“We are on the threshold of rocket mail,” said Summerfield.
He was right in one respect – there was a rocket mail delivery in 1959 but it was the only one ever to happen
In June 1959, a cruise missile adapted to take two USPS mail canisters was fired from the submarine USS Barbero and landed at Mayport near Jacksonville where it was delivered to the local post office for onward delivery
The mail consisted solely of these commemorative postal covers:
The recipients included US President Dwight D Eisenhower and other officials.
The accomplishment was “of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world,” said Summerfield inaccurately.
