1936-1939 “Famous Aviator Pictures” (F277-4)
H.J. Heinz Company, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, USA

Series Title: Famous Aviator Pictures, 1st and 2nd Series
ACC No.: 1st Series (F277-4a) & 2nd Series (F277-4b)
Manufactured by: H. J. Heinz Company
Country: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Number of Series #1 Cards (F277-4a): 25-cards
Number of Series #2 Cards (F277-4b): 3 × 25-cards
Card Dimensions: 1⅞ × 3 inches
Circa Series #1 (F277-4a): 1936
Circa Series #2 (F277-4b): 1937-1939

Background

The “Famous Aviator Pictures” (F277-4) series is the most popular of the Heinz cereal sets issued during the 1930s. This series is a collection of beautiful portraits of some the most famous pilots in aviation history. There are actually 30 images associated with this series with four different printings. The first series of “Famous Aviator Pictures, 1st Series” with the printing code 32236, contains the five key cards for the series. We like to refer to these cards as the “Magnificent Five” due to their rarity. The cards are #2 Amelia Earhart, #5 Laura Ingalls, #7 Howard Hughes, #8 Capt. Edmund Musick, and #9 Commander Frank Hawks. These five cards were only included in the first printing (32236).

The rumor is that the H. J. Heinz Company failed to obtain the proper permissions from these individuals and the cards were subsequently pulled from the series and replaced with a replacement printing of the “Famous Aviator Pictures” cards. The replacement before and after cards are shown below.

Series 1		Series 2
	← Replace This with That →
	← Replace This with That →
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	← Replace This with That →
	← Replace This with That →

Multiple Printings

There were four printings of the “Famous Aviator Pictures” (F277-4) card set. For example, the following printing codes of #32236 (indicate series 1 cards). The three printing codes of #13137, #22738 and #0969 (indicate series 2 cards). The printing sequence numbers appear on the backs of the cards in the lower right hand corner. The printing sequence numbers indicate the date the cards were printed. For example the 32236 printing sequence number indicates that the cards were printed on the 322nd day of 1936. Printing sequence number 13137 translates to the 137th day of 1937, etc. The printing sequence number #32236 only applies to the “Famous Aviator Pictures, Series 1” (F277-4a) card set which contains the “Magnificent Five.” cards.

The “Famous Aviator Pictures, Series 2 (F277-4b)” cards are much easier to collect than the “Famous Aviator Pictures, Series 1 (F277-4a)” cards, by that, we mean less expensive! During recent years we’ve seen individual “Magnificent Five” cards sell on eBay for more than a $1,000.

The backs of the cards contain a brief biography of the subject “Aviator,” and H.J. Heinz advertisements. Examples of the four card backs are shown below.

“Famous Aviator Pictures, 1st Series” (F277-4a: #32236) Image-Guide

“Famous Aviator Pictures, 2nd Series” (F277-4b: #3137, #22738, #0969) Image-Guide

“Famous Air Pilots” Album (#32236)

It is interesting to note that the album for this series contains the same print code #32236 as the series 1 cards which contain the “Magnificent Five.” Even though they share the same print code, the “Magnificent Five” are not included in the album. Details of the 16-page #32236 album are shown below.

H.J. Heinz Company “World Airway Map”

During the c.1936-1937 timeframe, the H.J. Heinz Company issued their large iconic “World Airway Map” mail-order premium map poster. This large “wall-poster” featured all 25 of the “Famous Aviators Pictures, Series 2” (F277-4b) aviators, and all 25 of the “Famous Airplane Pictures, Series 2” (F277-1) aircraft. Forty-nine of the “surround” images were presented as cards. The Charles Lindbergh (F277-2 #1 card) was morphed into the iconic portrait of Charles Lindbergh, and was located at the top-center of the map. The following map image was computer enhanced using the card images from both the F277-2 and the F277-4b sets. This particular mail-order premium is possibly one of the rarest collectibles in the card collecting hobby! Since 2002 we have only seen one “real” image of this H.J. Heinz “World Airway Map” mail-order premium, and that was on Facebook. So, if you have this premium, KEEP IT SAFE, and get it appraised.

Checklist

References

1. Albert B. Kramer: High resolution scans from the Kramer Collection
2. John A. Shupek: The Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database

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Skytamer Images (Skytamer.com)
Est. 1998