• Mme. M. Blanchard headed the commercial and military air forces (one balloon) under Bonaparte and Louis XVIII, until she was killed by an accident aloft over Paris in 1819. Her work often included appearances at weddings and festivals, etc., where her ascent was the dramatic feature of the day. She was the widow of J.-P. Blanchard, first balloonist to carry international air mail (France to England).
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Madame Blanchard postcard

From Women Making History: The Revolutionary Feminist Postcard Art of Helaine Victoria Press by Julia M. Allen and Jocelyn H. Cohen

  • Printed letterpress in blue, 4 ¼” x 6”, at the Los Angeles Woman’s Building. Helaine Victoria Press had printed a cachet honoring Madame Blanchard for the Commercial Aviation stamp. Since they were primarily postcard publishers, they decided to print a Madame Blanchard postcard also. They sent some of the postcards to the USPS to be postmarked with the First Day of Issue and kept others to offer for sale. They only printed 100 in blue. (front) Napoleon’s Chief of Air Services 1810 and Pioneer Aeronaut, 1819. Commercial Aviation.
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  • HISTORY / Women
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