Flying Jenny

Recently I got back this "Flying Jenny" postcard from the USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services in Kansas City, MO after getting a First-Day-of-Issue postmark on the re-issued "Inverted Jenny" rare stamp. The image used on the postcard was a cropped version of a family photo in public domain by George Johnson, Aviation Section, US Army Signal Corps. taken in 1918. It shows a Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) on a training flight during World War I.

Other cards, sent in for the First-Day-of-Issue cancellation with similar designs, were addressed to Romania (US-2474578) and Taiwan (US-2452330). They are now expired, with postcard US-2452330 being replaced by a re-sent Christmas card. However, since it took a little more than a month to get the First-Day-of-Issue cancellations, the actually traveling time for those cards should be less than stated. The original cards may still arrive soon.

Curtiss JN-4 Jenny

The postcard shows a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny aircraft with model wing suspended at Edwards AFB, CA in 1921. The Curtiss JN-4 was the type of aircraft used in the first air mail flight, and was featured in the 1918 24-cent stamp with printing error showing an illustration of the plane upside down.

The U.S. Postal Service is re-issuing 2 million of the “Inverted Jenny” souvenir stamps today to mark the opening of the Smithsonian’s William H. Gross Stamp Gallery that hosts the world’s largest stamp collection. The reissued Inverted Jenny has a face value of $2, in mini-sheets of six with a decorative border.

Since the post offices near me do not open on Sundays, I will have to wait until tomorrow to buy the stamps. The postcard is available for purchase at Zazzle.com.

Update: the postcard was later sent to Poland as US-2509925.