Pan American World Airways Airmail Flight Menu

Collection — Folder: 1

Identifier: 1984-00-00-21

Contents of the Collection

The Pan American World Airways Airmail Flight Menu is a small collection is comprised of one folded-card dinner menu from the inaugural Air Mail flight from San Francisco to New Zealand on Pan American Airways Clipper "American," on July 12, 1940. The menu was signed by members of the crew, including Captain J. H. Tilton, while it was docked at the first stop on its route: Honolulu.

Dates

Creation: 1940 July 12

Creator

Pan American World Airways, Inc (Organization)

Language of Materials

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Historical Note: California Clipper

On July 12, 1940, the Pan American World Airways B-314 flying boat “California Clipper,” took off from San Francisco heading for Auckland, New Zealand. The Clipper was commanded by Captain J.H. "Pop" Tilton and carried a crew of ten along with several passengers as well as over a hundred thousand airmail letters in its cargo hold. To complete the 8,000 mile route, brief stopovers in Canton Island and Noumea, New Caledonia were required. A journey that took over two weeks by steamship at the time was completed by the Clipper in only four days. A month after the “California Clipper” arrived in Auckland, Pan American World Airways inaugurated a regular United States-New Zealand service, significantly reducing the travel time for Americans to fly to Australia and Europe.

Source: "Back to Auckland!" The Pan Am Historical Foundation. Accessed August 1, 2019. https://www.panam.org/explorations/513-back-to-aukland-2.