Amelia Earhart & Fred “WHO”nan?

Hey everybody. Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I’m Angie, a reseller of 10 years, and I’ll share one of those snippets with you. Let’s see what today’s find has to say.

I need to start off with…I mean no disrespect and I’m not making fun of Fred Noonan in naming this episode if anyone took it that way. I only mean to call myself out on the fact I didn’t know Amelia had another person with her by the name of Fred Noonan on their final flight. I found out in my many searches I’m definitely not the only one.

Let’s take a look at the couple of pieces which sparked the episode. I didn’t come across them at the same time. One I picked up at a local online auction, the other from a flea market.

I’d first acquired a small 6 ½ x 3 5/8”, unused anniversary envelope honoring Amelia’s last flight and it’s almost fully covered with various images and wording.

On the left side, it shows a cropped image of Amelia in different shades of brown, which honestly could be some discoloration due to age or storage. Underneath in the lower left in small lettering reads DAYTON STAMP CLUB.

The middle says, 1987 AIRPEX XII

50^th Anniversary

Last flight of Amelia Earhart

1937-1987

The wording is followed by an image of a blue plane and under the plane it shows a map and the flight path starting in Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island.

The right side of the envelope has a 22 cent stamp showing fireworks over the American Flag. Below, stamped in black, has another small image of Amelia’s face and opposite is a plane, along with Airpex xii Sta. Oct. 10, 1987 Dayton, OH 45401, Earhart-Noonan 50^th Anniversary 1937-1987

Regarding the 2^nd piece, In 1963 the U.S. Airmail Postal stamp, honoring Earhart, was released and it’s a 5 ¼” x 8 ¼” inch, glossy, thicker piece of cardstock. The top left is stamped as if processed through the mail saying, ATCHISON KANS., July 24 9:00 A.M. 1963.

The top right is stamped FIRST DAY OF ISSUE along with the 8 cent stamp of Amelia Earhart standing in front of a plain off in the distance behind her.

Just below, is an image of her sitting on a cushioned chair or couch and her arms are hugging her knees and she’s smiling for the camera. Underneath the photo is a short biography and here’s how it goes.

“In Atchison, Kansas on July 24^th 1898, Amelia M. Earhart was born in the home of her grandfather, Judge Otis. Her father, Edwin S. Earhart was a native Kansan who graduated from the University of Kansas in 1895 and worked as a claim agent for the railroad. Amelia was known as the “Atchison tomboy.” She loved life and with her sister, Muriel, enjoyed the early years and the strenuous games of childhood.

Amelia saw her first airplane at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on her ninth birthday. It was of little interest to her at the time even though her father was intensely interested in the contraption. 1919 saw her studying at Columbia University as a pre-med student. In later years she was a teacher and a social worker. She became interested in aviation and on June 17^th, 1928 flew across the Atlantic as a passenger in the monoplane, “Friendship” piloted by Wilmer Stultz and his mechanic Lou Gordon.

From then on, her next nine years were filled with the thrills of flying and she engaged in air derbys and speed races. She was aviation editor of “Cosmopolitan Magazine” from 1928 to 1930. In 1931 she was married to George Palmer Putnam. On May 20^th and 21st of 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland to Ireland.

She made several transcontinental flights from Los Angeles to Newark making records. In 1935 she was the first to fly solo from Honolulu to California in her Lockheed Vega. In April she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City and from there to Newark.

In March 1937 she flew from Oakland to Honolulu. She was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. On June 1^st, 1937 she left Miami with Fred Noonan as co-pilot for a trip around the world at the equator.

This trip took them to South America, Africa, India, and Australia. On July 1^st, the two left Lae, New Guinea for the 2550 mile trip to Howland Island in mid-Pacific. It was on that leg of the flight that their Lockheed Electra disappeared. In spite of a tremendous air search by the U.S. Navy, no sign of the fliers was ever found.”

So, Amelia is the easy part of this story. Not because her life was simple, but because there was so much to find. Her image is everywhere. Stories both good and bad, are everywhere.

When I got to the end of the card I was shocked I hadn’t known there was another person sitting there with her flying across the world.

Fred Noonan was born April 4, 1893, in Cook County, Illinois.

His mother Catherine died when he was young, only about four years old. According to Wikipedia, his father, Joseph appears in the 1900 Chicago census as living in a boarding house and I did find, what I think would be the same Joseph having him listed as a porter for his employment.

**Edited to remove those not associated with Joseph’s house & connecting his housemates to the categories up top.**
This site, while you don’t have to pay, you do need an account to view:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6W33-7FV?view=index&cc=1325221&lang=en&groupId=M92Y-BP2&action=view

It’s been assumed Fred was an only child and most likely raised by friends or family. I found a site saying, “in the early 1900s, school records list Fred as having attended three different elementary schools with three different home addresses and a different guardian of record each year.”

At just 17 years old he got on a British sailing ship called the Crompton, as an entry level, ordinary seamen and shipped out of Seattle. Over the next several years he worked on more than a dozen ships, slowly moving up the ranks.

During World War I, while never in the Navy, He served as officer aboard merchant ships carrying ammunition and survived three separate vessels being sunk. He had built a serious maritime career, eventually earning a license allowing him to captain steamships of any size.

Noonan had learned to fly in the 1920s and during the early 30s he began working as a navigation instructor for Pan American World Airways.

I came across an article from April 18, 1935 and it reads partly,

“A large share of the credit for any extended ocean flight must go to the navigation officer, Fred J. Noonan, who holds that position on the Pan American Clipper, is a navigator “from way back.”

During the past several years he has made exhaustive studies of various methods of aerial navigation, and is considered one of the foremost authorities on this important phase of air transportation.”

**Newspapers.com – Requires subscription**

In 1935 he was the navigator and part of larger crew of the China Clipper successfully making Pan-American’s first trans-Pacific flight.

After all of that, he ended up resigning from Pan Am saying it was due to not having farther to go in the ranks as a navigator.

When Earhart was planning her flight around the world, she chose Fred to be her navigator but, only after Harry Manning, a skilled radio operator, also a navigator, backed out. There was a 1^st attempt to go around the world and in the 2^nd leg, it ended in a crash at take off from Hawaii with Harry, Fred, and Amelia piloting. The Lockheed Electra 10E was severely damaged and would need to be sent off for repair.

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Model_10_Electra**

The plane was purchased by Purdue University for $40,000 through the Purdue Research Foundation. Another $40,000 was added through donations to make various modifications totaling $80,000 which would be about 1 ½ million dollars today. And Purdue did this with the expectation they’d get it back for further research once the flight was complete.

Shameless plug here, I did a previous episode where I talk about an old Purdue yearbook I have from 1952 in which a famous Purdue graduate by the name of Ruth Siems, inventor of Stove Top Stuffing attended so I’ll leave that link in the show notes.

Once the Lockheed Electra was repaired and the trip was back on, Harry had decided he wasn’t going to continue. There’s conflicting information as to why he backed out whether it was his inability to get a leave of absence or he was uncomfortable with Amelia’s handling of the plane that day. But, in Amelia’s Wikipedia page, they make it sound like they just wanted a better navigator due to some tests they’d put Manning through.

On May 20, 1937 Amelia and Fred began their 2^nd attempt to fly around the world and follow a “close to the equator” route. On July 2, 1937, they left Lae, New Guinea, heading for Howland Island and radio contact suggested they were having trouble locating the island and contact was eventually lost. A major search followed but, no confirmed trace of the plane, Amelia or Fred was found.

Fred was a student of Philip Van Horn Weems trained in celestial navigation techniques Weems helped develop. After Noonan disappeared, Weems was quoted as saying, “Noonan had been flying for Pan-American for many years and it was all in his day’s work to hit smaller islands than Howland square on the nose.”

Many people of course, blamed Fred. He was the navigator. He was also known to drink. In the New Yorker they published an article in 2025 called “Amelia Earhart’s Reckless Final Flights.” They talk about how when Amelia and Fred were in Calcutta Fred had gotten drunk at a bar and Amelia called her husband who told her to call it off but, she didn’t. In the very same article they then write Amelia told a reporter, off-the-record, Noonan had gotten drunk and she didn’t trust him only to have Putnam insist on continuing with him.

There’s other potential issues like Wikipedia, stating, later research showed that Howland’s position was misplaced on their chart by approximately five nautical miles.”

The radio log of the last communications of Amelia Earhart can be found on the National Archives site and I’ll link to that and others in the show notes

We all know Amelia never came home but, not near as many of us probably knew of a man named Fred, never come home either.

Each had loved ones anxiously awaiting news saying they were found safe and sound. An article posted July 4, 1937 highlights both Amelia’s husband and Mrs. Noonan. It shows an image of George scribbling notes about the last message relayed to him…9:29 a.m., Friday, “Wind east northeast six miles; partly cloudy; barometer 29.82; visibility 20 miles; temperature 81; calm sea; clouds cumulus, unlimited ceiling.”

Mrs. Noonan is pictured sitting at her radio awaiting the rescue of Fred. She was quoted as saying, I know they will be all right. They may have a few uncomfortable hours, but I know the Coast Guard or somebody will locate them. My husband’s flying ability and luck will carry him through.”

**Newspapers.com – Requires a subscription**

Thank you for joining me as I shared a snippet of the past. I’d love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links, and ways to connect. It’s not nostalgia, it’s human.

Until next time, may you find something worth holding on to

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