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| The American Stamp Club of Great Britain |
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The American Stamp Club of Great Britain was founded in 1954. There are over 400 members from all over the world. |
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| Balloon Mania |
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| by Eric Dowell |
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The date was 21 November 1783. The location was Paris. Two Frenchmen, standing in a basket which was in turn attached to an untethered hot air balloon, fulfilled a dream of many by becoming the first to succeed in human flight.
The dawn of aviation had arrived when Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier launched an unmanned balloon on 5 June 1783. But the first manned flight was by Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurtent, Marquis d'Arlandes when on 21 November the same year they sailed over Paris in a Montgolfier balloon.
In Europe this sparked a great balloon mania. A balloon motif soon became evident on copper engravings, dishes, sculptures, pictures and other items. Chandeliers and baskets were made resembling balloons, while other items were engraved or decorated with balloon motifs. Poets and satirists incorporated ballooning in their works.
Steering a balloon was a difficult business and Jean Pierre Blanchard soon found this out while pioneering his ballooning expertise. In London a cartoonist depicted him in the shape of a giant balloon wearing a dunce's cap.
Edgar Allan Poe asked: "The great problem is accomplished … Who shall say that anything is impossible hereafter?" He was describing an Atlantic crossing of some three days from England to South Carolina made by balloonists who had set out for France and got blown off course. He finally confessed that the event never took place but was a figment of his imagination.
Jules Verne was the most distinguished writer about ballooning and began his career with a story about a fictional balloon. He wrote about exploring Africa in a balloon - this story being semi-factual. Unfortunately no publisher was interested so Verne threw the work into the fire. His wife rescued it and urged him to try just one more publisher, Jules Hetzel. After re-writing the work to a fictional one, it was eventually published in 1863 and was a great success. The most famous novel of Jules Verne was 'Around the World in Eighty Days', which starred Mike Todd in the 20th century film version.
Military uses for balloons were soon developed. Anchored observation balloons were used by Napoleon in some of his battles and by both sides in the American Civil War, and World War I. Anchored balloons were also used as an anti-aircraft device over cities in World War II - the so called Barrage Balloons.
The powered airship was developed from the balloon, but while the airship was soon replaced by the aeroplane, balloons have continued to fulfil a variety of uses. They are still used to aid weather forecasting and the scientific study of the upper atmosphere.
Today in the age of space exploration, ballooning continues to occupy the minds of aeronauts who try to emulate the pioneers by breaking unheard of records - around the world flights, Arctic and Antarctic flights and flights high into the stratosphere.
The United States has issued several stamps depicting ballooning, such as the Jupiter balloon issue of 1958 (Scott C54), the 1983 balloon issue (Scott 2032 to 2035) and the booklet issue of 1991 (Scott 2530).
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| Scott 2032 to 2035 |
Scott also lists the semi-official Buffalo Balloon post stamp of 1877 (Scott CL1). This was a private issue used on mail carried on a balloon ascent on 18 June 1877 which began at Nashville and landed at Gallatin. It is recorded that 300 copies of the stamp were printed and 23 used on mail.
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| Reprinted with permission from The Mayflower, journal of the American Stamp Club of Great Britain |
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