Eric Mondays, part 11 - aerogrammes

I had been thinking of sending something to Eric using stamps valued 50c for his fifty call, however there are very few issued at that rate. While tidying up, I found a couple of old aerogrammes that I used to use back in the 90s, long before most of my family had email and/or the ability to send texts, with a value of 50c. 

They were always cheaper than regular airmail letters, however after they were discontinued (around 2004, I think) you can only use them if you add postage up to the global rate. On the plus side you can now add things inside to increase the weight up to 1 oz (about 27 g I think) ... which is a good thing given what happened the first time I tried to send one to Eric. It looks like the sorting machines tried to eat it... and of course the machine ate the most important part, the 50. 

I had one Chief Anderson stamp left, and added some card inside to make it sturdier (I hoped). It worked, and you can see how nicely version 2 traveled on Eric's blog.

Eva recently had a post about aerogrammes, (which generated more aerogrammes and another blogpost) so I sent her one, too, also with a bit extra inside. It arrived safely. No more chief stamps left, however I thought the butterfly worked as a symbol of flight.

Envelope 145 - fire

I sent this one to Kathie, to thank her for the gnarled tree face she sent me.

Addressed and stamped in vertical format.

I selected the C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson stamp for today's Sunday Stamps theme, People at Work. Here's an enlarged version from USPS.com.

He might not be technically at work, but he is dressed for it. He is included in the series of Distinguished Americans. 

From USPSstamps.com:

'When Anderson secured his pilot’s license in 1932, he was the only African American in the country qualified to serve as a flight instructor or to fly commercially. He then began breaking flight records and inspiring other blacks to become pilots. During World War II, Anderson served as the chief flight instructor of a flying school at Tuskegee Institute. To the Tuskegee Airmen who learned their piloting skills from Anderson, he was affectionately known as “Chief.” During the war, the Tuskegee Airmen flew thousands of sorties in the European theater, destroyed more than a hundred German aircraft, and received scores of Distinguished Flying Crosses.'

An original painting was created for the artwork for the stamps. I like this stamp a lot - a ton of character when you look at Chief's face. He won't be able to cover a non-machinable or 2 oz letter much longer, as postage rates for additional ounces is increasing on April 26th at some point in the near future - the post office was going to increase prices April 26th, but have decided to delay it while they request changes to presorted rates as well. (And looks like he is sold out anyway, unless you want to buy collector's press sheets).

New rates (date of implementation to be determined)

Additional ounce/non-machinable letters - up 1c to 22c

2 oz letter - up 1c to 71c

3 oz letter - up 2c to 93c

3.5 oz letter - up 3c to $1.15

Postcards - up 1c to 35c

International postcard or 1 oz letter (up to 2 oz to Canada) - up 5c to $1.20

A 1 oz domestic letter remains 49c.

I like that 49c + 71c = $1.20

Hopefully by now the post office will be featuring new stamps for some/all of these rates, although there may be re-issues of old stamps with the new prices.

Envelope 360

Fantastic image on this one.

It looked better vertically aligned.

Really interesting image in the 'liner'.

Addressed.

And the back, which I also like.

horizontal cloud + bonus mystery metro map

At long last sent Hester W a response to her great green card with the elegant liner.

Envelope 178 is another cloud scene; this one looked better horizontally aligned. I sent a note on another of my mystery metro map cards.

The envelope stamped (the address was placed in the brightest part of the cloud in blue to match the stamp):

three clouds vertical

 No, it's not another haiku.

It's envelopes 176, 177 and 179, sent to Jan H, Smash and Jean W, addressed in vertical format. The scans didn't come out nearly as nicely as the envelopes themselves, unfortunately. Jean will most likely blog this, so maybe her scanner will do a better job.

Naked envelope:

Stamped with C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson. The scanner seems to pick up the stamp color and emphasize it more than on the envelope (it is not an exact match, but looks less prominent in reality).

Addressed:

And the reverse sides: