Aviation meet postal card
During West Branch, Michigan's Ogemaw County Fair Aviation Demonstration, held October 5, 1916, pilot Al Boshek flew 150 pieces of mail from the fair grounds to a point near the post office, where the sack was dropped to waiting postal officials. The Post Office Department assigned the service as Route No. 637,005.
Some pieces of mail, canceled with the special "Aerial P. O." device, show the year date in the postmark inverted to read "9161." This was evidently noticed early in the postmarking process because most known pieces have the date 1916 properly applied.
This card, addressed to Albert C. Butzen, Jr., the 18-year-old son of a German candy maker, Detroit, Michigan, bears a large, sharp, magenta postmark - "WEST BRANCH, MICH / Oct 5 1916 / AERIAL P.O." The postmark cancels the 1-cent Jefferson indicia.
