About this Item
The format is approximately 6.5 inches by 3.625 inches. Massachusetts 1793 and Folk Art USA: Quilts stamps at upper right canceled Dated Jan 28 1981 Image to the left shows a map of the New York to Tokyo to Beijing route. Cancelation rears Air Mail Facility JFK NY 11430 Building 189 Jan 28 1981 PM. Cancelation on the back is 1981, 1, 29.17 with oriental characters. First day of issue cover or first day cover is typically a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use within the country or territory of the stamp-issuing authority. There will usually be a first day of issue postmark, frequently a pictorial cancellation, indicating the city and date where the item was first issued, and "first day of issue" is often used to refer to this postmark. Postal authorities may hold a first day ceremony to generate publicity for the new issue, with postal officials revealing the stamp, and with connected persons in attendance, such as descendants of the person being honored by the stamp. The ceremony may also be held in a location that has a special connection with the stamp's subject, such as the birthplace of a social movement. Event covers, also known as commemorative covers, instead of marking the issuance of a stamp, commemorate events. A design on the left side of the envelope (a "cachet") explains the event or anniversary being celebrated. The stamp affixed relate to the event. As first day covers became more popular they began to appear on prepared envelopes, often with an illustration that corresponded with the theme of the stamp. Pan American World Airways reached China the first time with its "Clipper" flying boats in 1935, and played a key role in organizing domestic air service there in the tenuous pre-war period. But after the 1949 Revolution, American interests were kicked out of the country, and the Communists effectively walled off (pun intended) China from nearly all Western commerce and culture. President Nixon s overtures to the People s Republic in 1972 started tenuous contacts, and in September of that year an order came for ten Boeing 707 jetliners to be operated by CAAC, the national air service. Those aircraft were used on routes to the Mideast, Africa, and Europe, however it took until 1979 for there to be any agreement on transportation between China and the US, and the first transit was done by cargo ship. Pan Am had to give up its flights to Taiwan (which was just fine by competitor Northwest Orient), and CAAC had to order, receive, and get trained on new Boeing 747s before service could commence. For CAAC, this started on January 7, 1981, and Pan Am s service kicked off on January 28. Pan Am used the long-range 747SP, which was a customized short-body version of the famous aircraft that could fly the New York-Tokyo leg (or later, Los Angeles-Shanghai) without fuel stops. It was a fuel hog a big problem when the oil crisis hit - but the best that Boeing could put in the sky with late-1970s technology, and as such it was given the highest prestige. By no means were these services profitable in the first several years flights were nowhere near full, as business and immigration connections between the US and China would take time to develop, and both countries were just beginning to come out of economic crises (albeit for different reasons). The 747SP, while paid for, would be an operational money pit for Pan Am well into the 1990s. While Pan Am would eventually get its Pacific services to profitability, their losses on core European services would see the company make another fatal decision when they sold the Pacific division to United Airlines in 1985 for $750 million. First Day of Issue/First Day Cover Presumed First Edition, First printing thus.
Seller Inventory # 89674
Contact seller
Report this item
