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A loving daughter remembers . . .
Envelope Cartoons
By Suesan Alayne Arth
My Dad often decorated his
mail home with these cartoons. I have a boatload of neat stuff
he kept, including but not limited to letters he wrote home
to his mom (my grandma). Many of the drawings portray life
on the ship (including getting sick over the side!)
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Donald Heiduck and a close friend, Rocco, in U.S. Navy, 1944.
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Click
cartoon image to see a full size view of the envelope
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From Dad after he had leave
back home (apparently did some good partying) and is back
at Great Lakes before shipping out, 1945
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| On a letter to a brother in the
Army, with a closing regard to "see him in Tokyo", most
probably for a beer! USS Gleaves, 1945 |
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With less than a year
left, Dad wrote that his new ship would be going to Europe. He
had not seen the paymaster and was really unhappy with not much
to say. His mom so loved his envelope art that he noted he couldn't
mail the letter until he thought of something to draw, hence the
Cleveland rail road. USS Sigsbee, 1947 |
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This cartoon speaks to the lot
of a seaman on ship |
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The plight of the Navy recruit who is seasick,
as captioned "making my first by rail !!!." The Navy
censors seemed not to have a problem with that military observation!
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Over the Rail
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I find it interesting that the
notation on the envelope is not only "free" (as it was
for all military) but Dad also adds "Fast Air Mail,"
I wonder if it helped back then! |
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The enthusiasm for going to the
tropics via the U.S. Navy. 1945, Great Lakes, IL |
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This one was sent while
aboard the USS Gyatt in Malta, 1947
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New York Bar in Malta
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This cartoon says
it all when it comes to how a fella felt on ship when he would
really rather be enjoying something else. Dad was in the boiler
room as a fireman and didn't enjoy it one bit. USS Gleaves, 1945 |
| Water's for ducks!
hic! USS Gyatt, 1947 |
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A Valentine for Mom,
from the USS Gyatt, in Taranto, Italy, 1948 |
| A letter from my Navy
Dad to his Army brother, who was contemplating leaving the Army.
Dad refers to himself as "Regular Navy" until 1948.
In his letter he is disgusted with
the way the navy treats its enlisted men on the USS Gleaves |
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In a letter to his
Mom, Dad explains that he is awaiting a Captains Mast after having
been "AOL" for 23 hours on liberty. He was a bit ahead
of his time, eh? USS Gleaves, 1946 |
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