Amelia Earhart and Giovanni Caproni Autographs (SC-46)

This collection contains two aviation-related items. The first is the business card of Giovanni Caproni, the Italian manufacturer of the Caproni bomber. The second is a pass to the 25th Anniversary of the First Flight, December 17, 1928, belonging to C.C. Frost Jr., and autographed on the back by Amelia Earhart and G. Caproni.

The story of the cards and autographs was included with the donation from Cecil C. Frost III:

"I am sending you the two cards I mentioned during my visit to the Archives, including one signed by Amelia Earhart in 1928.

"This was the year she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, although only as a passenger, the year after Lindbergh’s famous crossing. The card was signed in a hangar at Langley Field… near Hampton, Virginia.

"The event was the gathering of aviators commemorating the 25th anniversary of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. After the trip to Kill Devil Hills, some of the group toured the Hampton Roads area. They came by boat to Old Point dock and my grandfather helped provide transportation to Langley Field. He had never heard of Amelia Earhart, but my father who was 15 and an aviation fan, recognized her and asked for her autograph. She gave him the Kill Devil Hills pilgrimage card and signed it on the back. He wrote his own name in pencil on the front and later had it signed also by G. Caproni, the Italian manufacturer of the Caproni bomber, from whom he received the business card as well."