I confess to being a sucker for Howell collectables, or Howellana as I like to refer to it.
I’m drawn to these items for their potential story content and archival merit. On eBay recently, I came across a canceled airmail envelope from 1938 that featured an enormous hand stamped cachet, “Howell for Happiness.” It was a showstopper for me, and the “now” in Buy it Now wasn’t fast enough – especially at only $10. It was only later that I discovered the rich historical significance of the piece.
The 1938 envelope I purchased commemorated the 20th anniversary of airmail, which was launched in 1918. Across America, several thousand communities had created custom cachets that would be stamped onto cards or envelopes and mailed, via plane, during Airmail Week, a US Postal Service event that would take place May15-21, 1938.
Aviation in 1938 was a big deal. News of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance from her around-the-world flight was still fresh on the newsreels with the search in progress. Howard Hughes had just flown from Los Angeles to Newark in stunning record time of 9-1/2 hours. And eyes and ears were on the spectacular Hindenburg blimp explosion in New Jersey, which ended the short-lived passenger airship era.
The Howell Airport of the 1930s was in a different location than the current Livingston County Spencer J. Hardy Airport, situated on property that is now home to Howell Public Schools Northwest Elementary.
The grassy runway went down the middle of this 70-acre plot, crossing the area of Bowers Street and the school grounds. Adjacent to the airport was Aviation Field, where baseball and softball games were popular and fans would gather throughout the 1930s.
The event
During the 1938 Airmail Week celebration, a May 19 newspaper story reported a large crowd gathered at the Howell Airport, looking northward waiting for the postal service planes’ arrival.
After collecting airmail in Alma and Owosso, the plane would then stop in Howell to carry 896 pieces of mail from the Howell Post Office, all stamped with the special cachet “Howell for Happiness.” At 4:10 pm, pilot Harvey Hughes landed to collect Livingston County’s mail.
Promptly at 4:30 p.m., he took off for the Lansing Airport where mail from other Michigan cities would be sorted and prepared for outbound planes.
The overriding significance of the event was that this was the first and last time mail was picked up by a plane in Howell. Delivery of airmail from Howell had always been handled via train to Detroit, then distributed to Detroit City Airport for outbound planes. On this special day, Howell’s Airport — along with other regional airports — would embrace the airmail tradition in the truest sense to commemorate Airmail Week.
The cachets
In addition to the excitement of the mail’s unique transport, were the actual cachets themselves.
Cachets were a printed or stamped design or inscription, other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage, on an envelope or postal card.
In 1938, custom cachets were being created around the country to commemorate Airmail Week. These works of art would then be retired, creating a limited series for towns all over America. The US Postal Service advised those cities designing a custom cachet to consider artwork featuring the main industries from their respective towns.
Why Vern Wiltse?
The Howell Chamber of Commerce was charged with designing the Howell cachet. The honor of creating the cachet went to 28-year old Vernon Wiltse, who had a little over two months to design and manufacture the cachet. There are few details explaining the choice of the artist.
A local draftsman, Vern was actually best known for his prowess on the ballfield; his pitching exploits, well-documented in the newspapers, led the Howell City team during a steller 10-year span. Playing at Aviation Field, Vern would anticipate a plane’s take off and use the roar of the piston-driven motor as a glorious distraction. The ballfield’s adjacency to the airport is similar to today’s Bennett Field in downtown Howell, with the railroad tracks straddling the left field fence, providing the heavy rumble – and consequent distraction – of passing trains.
Imagine Vern’s thoughts at the sight of a plane taking off in deep centerfield carrying mail with his own “Howell for Happiness” stamp.
The Wiltse name will be familiar to those who know their Howell Melon history. Farmer Lloyd Willard Wiltse, Vern’s older brother, was a significant leader in developing the seed for the Howell Honeysweet Melon.
The connection to Howell’s melon legacy, though rich, does not explain why Vern Wiltse was chosen as the cachet artist, while other post offices had hired professional artists and designers.
The answer may lie in Vern’s 1997 obituary which explains that he eventually became an award-winning wood carving artist. Learning of Vern’s destiny as an artist was a satisfying discovery for me.
In 1978, Vern and his wife, Majorie, established Ramona Country Carvers, a wood carvers group in San Jacinto, Calif., that remains vital today.
In 1938, Howell Postmaster Alfred Phau stated the post office issued 896 cachet-canceled pieces of mail, which means my 2022 eBay purchase is considered a limited edition.
The art of the cachet
The “Howell for Happiness” cachet is a significant art piece, especially when juxtaposed to those of its neighboring towns. Others often featured notable citizens or locations.
Fowlerville had a preprinted envelope with the cachet, “Fowlerville, The Home of Charlie Gehringer.” This future baseball Hall of Famer was still playing for the Detroit Tigers in 1938, and Fowlerville Postmaster E.C. Cole sold just over 100 of the special envelopes.
The Pinckney post office issued a preprinted envelope showing a high view of Portage Lake from Peach Mountain, with the cachet slogan “In The Valley of a Thousand Lakes.” The Pinckney Dispatch reports 134 of its special cachet envelopes were sold.
Finally, “There is Only One Ann Arbor ” was also featured as a cachet.
As the very proud owner of one of these prints, I’m thrilled to have learned more about Airmail Week, the old Howell Airport and the artist, Vernon Wiltse. And while the origin of the cachet’s title, “Howell for Happiness,” is still undetermined, it’s obvious to me and perhaps anyone who has ever spent time here.
My thanks to Lori Bender for editing this story.
