Letter from the first commercial mail delivery flown internally in New Zealand

This letter is generally considered to be one of two surviving covers from the very first mail flown internally in New Zealand. Following WW1, the use of planes for commercial purposes in New Zealand was still in its infancy. This aerial drop for publicity purposes was unofficial and not sanctioned by the Post Office. Nevertheless it demonstrated the potential value of using planes for mail delivery to smaller centres in New Zealand. Immediately following this venture, the first offical mail flight took place between Auckland and Dargaville (16 December 1919), followed by flights to Thames, Tauranga, Whakatane, Russell, Kawhia and Hokianga in the first half of 1920, and flights across Cook Strait and in the South Island in the latter half of the year. Flights continued into 1921, most of them piloted by G.B. Bolt, Allen Bell and Euan Dickson, some involving seaplanes. However, these early mail flights were not a commercial success, and regular use of air mail had to await developments in the 1930s.