Envelopes and wrappers (postal stationery)

Balloon-Mail was a charity-event.Could be also called a gimmick,as the transport of mail by a balloon served no other purpose.
The only serious mail-transport by balloon,that I am aware of,happened in the
1870/71 Franco-Prussian War.Paris was encircled by the Prussian army.So
ballons were used to get some mail out of the town.Such letters are rare and
highly priced.
Most special air-mail pieces are of philatelic origin.But that does not seem to matter.Most Zeppelin mail is of that kind,but is still very much in demand
and rather expensive.
First-Flight-Covers are another philatelic invention.However not that pricey,
I think because,like with modern FDC´s,there are too many of them.
Here another Balloon-Post item:

The card was posted in St.Veit/Glan in Carinthia on Oct.19th,1964.
Was collected in Vienna,where the balloon started on Oct.25th.
Was cancelled again after landing in Gross Enzersdorf Oct.26th and sent from
there to the final destination in Germany.
How much of a gimmick this is,shows,when you have a look where Gross
Enzersdorf is situated: 18 km from Vienna !
But anyway,balloon-post was and possibly still is popular in Austria.
Here the patriotic back of the card: (Day of the Austrian Flag)

 

The full title is: Heimkehrende Postillione nach dem Regen.
i.e postillions on their way home after the rain.

The full set is shown in post 25 of the thread "show your favourite stamps!"

 

I have a number of envelopes from some asian countries,either unused or c.t.o..
As I have no catalogue,I do not know,when they were issued.However the
ongoing inflationary face-value rises are an indicator in what succession they
were issued.
Starting with Pakistan:

Inland letter around 1962/64;
issued 1961

 

Inland letter,"15 P.-rate era",1964/69
issued 1965

 

Inland letter "60 P.-rate era" 1983/85
issued 1983

 

Inland letter "80 P.-rate era" 1986/88
issued 1987

 

(don´t know the meaning of the inscription in the box)
issued 1989

 

(a different inscription,but again I don´t know the meaning)
issued 1989

 

issued 1989

 

issued 1990

 

issued 1993

 

To cover the the production-costs of stationery,a surcharge to the postage
had be paid.So the above envelope was sold for Rs.1.80.

 

Fast and reliable... and expensive
issued 1993

 

Here the back of a similar envelope,what apart from the colour is
identical to that of the above one.It lists all the different special
carriage-services of Pakistan P.O.

 

Very Nice covers, Werner.
Keep 'em coming,
HGG

 

airex = air express
Could not find a better information,than what is to be seen on the back of the
(blue) envelope.According to the web-site of Pakistan Post,airex was introduced
in 1985.Wether it is still offered,I don`t know.