Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage conditions may apply Usage conditions may apply

Souvenir pins such as this were distributed as marketing material for the Piper Cub aircraft. Born during the Great Depression, the Cub was a simple, inexpensive light plane with gentle flying features that captured and even helped create the private pilot market.

Two men were responsible for the Cub's success: C. G. Taylor designed it, and William Piper provided financial and marketing genius. Piper displayed his marketing savvy in several ways. To make flying seem fun and easy he distributed "How to Fly" kits and souvenir pins to flying clubs. He adopted an automobile purchasing model, leasing the Cub for $475 down and 12 monthly payments so it could earn its keep at flying schools. To encourage Piper employees to purchase or lease a Cub, he provided them with flight training for just $1 an hour.

Piper's marketing techniques proved successful. Thousands of people over more than 30 years learned to fly in a Cub. The plane became so popular that people started calling all light airplanes "Cubs." By 1941, a third of all general aviation aircraft were Taylor or Piper Cubs, and more than 27,000 had been sold when production ended in 1947. The Cub's simple design remains famous and led to the line of Piper personal and business aircraft that continues today.

Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.

Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type AWARDS-Insignia Physical Description Cub Flyers lapel pin; stylized front profile of an aircraft depicted with center blue enamel fuselage and three blade propeller; gold letter text "CUB FLYER" on blue enamel Dimensions 3-D: 3.2 × 0.5 × 1.3cm (1 1/4 × 3/16 × 1/2 in.)
Materials Overall: Enameled Brass
Inventory Number A19951450000 Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.