posted 09-27-2026 08:12 AM               

Space Cover 875: Unusual SCC Mercury FDCs

As we all know, the US Postal Service released the Project Mercury stamp following the successful recovery of John Glenn completing the first orbital flight of an American astronaut. I won't go into all the details as I don't want to bore you with information you already know. I do want to focus on the First Day Covers produced by Joe Fitzpatrick and cachet artist Carl Swanson of Space Craft Covers for the Project Mercury stamp.

The first picture shows the two most recognized Project Mercury FDCs produced by Space Craft Covers. These used the Mercury Atlas-6 regular issue cachet used for Glenn's flight but slightly smaller and with two different color combinations. These were offered to regular subscribers of Space Craft Covers.

The second cover pictured, though not directly connected to Space Craft Covers, was designed by SCC artist Carl Swanson and has his familiar "C. Swanson" signature at the bottom of the cachet. It's a somewhat humorous look at Caroline Kennedy's reaction to meeting John Glenn when he visited the White House after his historic flight. Note that the pose of Glenn in this cachet is very similar to the pose on the other SCC covers for his flight.

The third cover pictured is very interesting. Most of the Space Craft Covers for the MA-6 launch are postmarked Patrick AFB at 10 AM and have the Echo stamp. This cover is postmarked Patrick AFB at 5:30 PM and has the Project Mercury stamp. That makes this cover both a splashdown cover and an unofficial FDC. This cover is listed in Chuck Vukotich's SCC catalog but no story of how they were obtained nor are any quantities listed.

The final cover is an unofficial FDC postmarked in Huntington WV which is the home of Joe Fitzpatrick and Space Craft Covers. Joe was very proud of his West Virginia heritage and not surprisingly produced first day covers for the Project Mercury stamp. This cover is also listed in Chuck Vukotich's catalog but again, no story nor quantities are mentioned.

The release of the Project Mercury stamp was a complete surprise to collectors. Luckily Joe Fitzpatrick and SCC were paying attention and were able to create some unique first day covers. Do you have any other Project Mercury FDCs with strictly a Space Craft Covers connection? Please post them if you do.