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Commemorative cachet for the Launching of the Balloon Enterprise
- Creator:
- Poor Richard Press
- Location:
- Illinois, Chicago
- Origin Date:
- 1941
- Materials:
- paper
- Measurements:
- overall: 3 5/8 in x 6 1/2 in
- Item ID:
- 71.2009.082.0768
- Holding Institution:
- Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
- Available for Viewing:
- No
- Category:
- Three-dimensional Objects
Description
This cacheted cover commemorates the launching of the balloon, Enterprise, in Washington, D. C., on June 17, 1861. On the left half of the envelope, the cachet printed in dark blue and pink ink depicts President Lincoln and two military men watching the balloon out of the window of the War Department telegraph room. The title printed above the cachet reads "Eighty Years Ago, on June 17, 1861, the First Telegraphic Communication in Connection with Aeronautics was Sent by T. S. C. Lowe, Aloft Over Washington, D. C." The caption below the cachet is "In the Balloon "Enterprise" to President Abraham Lincoln, an Interested Observer." A postmark reading "Washington, D. C., Jun 17, 1941, 9 AM" is stamped on the upper center of the envelope. The envelope is addressed to Lincoln Nat'l Life Foundation, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Tucked inside the envelope is a red folder which contains explanatory text by Theodore S. Charrney on the balloon and its use duriing wartime. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum