The Airmail Stamp

Definition: An airmail stamp pays for guaranteed transportation of mail by air. Although balloons semi-officially carried mail in earlier days, the first official airmail stamp was issued by Italy in 1917. The United States' first airmail stamp was issued in May, 1918. Pictured here is the five cent "Beacon" stamp, commemorating the beacon lights that allowed airmail pilots to fly at night in the service's early days.