WW2
From the Depression to the Draft
Approximately 16 million Americans served in World War Two. All came out of the Depression with many being jobless prior to the war and most being poor. It’s been said that World War Two helped bring America out of the Depression and that is certainly true as industry geared up, not only to supply our […]
Private Aldo Riyoni
This past spring and summer’s travels were frutiful as I found some WW2 era postcards in various antique stores. The most interesting to me are the ones that contain a message to loved ones. I like to record them here in the hopes that maybe some relative will recognize the name and request the card […]
1938 Horrors of War Card Set
I recently picked up quite a few, Second Series, Horrors of War cards for $15.00 at a flea market. They are all reprints from 1984. I had never heard of the set but a little research shows that the set was originally produced in 1938 by Gum, INC. Apparently, the original cards are much sought […]
A Christmas Carol, Life Magazine, December 25th, 1944
Long before A Christmas Carol was a movie it was a radio play. Lionel Barrymore played Scrooge for many years on Christmas Eve starting in 1934. In 1944 a movie studio gathered the radio play actors and staged scenes for Life Magazine. The issue with A Christmas Carol came out on December 25th, 1944. At […]
Victory Mail
During WW2 in the US there was such a thing as VMAIL which stood for Victory Mail. It was patriotic and it’s purpose was to unite the country in supporting the various arms of the military. Postcards were common for personal correspodence and on occasion a whole portfolio could be sent. The pics below are […]
332 Fighter Squadron?
This ad in the November 22, 1943 edition of Life Magazine caught my eye. The art work is neat; just the kind of thing to catch your eye and have you buy more war bonds. The insignia is supposed to be the insignia of the 332nd Fighter Squadron. The description in the upper right of […]
Pencil Art from Yank Far East: Dec.15, 1955
Yank Magazine was a WW2 weekly that was initially intended for US servicemen serving overseas. It quickly became a weekly for servicemen serving anywhere. It came out in 15 editions (according to the magazine issue below) each for a geographical location. The edition featured here in this blog is the Far East Edition as you […]
Reconnoiter the Town
This is an example of what my friend and I call Grand Manner wargaming after the late Peter Gilder. The game board is 16′ by 4′ and as you can see contains an enormous amount of detail. The scale of the miniatures is 1/72 (slightly under one inch). Grand Manner wargaming takes an enormous amount […]
Who was Private Charles E. Teed?
I’m back with another “history stuff” blog entry that I got from Life Magazine. The issues I possess are a treasure trove of Americana (late 1930’s) through the war years when Life was fully dedicated to the war effort. The US military drafted 3,033,361 men in 1942. In 1943 slightly more were drafted but 1942-43 […]
History and Hobbies 
Billy Mitchell was Right (and still is).
I grew up in West Allis Wisconsin-a suburb of Milwaukee. There was parkway and a well-to-do neighborhood (well-to-do in those days) near my school. Sometimes, rather than go right home after school, my friends and I would walk over to the parkway and imagine “playing army” or otherwise adventure around-all the things young boys would […]