A bandbox celebrating the flight of Richard Clayton from Cincinnati, Ohio, 1835 from the Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection. Image by Dane Penland, Smithsonian Institution

Today, airplanes take us from here to there in the air.

But back in 1783, traveling by balloon became the big thing.

That’s when the Montgolfier brothers made a hot air balloon out of paper and silk in Paris and took the first free flight carrying a human.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum recently shared news of the acquisition of a collection filled with items celebrating those ballooning times

The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection is filled with art, prints, objects, books, photos and manuscript materials documenting the history of flight from the late 18th to the early 20th century. And while the Air and Space Museum has no set date for exhibiting items from the collection, it has shared a few images.

Enjoy. And wave!

Fan dating to 1783 painted with the image of the first hot air balloons to carry living creatures aloft. Image by Dane Penland, Smithsonian Institution

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