Stirring Science Stories/February 1941/Rocket Mail
Rocket Mail
While it may not be known very well to the general public, mail has been carried by rockets and rocket mail stamps command a high price from those who collect them.
The first such flights were made in Austria by Friedrich Schmiedl. In his experiments in the construction and firing of large size rockets, powered by powder or liquid explosives, Herr Schmiedl placed packets of mail in the jackets of his rockets, and mailed the letters after the flight. In several instances, governments have given semi-official status to the rocket-mail.
The earliest instance of rocket mail flight was February 2nd. 1931. Since then flights have been made in virtually every country of the globe and a rocket stamp catalogue today would have a fairly extensive listing.
Throughout 1931 to 1936 rockets were carrying mail across streams, from mountain to village, from British Channel Isle to Isle, from ships to the shore, and from the shore to lonely lighthouses in India.
The first rocket flights carrying mail in the Western Hemisphere were directly creditable to a science-fiction club—the New York Branch of the International Cosmos Science Club, which flew two large rockets carrying mail bearing special stamps September 22, 1935.
Since then flights have been made across the Mexican border and elsewhere.
Rocket mail is still not a regular government service, but we shall not be in the least surprised when regular four-hour rocket mail service is established across the Atlantic in a few years.