Yesterday was Neither Snow nor Rain Day. Today is also a notable point on the PO timeline.
The Post Office podcasts feature several Firsts or attempted Firsts in postal transportation, including the first balloon flight in 1859. The PO could define routes and transport methods as suitable for mail. Every new development was soon postalized, including steamboats, railroads, pneumatic tubes, trucks and aircraft. (But NOT the telegraph. The PO paid Morse to develop the system and adopted it for a while, then decided to let him have it.)
Hudson got into the act in 1920, competing with early airmail flights. Roy Chapin knew how to grab publicity! Chapin had been one of the first non-flyers to ride in the Wright brothers planes, and maintained a connection with Orville, who is often seen in publicity pics.
Regular airmail started in 1918, only on a few routes in the East. On Sept 8, 1920 the PO tried its first coast-to-coast flight. Hudson sent several Essex cars across the country in both directions, each carrying an authorized load of letters. Each car made it from coast to coast in 4 days, equal to railroads which were the standard long-distance mail carrier. The simultaneous airmail flight took 10 days.
ESSEX BEATS AIRCRAFT made a good headline. Soon the airmail service established more fields and better lighting, reducing its time to 2 days.
Polistra's Mill 