PBA Galleries

Each postcard 8.5x13.8 cm (3½x5½").

Photographic images featuring biplanes and flight action from the early days of aviation. Aircraft pioneer Glenn L. Martin, just 28 years old and two years removed from founding the Glenn L. Martin Company, airplane manufacturers, was to set an altitude record for an American aviator of 14,200 feet during the two-day airshow that was part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pomona Speedway. Martin's exploits were designed to raise capital for his fledgling company, but also served to demonstrate the capabilities of airplanes to a world that would soon be at war. None of the postcards were mailed, but two of them have pencil notes on the back: "Glenn Martin holder of world record for altitude won at Pomona April the 4, 1914" (Martin seated in his biplane on the ground); and "Glenn Martin carrying a passenger to Los Angeles from Pomona" (the two seated in the plane). The other photos are of his aircraft on the field facing toward the camera, and two of planes soaring through the air.