Patriotic Americana

Please have a safe and festive holiday, everyone, and take a moment to reflect on how good most of us have it - and why. It's no accident. America On Guard - small format children's book on the armed services, published by Rand McNally, 1941. Cover illustration by Herbert Rudeen.

Coffee and the morning paper, as they might have appeared sixty-nine years ago today in Kokomo, Indiana.

U.S. Battleships At War - vintage small-format children's book, published by Rand McNally, Chicago, 1942. Cover art by Herbert Rudeen.

A glaringly patriotic spread from the wartime comic, Remember Pearl Harbor. This amazing comic, resplendent in its symbolism, was printed shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941. It retold the story of the assualt in comic form with a smattering of text. It was published by Street and Smith in early 1942, and featured the artwork of Jack Binder. Considered wholly and appropriately patriotic in its day, it would no doubt today be scorned as propaganda in various corners.

The bearer of this card witnessed the detonations of only the fourth and fifth atomic bombs in history at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, per his participation in Operation Crossroads, in July of 1946. The first detonation of a nuclear device was the Trinity test of July 16, 1945, followed less than a month later by the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S.S. Haven was a hospital ship of the U.S. Navy and was the lead ship for medical experiments in the Atoll during the course of the atomic tests.

This eerily prophetic letter was written and sent by my Uncle 'Mugs' from Wheeler Field to the folks back home in Chicago. It is dated November 30, 1941, and carries the following passage: "I'm writing this at the time when we are waiting to see just what Japan is going to do in regards to our ultimatum in the Pacific. By the time this letter reaches you, she will have taken steps one way or the other and history will be made." His speculations were not in error. A week after the letter was sent, Japan attacked US installations on O'ahu on December 7th, 1941 - the famous "date which will live in infamy." Thus echoes the poignant phrase: "and history will be made." As an historical note, Wheeler Army Airfield was the first actual site attacked in the overall assault known more generally as Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had targeted Wheeler to prevent the many aircrafts there from taking off and engaging them in combat.

Frontispiece and title page from volume 1 of Chief Justice John Marshall's biography of George Washington - revised edition, published by James Crissy in 1832, on the 100th anniversary of Washington's year of birth. "The Life of George Washington, Commander In Chief of the American Forces During The War Which Established The Independence of His Country, and First President of The United States, Compiled Under The Inspection of The Honorable Bushrod Washington, From Original Papers Bequeathed To Him By His Deceased Relative. By John Marshall. Second Edition, Revised and Corrected By The Author. In Two Volumes. Philadelphia: Published By James Crissy. 1832." Happy Presidents Day!