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Thanks for all your contributions! There’s been a lot of work done in the last week so lets summarize the information we’ve uncovered.
Charles Lindbergh was an aviator who famously was the first to make a solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic. In 33 and a half hours he flew his plane, the Spirit of St Louis, from New York to Paris.
Christine found a newspaper which gave a report of this flight, saying Lindbergh “the flying mail man” arrived by air from New York and fainted as soon as he landed.
Michelle V Bright found some evidence of Charles Lindbergh’s job as a mail main - his Oath of Mail Messengers signed on April 13, 1926. The oath says he flies the Route No. C.A. M. 2 between the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, and Saint Louis, Missouri.
The next step was then to verify whether C.A.M. 2 (Contract Air Mail Route No.2) stopped at Peoria. Michele has also found the website www.charleslindbergh.com which tells us that Lindbergh along with Rob and Frank Robertson applied for Contract Air Mail Route No.2 flying from Chicago to St Louis. The source tells us that Lindbergh flew a de Haviland DH-4 over the route, with stops at Springfield and Peoria. Lindbergh had a ninety-nine percent airmail delivery efficiency without proper equipment and landing facilities.
Craig contacted the Peoria Public Library System to see if there were any articles about the first airmail service in the town and whether these could provide more information or leads to follow up. A librarian there found articles from the Peoria Journal newspaper dated April 15,16 and 17 1926. Craig’s kindly emailed them to us to post here for everyone to read.
These articles chronicle the first airmail service to Peoria and Charles Lindbergh’s role in that postal service. So now we have verified that Peoria was indeed on the C.A.M. 2 route and Lindbergh was the pilot. Craig was initially sceptical about Lindbergh’s public persona before his famous flight in 1927, and how Frank Becsey would know who he was. But these articles show Lindbergh was clearly a known figure in Peoria around the time of the events in the letter and has given the story some more credibility.
Now we know Peoria was a drop off point for Lindbergh, but does it match Frank’s story which references an airfield opposite the Mt Hawley golf course? Craig found information from the Peoria Historical Society stating the Mt Hawley Airport started operating in 1921. He then checked out the Peoria Airport website where it states that on “on April 15, 1926 Lt. Charles A. Lindberg (sic) arrives with the first airmail.”
Now we have several air fields - Varney field was the one mentioned in the newspaper articles, Greater Peoria Regional Airport’s history says it was on Lindbergh’s mail route and Frank’s letter tells us about the Mt Hawley airfield. Craig referenced a source for more information on Varney which states: “Varney agreed to base his operations in Peoria; moreover, he set up his flying school and took control of Peoria’s sole airfield.” But a search on Google Maps shows that there is more than one airfield. Mt Hawley golf course (now called the Mt Hawley Country Club) is across the road from Mt Hawley Auxiliary Airport and - interestingly - the roads leading to this airfield are called Lindbergh Blvd and N Lindbergh Dr. However Greater Peoria Regional Airport is at another location.
Kelly, our contributor, tells us Becsey, the author of the letter and the owner of the gloves, was a friend of her grandfather’s. Craig M Jones verified the identity of our letter writer by checking the census records for the 1930 Pecoria County Illinois and found a Frank Becsey. He also found that the family were living in Peoria, Illinois in the 1920 and 1930 census. He found that in 1926 Frank was located at 804 E Nebraska Av. Looking on the map this is some distance from the airfield.
Craig has found some similar gloves at www.garciaaviation.com and invited them to look at the Lindbergh Gloves. Michele says she thinks our gloves look most similar to the Gunners Mittens from WWII.
Lou Balleweg wonders about the difficulty of using mittens in the plane that Lindbergh was flying at the time as they are quite cumbersome.
Roger Michael directs us to The Smithsonian which has a website on early aviator clothing and gear. They have a photo of a pair of gloves which is quite small but from first glance does not appear to look like the gloves Kelly has.
Some really great research done in the first week, but we now have a few more questions and leads to follow up.
Task One: Find out if the Mt Hawley Auxiliary Airport was the drop off point for mail in Peoria.
Task Two: Examine the letter more closely: it mentions the building of the club house. Can we find out when this was and if the dates match those when Lindbergh was flying to Peoria?
Task Three: Research more about flying gear in the 1920s. What sort of uniforms or gloves did aviators use? Does anyone have any information?
We’re also keen to know if you have any stories or family lore about Lindbergh, so if you do post your stories below.
Did these aviator gloves belong to Charles Lindbergh from his day flying a mail route in the mid 1920s?
Week 1: Are These Charles Lindbergh's Gloves?
Week 2: The Man, The Gloves, The Airfield
Week 3: Our Online Team Researches the Details
Week 4: New Doubts About the Gloves
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The Mt Hawley website says the Country Club was founded 1922. (http://www.mthawleycc.com/)
Another site says: "MT. HAWLEY COUNTRY CLUB (PRIVATE) 7724 N Knoxville Ave, Peoria, 18 holes. 1922 - Country Club opens." (http://www.peoriahistory.com/parkshistory.html)
While this says when the club was established it doesn't not say the year the clubhouse was built. I looked briefly in the newspapers online but haven't seen it mentioned.
Additional sources I thought of, but don't have ready access to: 1- find an old postcard of the structure to confirm the date 2-Sanborn maps to see when the structure appears 3-business directory to find when a physical address is established 4-perhaps the country club itself knows when it was built.
Alexander Varney operated Varney's Flying School in Peoria, Illinois and he was also a pioneer leader in the development of aviation in the Peoria area. According to the below referenced website his leased airfield c1922 was located in an area of Peoria, Illinois that was a developed subdivision know as High Point. A Mapquest search shows an area just touching the Southeast corner of Mt. Hawley CC that appears to possibly be that area judging by the names of some of the streets. If that is true the Airport was possibly close to the construction of a new Club House and someone watching construction of a new Mt. Hawley Golf Course Club House could also see aircraft coming and going adjacent to the Southeast corner of the Golf Course.
http://www.lib.niu.edu/2002/ihy020449.html
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?name=High+Point&city=Peoria&state=IL&country=US&latitude=40.773648&longitude=-89.583984&geocode=ADDRESS&id=14098278
In addition to roger's posting and reference to the
website www.lib.niu.edu
the website information about Alexander Varney includes
Varney's role in the US Airnail contract #2/Robertson's
Aircraft Co. of America of St Louis,Charles Linbergh being the
lead pilot for that firm.
The newspaper article places the first airmail delivery at "Varney's
Field" in April.1926
Becsey's letter describes the glove finding event in early fall 1926
The www.lib.niu.edu goes on to say this about Varney's field,
"Due to many complaints about the field being small and unsafe,
including those voiced by Lindbergh and the federal govt.,
Varney's crew all but abadoned the field in the summer of 1926.
They chose to build an entirely new field. Varney's Big Hollow
airport was built on the western side of Route 30."
So Varney had two different sites or fields,this second site
may be the one Roger places near the Mt Hawley CC and the
site Mr Becsey describes near the Mt Hawley CC. I am going to
write both the Mt Hawley CC and the Mt Hawley Auxilliary airport
and see what they can offer up about their respective histories
and locations in 1926.
In a book titled The Saga of the Air Mail by Carroll V. Glines an air mail pilot by the name of Carl Ben Eielson who flew the route from Fairbanks to McGrath in a de Haviland DH4 reports to his superiors at the Post Office Department that he wore "a pair of light woolen gloves and a heavy fur mitt over that". Perhaps the mittens were only worn under extreme cold weather conditions. Which may explain the absense of grease or oil stains.
On this webpage http://www.ai.mit.edu/courses/6.863/cf05.raw I found information about an air mail pilot from New Hampshire by the name of Robert Fogg. He flew the Concord to Burlington route in a Waco days after the Great Flood of 1927. He is described as wearing a sheep lined flying suit, plus helmut, goggles and mittens to protect him from the rigors of an open cockpit.
Here we have two known pilots wearing mittens while flying similar planes under smiliar conditions.
I am not saying that the gloves/mittens are NOT "aviator gloves or
mittens" but here are a couple of curiousities to throw into the mix,
Page 67 paragraph four from Chapter Six from
"Lindbergh,A Biography" by Leonard Mosley
"His two fellow mail pilots constantly complained of the cold
when they were flying,and piled sourdough underwear and leather
coats around them in an effort to make the conditions bearable. But
Lindbergh,who didn't even possess an overcoat,seemed impervious
to the weather. He once flew his station manager,O.E Scott,from St;
Louis to Chicago on a November ride when the temperature was well
below zero up in the air,and Scott was soon so close to collapsing from
the cold that he frantically indicated to his pilot that he should land the plane.
When they did so.Lindbergh seemed quite surprised that his passenger
was cold. He hadn't noticed it himself,he said."
Pages 175-197 Emergency Jumps/Chapter 8 of the book
"WE" by Charles A Lindbergh written soon after
his New York to Paris flight includes Lindbergh's account
of his emergency bailouts in/near Peoria in 1926.
Lindbergh's description of the procedures required to get
out of the plane,pulling out the parchute flare cable,pulling
the parachute ripcords,etc sure make the type of mittens shown
seem like a bad idea to wear.
I am not convinced either that these particular mittens are aviator mittens. However, in Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book "North to the Orient" which tells of her trip with her husband, Charles, to the Orient via the Great Circle Route in 1931 she lists on page 249 their "Persnonal Flying Equipment". Among such things as 2 flying suits, 2 pair of fur lined flying boots she also lists "two pair mittens (wool lined). She also lists them in her book "Listen the Wind" which tells of their trip to survey the North Atlantic in 1933. Two pair mittens (wool lined) weighing 10 oz.
Granted these trips were a few years after his Air Mail flying days but it shows that he was not opposed to wearing mittens as a way to stem the cold while flying. Whether he wore them while actually operating the plane is not known to me at this writing. Also the plane, "The Sirius" was a more modern plane then the de Haviland. Not sure whether this particular cockpit woould be easier to operate then the de Haviland, but I imagine it would.
Is there a way that the mittens themselves can be tested for age? I know some people have said they look to be WWII era bomber mittens, can we find out if they could be earlier then that?
Found another mention of Lindbergh wearing mittens while flying. In A. Scott Berg's book "Lindbergh" he is telling of Lindbergh's historic flight in the Spririt of St Louis. Entering the 14th hour of his flight Lindbergh encounters a large range of clouds at ten thousand feet. "With no hope of raising above them, Lindbergh became aware of how cold it was in the cockpit. He removed a leather mitten and put his arm out the window, only to have it stung by cold needles".
I have been perplexed by the timeline in Mr. Becsey's Letter of Authenticity, the start of the CAM2 Route by Lindberg and the Robertson Aircraft Corp., and the building of the clubhouse at Mt. Hawley Golf Course. I emailed the Smithsonian National Postal Museum today asking if it was possible that Robertson Aircraft Corp. might have unofficially started Air Mail service on the CAM2 route in late summer or early fall prior to the official start in April, 1926! I am currently waiting their reply!
http://npm.si.edu/
I have contacted a current company specializing in sheepskin clothing to see if it is possible to date these mittens based on stitching method or other evidence. Waiting for their reply.
Here is their website:
http://www.shartlesvillesheepskin.com/contact.html
I also have some doubts about Lindbergh actually being in the vicinity of the bench where the mittens were found.
A logical scenario would be for him to stay on or near the plane and hand the mail bag to the postal employee, allowing Lindbergh to get started on the next leg of his trip as quickly as possible.
It will be interesting to see what the sheepskin clothing people have to say about the mittens.
In regards to the letter itself, I think it is correct to assume that Lindbergh would have stayed with his plane and the postal worker would have fetched and brought the mail to him. Mr. Bescey says as much when he says the gloves were found where the Postal Worker had been sitting and waitng and that by the time they cross the road the plane had landed, the transaction of the mail was complete and Lindbergh was already in the process of leaving. That is quite a lot to take place in that amount of time.
My question now would be if they are not Lindbergh's mittens then who's are they? The letter says it was early Fall. It would not have been cold enough for people on the ground to need mittens, but someone flying in an open cockpit at relatively high altitudes might. It was an airfield after all, so they could be another aviator's all together. Even if they turn out to be of that time period we still might know who they really belonged to.
At the National Air and Space Museum website I did a quick search in the Collections Database using the keyword Mittens and it came up with some photos of mittems from a little later time period. But they are well presented and viewable.
http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?startrow=0&quicksearch=mittens&collection=nasm&searchtype=collectionsdb
The above information eliminates my doubts about Lindbergh using the subject mittens.
However, it is not proof that they were his.
There is a photograph of Lindbergh and his mother taken sometime in the 1920's
posing in front of an airplane. Lindbergh is holding what appear to be leather
mittens,though they could be gloves. I will send a copy to the PBS team perhaps
if copyright laws allow they can reproduce the image for participants to view.
Photograph in "Lindbergh A Biography" by Leonard Mosley,opposite
page 41 in Chapter IV "Catharsis by Rip Cord".
Viewers and participants can read "The Spirit of St.Louis"
by Charles A Lindbergh at goglebooks. online. Lindbergh
writes about the Peoria air mail filed in Sept of 1926.
Referring to the St Louis-Chicago route he does not
give specific weekday names to describe the scedule
but does say "our contract calls for five round trips each
week" He also does not address the splitting of manpower
between himself and the other two pilots.
After the initial excitement at the inauguration of the Air Mail Route
there is not all that much mail as to the drop at Peoria in par
ticular Lindbergh says" a few dozen letters in,a few dozen
out,that is the Peoria air mail"
About the Peoria air mail field and the shorter days/night
flying Lindbergh says "In a few more weeks it will be dark
when we glide down into that narrow strip of cow pasture
called the Peoria air mail field"
Lindbergh goes on to say that the air mail field at Peoria
"a small gully spoils the eastern portion of the field"
The mailtruck driver is the only help at the field for refueling,
starting the plane after refueling,keeping the windsock un-
tangled and sometimes holding onto the wing when taxiing.
The maildriver also will put out flares on the field when the
landings are made in the dark and when field lights are installed
the driver will also light up the field at night. Other than the time
needed when refueling the stop in Peoria is not too time consuming,
and there is no-one else, mechanics etc working at the field in this
acount of Peoria Air Field in Sept 1926
I have seen the above mentioned photo and believe they may be gloves, not mittens, but it is really hard to tell. At this point, only a photo showing him wearing these exact mittens would convince me they are his and his alone. I don't deny or confirm they are aviator mittens but they do not match anything that I have seen him wear. And if you have studied many of the known photos of Lindbergh, he either has his hands behind his back, in his pockets, holding gloves or with bare hands. We know that he wore mittens while flying but that is all we know.
I feel at this point we cannot discount or confirm and short of some type of DNA testing will not be able to determine them as his.
According to part of the first paragraph on this website credit is made to Fulton County, New York as producing up to "90% of fine leather gloves made in USA". I have contacted the Fulton County Historical Society to see if they have information on production of Heavy Leather Aviation type gloves or mitten production in Fulton County, NY and also if they have any links or guidance to offer about the manufacturing of Leather Gloves during the 1920's!
http://www.albany.edu/history/glovers/
http://fultoncountymuseum.com/
In Craig M. Jones post on Aug. 28, he quotes Lindbergh saying in his book "Spirit of St. Louis":, "a small gully spoils the eastern portion of the field".
Google Maps Satellite view of the Mt. Hawley Auxilliary Airport area shows what appears to be a prominent water-filled gulley in the open field next to the runway . This airport is across the street from the Mt. Hawley Country Club. I am convinced it was the location of the air-mail field.
The sheepskin clothing people never responded to my query.
Although the gulley is on the western side of what is now the airport property, in 1926 the buildings to the west of the gulley were not there and the "cow pasture" could have been on that flat land. The flatness can be confirmed using Google Maps Street View.
Here is an idea Air Mail Pilot's Coat and Helmet
Lt. James Edgerton flew the mail from Philadelphia to Washington during the first scheduled air mail flight on May 15, 1918. He wore this helmet and coat during that flight. Edgerton left the Army in 1919 and became the Chief of Flying for the U.S. Air Mail Service.
Gift of James C. Edgerton
Image number: 2007-13835
Credit: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum
Regarding task 3
I could not get the photo with my message, but the info where the photo came from will help
I have been trying to find out if "Slim" Lindberg flew into Peoria prior to his April 15, 1926 CAM2 flight and an article I found thru findarticles.com mentions this happening. This article places him in Peoria in March of 1926. That is the earliest I have been able to place him in Peoria so far.The article also gives a good location of the airport they used which still leads me to believe the airfield was somewhere below the current Mt. Hawley CC on the same side (East side)of N. Knoxville Rd.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_200402/ai_n9354447
Flight Journal, Feb 2004 by Meyer, Corky
LINDBERGH BEFORE PARIS
"Fond remembrances of "Slim" from Craig Isbell"
Has anyone contacted the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis MO? Lindbergh donated his memorabila to the Museum and they would be an excellent resource to determine if the gloves are in fact his. Lindbergh's daughter, Reeve also may be a resource - DNA, etc.
I browsed the Missouri History Museum website and didn't find any pictures of mittens.
Howerver, photos of Lindbergh suggest he had large hands.
What size are the mittens?
Quoting a famous lawyer:
"If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit."