Caption: Some Necks. All postcards are clickable to enlarge.
Caption: December 7, 1941
Caption: The New Orderlies
C O L L E C T I O N — These are satirical postcards Esquire Magazine published in the 1940s during World War II. The artwork is phenomenal, the sentiments brutal, the political correctness absent. Most of the major players are present, FDR, Churchill, Mussolini, Hitler and Hirohito I believe.
I wish I knew more about the Second World War, I'm sure there are tons of nuanced meanings behind every image in these cards. My dad fought in the war, (and also the Korean Conflict) but we all know that his generation never really spoke about their experiences during that time. He spoke about some of his friends from that period, but really never talked about the war itself. How I wish he was still here. I'm pretty sure if I asked well-informed questions he would tell me the answers, but I doubt he ever would have been truly forthcoming about his experiences on his own, ever. The hellish images in the minds of what has been coined as 'the greatest generation' must have been truly terrifying and traumatic. He was 20 years old when the war started; he lied about his age and joined the Navy at the age of 16 in 1938.
He was mainly in the South Pacific theater. In fact, it's too large to fit on my scanner, but I have a framed "Imperium Neptuni Regis" proclamation, initiating him into the "Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep" which was given to each sailor as they crossed the Equator for the first time. His ship at the time was the USS Chaumont, and they were en route to the South Fiji Islands according to the document. The date on this proclamation? December 5, 1941, two days before the Pearl Harbor massacre/attack and the start of the war for us. I found a bit of history of this ship here, which states they were on a routine mission to Manila, but we all know you can't believe everything you read on the 'net, lol. I'm looking at the proclamation right now and it clearly states they were on their way to Fiji. Interestingly, the web article says the ship left from Hawaii. If they had left at a later date, who knows if my Dad would have been at Pearl Harbor that day, and who knows if I'd be typing this blog entry right now. He was also on this ship, the USS Goodrich; I have two ceramic ashtrays with that name on them which interestingly also includes text in Greek fired into them for some reason. I have photos of other ships as well; it seems my Dad was shipped around a lot, Maybe most sailors were, according to the needs of the day.
Hit the jump for three more of these historical and politically hot postcards. Would a major magazine publish something like these today?
