During the early 2000s my cover collecting passion was airmail covers with different or unusual borders. When I began this collection I thought it would, perhaps, reach two or three dozen examples. By the time I tired of searching for these covers, the accumulation had grown to over 250 and I still find a different one now and then. I will begin showing the cover that got me started with this sideline collection. This variant airmail border was produced by J. W. Stoutzenber, a printer and cachet maker from Maplewood, Missouri. I have found five different designs by him, but this one, in my opinion, is his most dramatic. It is a typical airmail first flight cover. I bought it for a $1 at the Oklahoma City stamp show around 2001. Don
Another Mr. Stamp specialty! Bargains make the cover or purchase even more attractive. I try to stay under $20 a cover but have scored a few very sweet ones for one or two dollars. The hunt is perhaps more than half the fun.
There are several other airplane airmail borders. I won't bore viewers by posting all I have, but I do want to show the following. It is not a cover per se, but an aerogram with a paper airplane airmail border. I have a couple of stamps that show paper airplanes, but this is the only cover I have seen. Don
The next group of variant airmail borders is 'Birds." This is not a large group and surprisingly, most of those I have are from countries outside the U.S. Here is one of the first I collected. Don
A second "Bird" border, this one on a U.S. envelope. It follows the same pattern of being printed on the left and bottom with the compass rose in the corner. Don
The airlines used airmail stationery and designed their own with borders reflecting their identity. Here are some examples: Don
Here are a couple of borders featuring Canadian national symbols, the maple leaf and the beaver. One cover posted in Canada, the other in the U.S. Don
Posted below is an unusual airmail designation on covers. It is not a border, but none-the-less designates the cover as airmail. Milton Mauck, a airmail cover dealer and cachet designer seems to have originated this style of airmail designator. It is one of my favorites that I have categorized as "Connecting Terminals." Here's a sample: Don
It's been awhile since I added to this thread. Here are a few airmail covers from Egypt that use hieroglyphics in the borders. Don
The variations of red, white, & blue lines and bars airmail borders are multitudinous. I will post only a few to give an impression of what they are like. The second and third images have many variations of aircraft pushing or pulling the lines across the cover. I am particularly fond of the last image, a home made job, obviously, from a collector who liked something a little different. Don
Some one-of-a-kind airmail borders. These are rarely duplicated with enough variations to form a separate grouping. This is, perhaps, my second largest category, exceeded only by the lines & bars group. Don
