producing the new covers celebrating this historic and exciting event. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Red Arrow Air Mail cover as that found on ROE-FG2 with Lindbergh Tribute Seals postmarked Detroit, Michigan, June 18, 1927, ex-Samwells of Bath. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Chamberlin ship-to-shore cover, Roessler Commemorative ABS Cinderella Celebrating the first New York to Paris, World's Hero, Captain Charles A. Lindbergh, May 10-11, 1927, postmarked Detroit, Michigan, June 18, 1927, Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Clarence Chamberlin made the second historic flight aboard Columbia with co-pilot Levine on June 7, 1927, from Roosevelt Field to Helfta, Germany, intended for Berlin. They land in Berlin on June 7, 1927. Roessler began producing the new covers celebrating this historic and exciting event. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Chamberlin ship-to-shore cover, Roessler Commemorative with ABS Cinderella Celebrating the first New York to Paris, World's Hero, Captain Charles A. Lindbergh, May 10-11, 1927, postmarked Little Falls, Minnesota, June 18, 1927, Barry Newton Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Clarence Chamberlin made the second historic flight aboard Columbia with co-pilot Levine on June 7, 1927, from Roosevelt Field to Helfta, Germany, intended for Berlin. They land in Berlin on June 7, 1927. Roessler began producing the new covers celebrating this historic and exciting event. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's Lindbergh Post Card - Note postmark on photograph on post card is July 31, 1927, showing a full month of creating these. The post card probably was produced mid August, 1928 and were mailed out most probably until early 1929. "Why Don't You Do It?" "I would like to have one of the Chamberlin ship-to-shore covers, but as my stamp appropriation permits me to have only $5.00 a week I would like to know if you will put aside a cover and let me pay for it as the rate mentioned?" F. R. R., N.Y. City. Why yes, we are glad to help any collector that way. Just send us initial payment and we will send you the cover and you can pay thereafter at the terms most convenient to you. We realize that $30.00 is a pretty big price but out plan makes it possible for everybody who really wants the cover to have it. Send $5.00. We trust you for the balance! Anything we can do to help you. A. C. Roessler. Scarce. This item will be repeated in August 1928 below. Four in stock in Mint Condition. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

U.S.S. Leviathan, Off Fire Island, postmarked July 31, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Ship to Shore carried by Clarence Chamberlain from U S Leviathanon double bar envelope Type 4 postmarked July 31, 1927, franked with Scott #629 2c Battle of White Plains, and Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp, addressed to F. H. Vallancey {Francis Hugh Vallancey (1879-1950) President of the London Stamp Club) c/o A. C. Roessler. This cover is from a batch of 600 of which half were destroyed sent by Roessler that received the NY postmark and backstopped August 1, 1927 Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, as cited in his book Standard Historical Souvenir Airmail Catalog, 9-1, cat price as per Roessler circa 1932 = $30. Of the 300 Roessler conserved - no census has been made of how many survived as of 2019. F. H. Vallancey was a prominent English stamp dealer and philatelic publisher. This cover was purchased at Rochester, Kent, England.

Washington, D. C. to Albany, New York, postmarked August 3, 1927, Washington, D. C., franked with 2c Saratoga. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Postmarked Rome, New York.

644 ROE-1, First Day Burgoyne Stamp Cachet, postmarked August 3, 1927 franked with commemorative celebration of the Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. Postmarked Syracuse, New York. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Scott #643 2 cent Vermont Sesquicentennial, August 3, 1927, plate #19036. FDC Postmarked Washington, D.C., August 3, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

643 ROE-1, Vermont Sesquicentennial, August 3, 1927. FDC Postmarked Bennington, Vermont, August 3, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. 643 ROE-1, Roessler Second Day Cover cachet of the Vermont Sesquicentennial Official Medal, franked with a Scott #643 2 cent Vermont, postmarked New York, New York, August 4, 1927, 8:30 P. M. This was mailed on his way back home from Bennington and Montpelier, Vermont where he mailed two varieties of these envelopes on August 3rd as First Day Covers. (See Barry Newton, No. 643, page 15). Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale. Estimate $75-$150. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Roessler subscribed to the journal Briefmarken-Rundschau. Commercial cover imprint Schweiz. Briefmarken-Rundschau, Basel-Birsfelden (Schweiz) Grenzach (Baden). Briefmarke: Deutsches Reich, Friedrich Schiller, 1926, 5 Pfennig, gestempelt. Postmarked 14 August, 1927. Stamped Drucksache "Business Letter" Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

C10 ROE-SP1, Roessler's Double Bar envelope variant Air Mail Stamp News - Special Flight Lindberg Day cachet, August 15, 1827, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's Double Bar envelope variant - Special Flight Lindberg Day CAMA 2 cachet, August 15, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp, and on back American Booklovers Society's patented Lindbergh Tribute Seal. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Fig. 24. Roessler's ad for the bronze Lindbergh Medal in The Numismatist, Vol. XL, No. 8, August (1927) : 499. Roessler created about two dozen or so different Lindbergh cacheted covers.

Roessler's Double Bar envelope Lindbergh Day postmarked August 20, 1927, franked with Scott #686 coil vertical strip of six, and #575 imperf. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $55

645 ROE-1 variant. Chamberlin's ship-to-shore mail flight on August 1, 1927, off the coast of Long Island, New York flying from the extended runway aboard the Leviathan en route to Teterboro Airport, Hasbruck Heights, New Jersey. Lindbergh - Stamp News cachet. postmarked August 20, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp; back stamped in grey-black ink Air Mail Failed Flight To S. S. Leviathan. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's Event Cachet : Magenta rubber stamped Air Mail Service September 7, 1927, Tacoma, Washington, Double Bar Envelope Type 4, postmarked Tacoma, Washington, September 7, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Event Cachet : Eastern States Exposition, Springfield, Massachusetts, September 18-24, 1927. Eastern States Exposition Air Mail Station CDS September 18-24, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Double Bar envelope - Commemorative cover - Lindbergh Day September 20, 1927 Los Angeles, California, cachet in magenta, unusual franking strip of six Imperforate Scott #631 Harding 1-1/2C + Single imperforate Scott #575 1c green Franklin. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $175

Roessler Air Mail cover red ink imprint Airplane Wallpaper cacheted envelope ROE -FG-3, on semi-official airmail cover franked with Western Canada Airways airmail service postage Wadhope to Lac Du Bonnet postmarked on back September 24, 1927, and front : September 25, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Event Cachet : CDS Worcester Airport Dedication October 12, 1927, on Double Bar Envelope Type 4, postmarked Boston, Mass. G.P.O. C. October 12, 1927, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

First Flight October 19, 1927 Under New Contract Foreign Air Mail Route Key West Florida to Havana, Cuba

Roessler Event Cachet : Magenta inked rubber stamp Winged CDS inside octagonal cartouche. - First Flight Under New Contract Foreign Air Mail Route Key West Florida, postmarked Key West, Florida, October 19, 1927, franked with Scott #643 and Scott #282 5c issue 1926 Calixto Garcia. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler's S.S. Leviathan photo-cachet postal card, August 1-2, 1927, back side text : This picture shows Clarence Chamberlin leaving the U. S. S. Leviathan early in the morning Aug. 1 on his way to Teterboro, N. J., with the first ship-to-shore air mail. While this now appears as a novelty it is predicted that in the very near future it will be just a matter of daily routine. Cover, properly postmarked front and back, for . . . . . . . $30.00. A. C. Roessler. Roessler Event Cachet : Vermillon inked rubber stamp Winged CDS inside octagonal cartouche. - First Flight Under New Contract Foreign Air Mail Route Key West Florida, postmarked Key West, Florida, October 19, 1927, franked with Scott #643 and reposted in Havan, Cuba postmarked February 15, 1928, franked with 5 Centavos Air Mail with overprint Lindbergh Febrero 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Event Cachet : Magenta inked rubber stamp Winged CDS inside octagonal cartouche. - First Flight Under New Contract Foreign Air Mail Route Key West Florida, postmarked Key West, Florida, October 19, 1927, franked with Scott #579 (11 x 10 perfs) Deep Carmine, and reposted in Havana, Cuba postmarked February 15, 1928, franked with 5 Centavos Air Mail with overprint Lindbergh Febrero 1928. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Air Mail from Haiti postmarked October 25, 1927. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

CDS Primer Viaje - Habana - Key West, October 28, 1927, franked with Scott #282 5c issue 1926 Calixto Garcia on Roessler Double Bar Envelope Type 4 sent to Chicago, Illinois, October 31, and November 1, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

CDS Primer Viaje - Habana - Key West, October 28, 1927, on Burgoyne Stamp cachets cover franked with five 1926 issue Scott #280 1 Centavo Jose Marti, blue green imperforated stamps. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

Roessler mailer with label on cover postmarked Newark, New Jersey, November 1, 1927, franked with #556 (perf 11) address to T. F. Donahue, Newton, Lower Falls, Massachusetts. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Air Mail cover red ink imprint Airplane Wallpaper cacheted envelope ROE -FG-3, on semi-official airmail cover franked with Western Canada Airways airmail service postage Wadhope to Lac Du Bonnet postmarked on back November 12, 1927, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-X1. The American Philatelist (1993), has a citation: "For more on Roessler, see “A Man of Mystery: A.C. Roessler used imagination as his mask," by Robyn Hayes, Stamp Collector, October 15, 1984 . . . December 25, 1927, post card from Christmas, Kentucky. to Kuehn bears a printed message of holiday greetings from A.C. Roessler." which is actually a citation from Barry Newton, A. C. Roessler Photo Cachet Catalogue, page 97, bas de page. The card shown here above is unused. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Western Canada Airways Limited on cacheted cover postmarked Winnipeg, December 6, 1927. Ex-Michael Rogers. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. $125.

Inauguration of the West Indies Aerial Express, Dominican Republic, postmarked Haiti, December 13, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Second AM Flight on Roessler Double Bar Airmail Envelope No. 4, etiquette arrow, postmarked Leamington, Ontario, Canada, December 21, 1927, back : Pelee Islands, Ontario, Canada, December 23, 1927, and Leamington, Ontario, Canada, December 23, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Western Canada Airways Limited on cachets covers postmarked Manitoba, December 23, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Ex-Michael Rogers. Each $175.

A. C. Roessler Red Arrow Air Mail cover as that found on ROE-FG2 as a return Air Mail envelope inappropriately franked for airmail, postmarked La Malbaie, Quebec, December 24, 1927, franked with Scott #143 3c carmine (not carmine brown), Parliament Building - Ottawa, issued June 29, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Canada Sc #143 on an unlisted Roessler 1927 First Flight Cover, The design of "The Lone Eagle" Eagle in Flight with an airplane flying in the background - simulating being carried aloft on the Eagle's talons - with seven bars below, and A. C. Roessler's corner card above. The words AIR place above the Eagle's right wing, and MAIL below his left. La Malbaie to Seven Islands, postmarked December 25, 1927. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler Air Mail envelope - double bar No. 4, postmarked Newfoundland, December 25, 1927, AAMC #2721b Seven Islands to La Malbaie Flight, Roessler, Scott #138 3c Imperf. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FG3. Vermillion, only 10 envelopes issued September 1927. This one later, Western Canada Airways, December 27, 1927, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

- 1928 -

Period 3b.

Palestine Posts Telegraphs & Telephones to A. C. Roessler postmarked February 5, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

First Air Mail Flight Galveston, Texas, February 6, 1928 Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

LINDBERGH FLIES AGAIN TRIBUTE

Roessler return envelope franked in Lindbergh overprint on 5c Cuban stamp, postmarked, Habana, Cuba, February 8, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Special Photo Cachet Commemorating the Return to the Air Mail Service, postmarked Springfield, Illinois, February 20, 1928,. Back flap Lindy Poster Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Rare.

ROE Double Bar 4 corner card in blue with CAM2 Lindberg Again Flies The Air Mail - Chicago - St. Louis, blue inked rubber horseshoe stamped . First Flight Involving Night Flying, postmark, Springfield and Chicago, Illinois, February 20, 1928, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

The Lone Eagle Airmail Envelope

Another uncatalogued Roessler Airmail Envelope is this Lone Eagle originally printed by Roessler as an added cachet place below his mailing address in his corner card business envelopes in December 1927, though smaller in size with seven bars below. This Lone Eagle was printed in either black, blue, or scarlet red, and possibly orange, green, and brown though none seen.

CAM2 Lindberg Again Flies The Air Mail - Chicago - St. Louis, blue inked rubber horseshoe stamped on cover with cachet printed in black. Lindbergh Flight, postmarked Chicago, Illinois, February 21, 1928, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. The design of "The Lone Eagle" Eagle in Flight with an airplane flying in the background - simulating being carried aloft on the Eagle's talons seems too have first emerged about December 1927, printed in Aniline Red - seven bars beneath, Roessler Corner Card above. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

The Lone Eagle Special Lindbergh Flight - February 21, 1928.

CAM2 Lindberg Again Flies The Air Mail - Chicago - St. Louis, blue inked rubber horseshoe stamped on cover with cachet printed in red. Here we see Roessler's playfulness by switching the color inks from the main graphic figure of "The Lone Eagle" Eagle in Flight with an airplane flying in the background - simulating being carried aloft on the Eagle's talons printed in blue ink with its red bars framing the text is now reversed. Lindbergh Flight, postmarked Chicago, Illinois, February 21, 1928, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

Charles Lyndbergh Air Mail postcard franked with improper postage for airmail, postmarked Grand Central Station, New York, March 3, 1928, addressed to very illustrious collector Abraham Atlas Leve (1869-1848), Syracuse, New York. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FG2 with Roessler's Red Arrow Air Mail envelope. Charles Lyndbergh and Sam Houston cachet, Houston to Waco Texas, Postmarked Houston, Texas, March 5, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

Roessler double bar envelope franked with Special Air Service Sioux Lookout and Red Lake District overprint on cinderella Patricia Airways Exploration, postmarked March 9, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

Roessler Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Roessler's "First Experimental Airplane-Motorcycle Courier Service" postmarked Westfield, Massachusetts, March 15, 1928. Franked with a strip of two 1-1/2 cent Harding, 2 cent Washington Fourth Bureau, and 5 cent Ericsson. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale $200. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Roessler Double Bar No. 4 Air Mail Envelope, Roessler's "First Experimental Airplane-Motorcycle Courier Service" postmarked Westfield, Massachusetts, March 15, 1928. Franked with a 10 cent Air Mail. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale $200. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Air Plane Stamp News advertising cover, Michigan Flood Mail Serviced by Roessler, De Tour, Michigan, March 16, 1928, Army Emergency Flight; on back : strip of five Scott #634 postmarked March 21, Detroit, Michigan. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

Exhibition Chat Card "Roessler Government Flights", Pilot Bernt Balchen carried this cover with the red Air Plane Stamp News printed address from New York to Winnepeg, to test the aircraft for polar conditions, prior to its use in the arctic by Richard Byrd. The departure was delayed from March 18, until March 28, 1928. While addressed to Floyd Bennet on the front, the cover was returned to Roessler addressed on the back sent from Winnepeg, postmarked Mach 29, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Ex-Sparks Sale #31, Lot 831. For sale $500

Roessler, Corporate Stamp - Patricia Always Limited, postmarked April 3, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

First Flight of Yukon Airways & Exploration Co., Ltd., White Horse, Carcross, Yukon to Atlin, British Columbia, postmarked April 3, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

On April 7, 1928 the Daily Postal Bulletin announced the new barber pole air mail envelope.

Roessler cachets for U. S. Air Mail to Tampico, Mexico April 15, 1928

Roessler cachets for U. S. Air Mail to Tampico, Mexico, April 15, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler double bar envelope Type 5. CAM First flight Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta New Orleans Route, Northbound Flight, postmarked May 1, 1928, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale $75

Wright Brothers Obelisk Post Card Intended for CAM 19 Flight Card New York to Atlanta route - but not flown because card is under franked postmarked Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, May 2, 1928. Unlisted in Newton since this inspired what followed. Roessler's Air Plane Stamp News No. 112 describes this card issued in a lot of 50 postmarked December 17, 1928 (see Newton, page 20). Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale $300

Roessler double bar envelope Type 5 variant. CAM First flight Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta New Orleans Route, Northbound Flight, postmarked May 2, 1928, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale $75

10th Anniversary of U. S. Airmail May 15, 1928

Newark, New Jersey - Candle, Alaska - May 9 - May 25, 1928

The trip from Newark, New Jersey to Candle, Alaska is 3,630 miles in length. In 17 days the mathematical average distance travelled was 213.5 miles, though in reality the pattern of the three flights worked out quite differently. The first flight from Newark, New Jersey to Pasco, Washington took eight days from May 3 - May 11, 1928. The second flight to Seattle, Washington, was the next day. The third flight to Candle, Alaska from May 12 - 25, 1928 took 13 days. The craze for speed that captured the human imagination since Jules Verne's Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1873), which became popularly known as Around the World in Eighty Days is now transferred in Roessler's mind to the possibilities of airmail to remote otherwise unreachable locations or nearly so.

Certainly classed as Roessler has defined it an "Historical Souvenir Cover" tracing the earliest airmail routes from Newark, New Jersey to Candle, Alaska.

Roessler barber pole envelope No. 1 to Candle, Alaska, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, May 3, 1928, back-stamped : Pasco, Washington, May 11, 1928, 4:30 PM, Seattle, Washington, Terminal Station, May 12, 1928, 6:30 AM, Candle Alaska, May 25, 1928, P.M., and Newark, New Jersey, July 4, 1928, 12 PM. This might be the EKU of Roessler's barber pole envelope no. 1 issued 3 1/2 weeks after the Post Office announcement. The other variety, No. 2, has A. C. Roessler imprint lower left corner back and is a half inch shorter. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale.

645 ROE-1 Salmon. Cleveland, Ohio (Mid Western Philatelic Sta.) 4-Bar Cancel, May 26, 1928. Rare only 15 issued. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

May 26, 1928 Roessler issued his 645-ROE-4 an uncacheted Valley Forge issue on a barber pole airmail envelope.

Air Plane Stamp News cachets cover with magenta/purple ink hand stamp "FIRST ITALIAN AIR TRANS-MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE", postmarked Varick Street Station, New York, May 26, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Rare. For sale.

Philatelic West front cover Vol. 65, No. 1, February 1915, thirteen years later used by Roessler as a cachet CC-13. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.

ROE-CC13 Cobalt 54 printed. The Young Stamp Collector Cachet drawing by Seward formerly on the front cover of Philatelic West, depicting youth scouring a trunk filled with old mail in the attic cutting the franked corners with postmarks for his album. Postmarked St. Andrews to North Head, New Brunswick, May 31, 1928 to July 17, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library,

Fig. 25. Roessler's ad for the Hawaiian in The Numismatist, Vol. XLI, No. 7, July (1928) : 439.

ROE-CAM-18. First Flight Chicago to San Francisco, postmarked July 10, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library,

FDC Scott #C11 August 1, 1928

Unlisted Roessler Ship-to-Shore by S.S. Il de France, N. Y. to Havre = new ROE-STS-5, printed on Roessler barber pole envelope Type 1, postmarked August 15, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library,

Unlisted Roessler air mail envelope a combination of barber pole envelope Type 2 and double bar type 1 on postal stationery embossed postage stamp envelope uprated with 3c Lincoln, postmarked August 20, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library,

Fig. 26. Roessler's complaint against the U. S. Post Office was published in the Morning News, Friday, September 7, 1928, page 1.

Roessler prints D-LZ127 Zeppelin designs on air mail covers in October 1928.

ROE Barber-pole envelope. Correo Aereo, postmarked Monterrey, Mexico, October 1, 1928, franked with Scott #C3 Mexico 25c, and 10c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE-CC-12a. Correo Aereo, postmarked Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, October 1, 1928, franked with Scott #C5 Mexico 50c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Postmarked Red Bank, New Jersey, October 20, 1928, overprint Scott #646 Molly Pitcher. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Postmarked Washington, D. C., October 20, 1928, overprint Scott #646 Molly Pitcher with selvedge. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Postmarked Freehold, N. J., October 20, 1928, overprint Scott #646 Molly Pitcher with selvedge. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler barber pole envelope Type 1 variant with corner card, postmarked Freehold, New Jersey, October 20, 1928, franked with Scott #646 Molly Pitcher Overprint. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

Roessler barber pole envelope Type 1 variant with corner card, postmarked Red Bank, New Jersey, October 20, 1928, franked with Scott #646 Molly Pitcher Overprint. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, For sale

Fig. ROE-FZ2 - LZ-127 Original unused Dirigible Airmail. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale

Fig. ROE-FZ2 - LZ-127 October 28, 1928. Overprint Graf Zeppelin. Roessler inspired by U.S. overprints created his own to the chagrin of the U.S. Post Office. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale $700

Fig. ROE-FZ2 - LZ-127 October 28, 1928. Only 10 printed with vermillion text. The same printed with blue text were 47 covers. Postmarked Lakehurst, New Jersey October 28, 1928, and Friedrichshafen, November 1, 1928. Franked with Scott #c11, a strip of 2 Scott #567 carmine rose 20c Golden Gate with guide line, a strip of 2 Scott #569 olive brown 30c Bison. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For sale $500

Fig. ROE-FZ2 - LZ-127 Dirigible Airmail Post Card with First Flight magenta cachet. October 28, 1928. Postmarked Lakehurst, New Jersey October 28, 1928, and Friedrichshafen, November 1, 1928. Franked with Scott #635 3c violet Lincoln, and Scott #569 olive brown 30c Bison; on back a block of 10 Molly Pitcher Overprint on Scott #646. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler First Flight magenta cachet All-Over-Graf Zeppelin Real Photo Post Card, October 28, 1928, sent to Heinrich Temme, Unterlingen am Bodensee. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Antartica Expedition - New York City - Dunedin, New Zealand, November 29, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

649-50 ROE-1. FDC International Civil Aeronautics Conference on barber pole envelope postmarked, December 12, 1928, in Green Slogan Cancels. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

649-50 ROE-1. FDC International Civil Aeronautics Conference December 12, 1928 in Green Slogan Cancels to Habana, Cuba. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

649-50 ROE-2b Sulfite Card : Wright Brothers Cachet on International Civil Aeronautics Conference, postmarked Washington D.C., December 12, 1928, franked with Scott #649 & 650. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

649-ROE-Barber-Pole-Special Cachet 25th-Anniversary First Flight. postmarked Kitty Hawk., December 17, 1928, franked with block of 4 Scott #649. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE-A1. BYRD ANTARTIC EXPEDITION pictorial cachet handstamp on back flap -- on a Roberta Roe The Girl Stamp Dealer graphic illustrated advertising cover to Commander R. E. Byrd, meter slogan SAVE TIME AND EFFORT TELEPHONE, franked with New Zealand postage, postmarked Dunedin, New Zealand December 15, 1928. Ex-George Alevizos. Not listed in Barry Newton. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Same cover design as above excluding the U. S. postage stamp of course as Newton 651 ROE-6, Roessler's fictitious daughter Roberta Roe, postmarked Dunedin, New Zealand, December 15, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file.

Roessler cachet Albany, N. Y., 25th Anniversary First Flight, December 17, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file.

Roessler cachet and stamp Western Canada Airways, postmarked Sioux Lookout, Ontario, December 31, 1928. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file.

- 1929 -

Period 3b.

Klondike Airways postage stamp on A. C. Roessler corner card printed on Roessler's barber pole envelope postmarked Mayo Landing, Yukon, January 1, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.For Sale.

Fig. 27. Another Roessler complaint against the U. S. Post Office made in the fall of 1928 was eventually published in the Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, January 20, 1929, page 42.

First Flight C.A.M. 29 - New Orleans-Huston, postmarked New Orleans, Louisiana, January 23, 1929

UC1-ZROE-1. FDC U.S. Air Mail Postal Stationery with Roessler return address label, postmarked February 1, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE Barber Pole Air Mail Envelope. Miami, Florida to the Canal Zone postmarked Miami, Florida, February 4, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler's Double Bar envelope variant Air Mail First Flight - Lindbergh FAM 5 on Canal Zone #U9 with Re-valued 2c to 25c overprint + Scott #637 CZ overprint, postmarked Ancon, Canal Zone, February 9, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler barber pole with corner card variant Air Mail First Flight - Lindbergh FAM 5 on Canal Zone #U9 with Re-valued 2c to 25c overprint + Scott #637 CZ overprint, postmarked Ancon, Canal Zone, February 9, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Lt. Richard Aldworth, field manager, air mail service set up the new Headquarters for U.S. Airmail Service at Newark Airport. Daily News, Sunday, February 17, 1929, page 14

A factory's tall smokestack deemed a hazard to pilots was order demolished in preparation for the inauguration of Newark Airport as the nation's U. S. Air Mail Service Headquarters. Brooklyn Citizen, Sunday, February 17, 1929, page 4

Roessler cachet AIRPORT NEWARK THE MOST IMPORTANT AIRPORT IN THE WORLD imprinted and impressed, i.e., indented or sunken text set in orange-red modern type inscribed in a curved linear band forming an oval medallion with an outlined New Jersey state map also in red but not impressed but flat printing. There are two sizes, large and small, postmarked February 17, 1929. The small cachet is modified with four directional air routes designated with red broken lines to trace them. the upper : To Canada the lower : to South. One route points to one o'clock : To Boston. Another, 9 o'clock : To West. To accommodate this last one the medallion border or rim text had been adjusted lowering the text THE MOST 4 em's. Above the text To West Roessler put PA. to show the contiguous state of Pennsylvania. The postmark date was the day the United States Post Office made the Airport at Newark, New Jersey the airfield for all air mail contractors instead of Hadley Field, near New Brunswick, New Jersey. Oddly, Congressman Harold G. Hoffman of Perth Amboy opposed the transfer from Hadley to Newark arguing the hazards at Newark should be enough to end the decision and keep Hadley Field. Roessler celebrated this good news of the selection of Newark Airport with this cachet. The back cachet is a round seal with molded edging with a plane in flight cityscape below : AIRPORT NEWARK THE MOST IMPORTANT AIRPORT IN THE U.S. Newark Chamber of Commerce rubber hand-stamp in blue NEWARK METROPOLITAN AIRPORT. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

A variant cover showing only one cachet, which is the small cachet as shown above. The back flap lacks the additional AIRPORT NEWARK THE MOST IMPORTANT AIRPORT IN THE U.S. Newark Chamber of Commerce rubber hand-stamp in blue NEWARK METROPOLITAN AIRPORT. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Nassau, Bahamas, postmarked February 25, 1929, on airmail envelope. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Lindbergh cachet, postmarked Brownsville, Texas, March 3, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE FZ10. Roessler Graf Zeppelin LZ-127 post card imprint in Dark Blue, postmarked Friedrichshafen, March 24, 1929, sent to B. F. Roessler C/O P. M. Lewis, Palestine, Holy Land. .Backstamped Jerusalem, typed Abs. Roessler = Absender Roessler, where Abs. is the German abbreviation for the return address, not for the name Absalom. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library $400.

ROE CC-11 Black. postmarked Newark, New Jersey, March 29, 1929, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. The Wresters poster stamp was designed with the same design imprinted on envelopes in January 1925. (See cover above dated February 1925)

ROE FZ10. Roessler Graf Zeppelin LZ-127 post card imprint in Yellow, postmarked Lakewood, New Jersey, April 22, 1929, sent to . Backstamped Sevilla, Spain. Scarce. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

LZ 127 Zeppelin Interrupted Flight - 15 May - 1 August 1929

ROE-FZ10. Roessler LZ127 Zeppelin post cards and covers postmarked Friedrichshafen, May 15, 1929, receiving the circular blue First American Flight cachet were on an interrupted flight due to engine problems forcing a landing at Cuers, France. The flight returned to the hangar at Friedrichshafen, Germany for extensive repairs. All flight mail was straight line stamped in red ink "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs Erst 1. Amerikafahrt." (Delivery delayed on account of mishap on First American flight). Roessler typed his name Abs. Roessler using the German abbreviation signifying "Return Address to Roessler, East Orange". Lower left hand corner Roessler private issue. Bottom : contemporary photograph. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FZ10. Roessler LZ127 Zeppelin post cards and covers postmarked Friedrichshafen, May 15, 1929, receiving the circular blue First American Flight cachet were on an interrupted flight due to engine problems forcing a landing at Cuers, France. The flight returned to the hangar at Friedrichshafen, Germany for extensive repairs. All flight mail was straight line stamped in red ink "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs Erst 1. Amerikafahrt." (Delivery delayed on account of mishap on First American flight). Roessler typed his name Abs. Roessler using the German abbreviation signifying "Return Address to Roessler, East Orange". Back bears hand stamp of collector Sam Buzin of Los Angeles. The flight finally resumed August 1, 1929, and arrived at New York on August 5, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FZ10 - Delayed Delivery. Franked with Scott C36, "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs Erst 1. Amerikafahrt." (Delivery delayed on account of mishap on First American flight). Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FZ6 Delayed Delivery. Roessler Zeppelin Mail Cachet Airship LZ127 franked with Scott C36, postmarked Friedrichschaffen Germany 11 May, 1929. "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs Erst 1. Amerikafahrt." (Delivery delayed on account of mishap on First American flight). Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FZ Delayed Delivery. Roessler LZ127 Zeppelin post cards and covers postmarked Friedrichshafen, May 15, 1929, receiving the circular blue First American Flight cachet were on an interrupted flight due to engine problems forcing a landing at Cuers, France. The flight returned to the hangar at Friedrichshafen, Germany for extensive repairs. All flight mail was straight line stamped in red ink "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs Erst 1. Amerikafahrt." (Delivery delayed on account of mishap on First American flight). Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

First Flight Miami, Florida to Central America - Honduras. May 21, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

654 ROE-3. Roessler First Day 5-1/2" x 3-1/4" Post Card - June 5, 1929 - Orange, New Jersey. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler First Day Cover - imprint in Red & Blue Ink - June 5, 1929 - Washington, D. C. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

654 ROE-1. Roessler First Day Cover- imprint in Red Ink Only - June 5, 1929 - Orange, New Jersey. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler First/Second Day Cover - imprint in Red & Blue Ink - June 6, 1929 - Washington, D. C. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

654-ROE. FDC Menlo Park, New Jersey, June 5, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

The Trail Blazers of the U. S. Air Mail Service

654-ROE-4 variant without the Edison cachet on front - Post Card Photo Cachet : Paul Henderson, W. Irving Glover, and Otto Praeger/ The three hard-working postmaster generals of the U. S. Post Office Department,

postmarked Washington, D. C., June 5, 1929. Rare. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

654 ROE-3 variant cachet in green postmarked Menlo Park, New Jersey, June 13, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

657 ROE-1a. Roessler First Day Cover - June 17, 1929 - (Barry Newton) 657 ROE-1a postmarked Binghamton - Special Rubber Stamped Cachet. Very Scarce. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale. Estimate $75-$150. Write john@numismaticmall.com

657 ROE-1a. Roessler First Day Cover - Sullivan Expedition June 18, 1929 - (Barry Newton) 657 ROE-1a postmarked Washington, D. C. Type-2 A. C. Roessler East Orange, N. J. rubber stamped address same as in Newton 654 ROE-5, diagnostics are the descender of E in East and Opened O of Orange. Even this seems a variant of Newton 654 ROE-5 with a serif on the N of N.J. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale. Estimate $75-$150. Write john@numismaticmall.com

HGI Stamp Co., sale July 25, 1967, lot 275 .

Sent by Uno Soderberg, head of the Sweden Philatelic Agency, New Air Line Stockholm, Sweden-Kalmar-Stattin-Berlin-Wien, June 22, 1929. [Above] clipping of the HGI Stamp Co., sale July 25, 1967, lot 275 this cover, minimum bid $12.75 . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For sale. $240

ROE FAM 9, First PANAGRA Flight - Canal Zone - Chile cachet on a Barber-pole edged airmail envelope with corner card with 72 cents postage in mixed franking, strip of three Scott #560; singles - #558, #564; #569; postmarked : Miami, Florida, July 11, 1929, en route to Santiago, Chile. PANAGRA is the acronym of Pan American -Grace Airways, i.e., a partnership of Pan-Am + W. R. Grace & Company. First Flight flew on May 17, 1929. This cover above shown flew June 11, 1929 from Miami, Florida to Cristobal, Canal Zone on July 15, 1929, and arrived at Santiago, Chile on July 21st. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For Sale.

ROE FAM 9, First PANAGRA Flight - Canal Zone - Chile cachet on a Barber-pole edged airmail envelope with corner card with 72 cents postage in mixed franking, strip of three Scott #560; singles - #558, #564; #569; postmarked : Miami, Florida, July 15, 1929, en route to Santiago, Chile. PANAGRA is the acronym of Pan American -Grace Airways, i.e., a partnership of Pan-Am + W. R. Grace & Company. First Flight flew on May 17, 1929. This cover above shown flew June 11, 1929 from Miami, Florida to Cristobal, Canal Zone on July 15, 1929, and arrived at Santiago, Chile on July 21st. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. For Sale.

C5-8 ROE-1. Mexico, C-5-10, Carranza, June 19, 1929, postmarked July 12, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library

Roessler's Canada Air Mail First Official Flight July 15, 1929, AAMC 2943

Canada Air Mail Cachet - First Official Flight Toronto to Buffalo, postmarked July 15, 1929, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler's Summer of 1929

The Summer of 1929 Roessler enjoyed creating a variety among two genres of airmail cover cachets : Ship-to-Shore, and LZ127; and equally eccentric franking and postmarks. During this time and throughout the months that followed the four-tiered linear checkered pattern emerged as the new icon of speed emblazoned on the sides of taxi cabs in New York City. Roessler will take that and transfer it from cabs to a two-tiered border pattern framing airmail envelopes. What is more important is his innovative adaptation of the checkered pattern creating his small checkered pattern as well as the more traditional design of a two-tiered checkered pattern in the Roessler variety of Checkered Type No. 3 airmail envelope seen below postmarked September 24, 1929. The original use of the large checks were used as a two band stripe like the red and blue double bar but formatted top and bottom. The full framing large checkered pattern first appeared around December 1930. The greatest innovation is to be found in the original small checkered pattern. Enlarging the design under magnification shows it to be largely composed of rectangles, not square checks, but some few mixed among them. The eye mixes them creating the illusion of motion. More than a decade later avant garden artist Piet Mondrian will be inspired, perhaps indirectly or unconsciously by this aspect of Roessler's small checkered pattern and produce paintings that reflect this new style.

Roessler Ship-to-Shore Covers July - August 1929

Barry Newton (pages 96-97), listed only three different Ship to Shore cachets with the first one having a variant text imprint and envelope type from a barber pole to a double barred airmail envelope listed as the fourth. So far five new ones have surfaced postmarked two in July, and two in August 1929 and one dated in May 1931, with more expected.

ROE STS-3. postmarked July 20, 1929, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE STS- Unlisted Roessler - Ship to Shore Airmail - SS Bremen & Catapult Flight to Stettin, Germany, postmarked July 20, 1929, franked with strip of two Scott #562. Later Variant of ROE STS3. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE STS- Unlisted Roessler - Ship to Shore Airmail - SS Bremen & Catapult Flight to Stettin, Germany, postmarked July 20, 1929, franked with strip of two Scott #623. Later Variant of ROE STS3. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

ROE STS-3. postmarked July 25, 1929, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Roessler LZ127 Flight Covers July - August 1929

ROE-FZ6 variant. Roessler Zeppelin Mail Cachet Airship LZ127 franked with Scott C36, postmarked Friedrichschaffen Germany 31 July, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For Sale Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-FZ8 Roessler Zeppelin Mail Cachet Airship LZ127 franked with Scott C36, postmarked Friedrichschaffen Germany 31 July, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For Sale $375.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 1928 New York Checker Cab. Courtesy Checker Motor Corporation Factory Photo.

In the August 1929 issue of Stamp News Roessler announced his checker-bordered air mail envelopes he called : "Checkered Air Envelopes" were prepared for sale. Roessler was obviously inspired by the new linear checkered design on New York taxi cabs the year before in 1928. The checkered pattern became the new icon for transportation at high speed and getting there ASAP. The excitement was focused on mail delivery having entered the new propellor age of airplanes moving faster and faster through time and space proving more rapid and efficient air mail service; consequently the taxicab's checkered pattern was borrowed and transferred to the postal envelope to establish the icon for this new "Speed Age". Roessler sold these envelopes with matching stationery by the hundreds and, perhaps a few thousand.

ROE-FZ7 Zeppelin Mail postmarked August 3, 1929, to Dr. Xavier Mayer. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For Sale $375.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-FZ6 Zeppelin Mail postmarked August 7, 1929, to Paalzow. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For Sale $375.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE STS-3. Ship-to-Shore Catapult Mail - on sulfite card, postmarked August 10, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Everything you see on this webpage is for sale.

ROE STS- Unlisted Ship-to-Shore Catapult Mail - Via Ile-de-France, postmarked August 12, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE STS-3. Ship-to-Shore Catapult Mail - very dark bluish violet on sulfite card, postmarked August 12, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library. Everything you see on this webpage is for sale.

ROE STS- Unlisted Ship-to-Shore Catapult Mail - postmarked Le Havre A New York, August 19, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE STS- Unlisted Ship-to-Shore Catapult Mail - postmarked New York, Varick Street Station, August 22, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

Fig. Unlisted ROE-FZ3 var. Orange & Black. Roessler Graf Zeppelin Round -the-World Flight, postmarked Los Angeles, California, August 25, 1929, addressed to Samuel E. Beck, Asheville, North Carolina. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library.

Dirigible Mail post card - design of ROE-FZ2 -postmarked August 30, 1929, Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

ROE-FZ8 Zeppelin Mail postmarked August 30, 1929, to Paalzow. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler file. For Sale $375.00 Write john@numismaticmall.com

ROE-FZ7-variant - imprint on sulfite card. Orange-Brown cachet of Dr. Hugo Eckener, Zeppelin Mail postmarked August 31, 1929, Postmaster Friedrichshafen, franked with Scott #C7 10c blue Air Mail Map Stamp and Scott #570 lilac 50c Arlington Amphitheater . Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

Roessler - World's Endurance Flight, American Legion State Convention - St. Louis, Missouri - Fred W. Stockham Post 24, postmarked September 2, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

680 Fallen Timbers, September 14, 1929

Postmarks All Official FDC Cities :

Erie, Pennsylvania

Maumee, Ohio

Waterville, Ohio

680 ROE-1a Green, postmark Maumee, Ohio, September 14, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

First Flight CAM 32, September 15, 1929, Post Office Seals front and back. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

Scott #C11a Vertical Imperforated Coil Stamps, Genuine or Fake?

Either Roessler obtained a coil containing an unknown number of Scott #C11a stamps late June 1928, or else he cut the perforated edges making his own fake #C11a strips. There were possibly 25 stamps or more on that coil. In the Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library there are seven covers franked with these. I have seen very few others. Scott 2018 Catalog Value $7,500 for one strip of two stamp if genuine. Having seven strips of two C11a coils is a nice catch to have accumulated over the years and with other regular C11 issue posted by Roessler at this same time a nice study can be done to affirm the genuineness of these stamps, or not. I am currently searching for an expertiser in this narrow specialty niche who can render a certifiable opinion. But I do not think one can be found.

ROE-FG1. September 12, 1929. Ultra RARE Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

ROE-FG1. Roessler to SelfMiami, Florida September 12, 1929. Ultra RARE Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

ROE-FF1. FDC Miami to Dutch Giuana - Charles Lindbergh and Spouse. A. C Roessler, St. John, Antiquin Leeward Island postmarked Miami, Florida, September 20, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

ROE-FF1. FDC Miami to Dutch Giuana - Charles Lindbergh and Spouse, September 20, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

ROE-FF1. FDC Miami to Dutch Giuana - Charles Lindbergh and Spouse, September 20, 1929.. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

Roessler variety of Checkered Type No. 3 airmail envelope postmarked September 24, 1929. The original use of the large checks were used as a two band stripe like the red and blue double bar but formatted top and bottom. The full framing large checkered pattern first appeared around December 1929. Above : franked with Scott #C4- Plate Nr. 18999, postmarked San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 24, 1929. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library

CAM 28W4N First Flight St. Joseph, Missouri, October 1, 1929, Roessler cachet stamped on his barber-pole airmail envelope. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

ROE FZ-6. Zeppelin Mail franked with Germany #C37, postmarked October 15, 1929, LZ-127 delayed flight. All flight mail was straight line stamped in red ink same as August 1, 1929 of mail posted May 15, 1929 : "Beförderung verzögert wegen Abbruchs der 1. Amerikafahrt." addressed to coin and stamp dealer Egon Bernet. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library.

Roessler cachet Municipal Airport Opening, October 14-20, 1929, on Checkered Type No. 3 airmail envelope postmarked Denver Colorado, October 18, 1929.

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

Roessler's Artistic Sense

Roessler was an avant-garde artist clearly visible in his new small checkered envelopes design in September/October of 1929 that anticipated Piet Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie of 1942/1943. Roessler produced a series of alternating pairs of blue and red squares juxtaposed in varying spacial heights that create the illusion of movement at a distance. Mondrian used this concept in using his blue and red squares with spacial patches of yellow and eggshell white that suggest streets with the blue and red squares movement of automobiles in the broadway district.

Piet Mondrian, Broadway Boogie Woogie of 1942/1943, Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA).

681 ROE-2a. Ohio Canalization Stamp cachet printed in black on a Roessler Type 1 small checkered envelope, postmarked Cincinnati, Ohio, October 19, 1929, which evolved in his thinking about August seen on his Bremen Ship to Shore Airmail cover design using the pattern on a larger proportion. By October he printed small checkered envelopes taking the checkered design to an all new level since it is an optical illusion of checkers which when scrutinized are actually mostly rectangles, but the innovation was their juxtaposition creating the illusion of motion. Thirteen years later Piet Mondrian would take Roessler's large and small checkered designs and inspired by them, probably unconsciously, created his masterpiece, "Broadway Boogie Woogie." In January 1931 Roessler advertised in Air Plane Stamp News six different city postmarks with the block of 4 Ohio Canalization stamps : Cairo, Illinois, Evansville, Indiana, Wheeling, West Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, , Homestead, Pennsylvania, and shown here Cincinnati, Ohio. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

ROE-CAM-16-Final-Flight

ROE-CAM-16-Final-Flight, Photo-Cachet of Beazell Zeppelin Hangar at Akron, Ohio, Special Delivery, Akron, Ohio, October 31, 1929, franked with Scott #C11 + E-12, just 2 days after stock market crash. Very Rare! For sale

Graphic illustration of the female workers in the Stationery Store of Ewald Tillmes, Orange Street, Newark, New Jersey printed over an E. Tillmes corner card, with corner card of A.C. Roessler printed beneath, postmarked Newark, New Jersey, November 7, 1929. For a similar cachet see September 7, 1931, Cleveland's Skyline. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

Fig. 22. Roessler's Bargain Coin List circa December 1929. Illustration in Remy Bourne, Fixed Price Lists & Prices Paid for Lists of United States Coin Dealers, Vol. III : 82, 84

Semana Aereo - Mexico D.F. - Correo - Diciembre 10, Toalis 1929 in Purple inked shield with chamfered corners, franked Mexico 1929 20c. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library, A. C. Roessler files.

SEE PART 2 - 1930-1952