Arago: Pioneer Period (1783-1918)

During the August 1912 aerial exhibition held at Boonville, Indiana, aviator Horace Kearney flew a pouch of mail daily from the substation at the fair grounds to the post office at Boonville, where he dropped it to postal authorities. Souvenir postcards remaining from the Rockford meet were used by pasting a yellow label reading "BOONVILLE FAIR" over "ROCKPORT FAIR." The Post Office Department assigned the route as No. 633,004.

Shown here, a postcard addressed to Miss Mary Land, Harrisburg, Indiana, bears the yellow label (described above). Its red cachet with aeroplane image reads, "BY AERIAL ROUTE / AUGUST 29, 1912 / BOONVILLE, IN / From BOONVILLE FAIR." The cachet cancels the 1-cent Washington stamp.