hitchcock

This is actually a pretthy important photograph -- the first shipment of the mail by air authorized by postal authorities. from www.earlyaviators.com/eovingto.htm "At a large meet in Garden City, Long Island, New York an attempt was to be made to fly the first air mail in the United States following the lead of the British two weeks earlier. Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock had attempted in November 1910 to fly a plane on a ship-to-shore flight to demonstrate a method to expedite the delivery of mail , etc. from arriving and departing transoceanic vessels. However, bad weather thwarted one attempt and a broken propeller, another. Now at Garden City another attempt was to be made. Two prominent British flyers were approached to participate but declined politely when they learned that there was no remuneration. However Earl L. Ovington volunteered to make the flight. Although he flew a Curtis-type pusher biplane at Chicago he preferred his tractor-type monoplane and came to Garden City with an American-made Bleriot Queen... named the Dragonfly and bearing a bold number 13. Postmaster Hitchcock was disappointed with his choice as he expected his mail carrier's plane to be a two-seated with one seat reserved for him... The Bleriot was only capable of carrying one person. Not wishing to surrender the distinction of being the first air mail carrier he reported "I immediately decided to postpone the flight until a two-seated plane could be procured." Eventually Hitchcock relented and he said, "I handed the pouch to Ovington ...and permitted him to proceed on that first flight alone. For a time I felt rather deeply disappointed of thus failing in my ambition to become the first (air mail) carrier of record (in the United States). Afterward, when I became better acquainted with Earl Ovington and began to appreciate his fine qualities...I cease to begrudge him the honor he wrested from me." Ovington took off on September 23, 1911 with a load of 640 letters and 1,280 postcards in a mail bag tucked between his legs - the first airplane carry of United States mail authorized by postal authorities. Ovington flew to Mineola, about three miles away, where, as agreed, he dropped the bag in a prearranged spot to waiting postal officials. The drop landed on time and on target, but unfortunately the bag broke on impact with the ground, scattering the mail hither and yon. After a scramble, all the letters and cards were retrieved and sent on the way via regular postal channels, all of them bearing the cancellation "AEROPLANE STATION No.1 - GARDEN CITY ESTATES, N.Y." For this feat Ovington was awarded the title "AIR MAIL PILOT No.1." "

In the hand-written inscription it has "P.M.G. Hitchcock" The letters "P.M.G." stand for postmaster-general; so it would be significant to retain that in the caption methinks. It's an accepted although archaic abbreviation.

Earle Lewis Ovington (December 20, 1879 - 1936) was an American aeronautical engineer, aviator and inventor, and served as a lab assistant to Thomas Edison. Ovington piloted the first official airmail flight in the US in 1911, from Garden City, New York to Mineola, New York. He delivered 640 letters and 1,280 postcards, including a letter to himself from the United States Postal Service designating him as "Official Air Mail Pilot #1." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_Ovington Frank Harris Hitchcock (October 5, 1867 – August 25, 1935), was chairman of Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1909. He was then Postmaster General of the United States under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1913. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Harris_Hitchcock I started an entry for Edward M. Morgan at Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_M._Morgan The plane is instantly recognizable as a Blériot XI. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%c3%a9riot_XI

Other Bain/LOC photos of Earle Lewis Ovington, the first U. S. Airmail pilot:

"Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868 – March 29, 1947) served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1915 to December 1918."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_S._Whitman

The photo was most likely taken on the occasion of the handover of a flying boat to the NY Naval Militia. See comment under

Thanks B-59 for linking this image to the related ones about the NY Naval Militia ceremony. We will add more details when we update the description.

Here is Wikipedia article about polo player Tommy Hitchcock, Jr. (born in 1900) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Hitchcock,_Jr.

the wealthy Whitney Family was very involved in thoroughbred horse racing, according to this article from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_family

Flora Whitney was born in 1897, according to this article about her mother: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Vanderbilt_Whitney She was 3 years older than Tommy Hitchcock, which seems about right looking at the photo.

I love their clothes. Such a damn romantic era (though with child labor and racial segregation, I suppose one could argue pretty convincingly that it was all a facade).

Flora Payne Whitney (1897 - 1985) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Payne_Whitney I agree that Miss Whitney looks to be about three years older than young Hitchcock. Do you suppose they would have been at the Steeplechase races without their parents? No way. I've had a look at the uncompressed Tiff version of this photograph downloaded from the persistent URL, and Hitchcock Jr. is holding a card that has a headline at the top "RACING" and lower down "Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association Belmont Park Terminal ..." Therefore, I believe this photograph was almost certainly taken at the Steeplechase meeting held on May 4, 1912. The New York Times report of the following day is here: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DE5DC153CE633A... and amongst the Society notables in the crowd of 4,000 people were Mr. and Mrs. Payne Whitney, and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock.