Existing comment:
On the Home Front:
There was a keen and growing interest on the home front for the work being done by Walt Disney Productions, and others, in creating unit insignia. To promote home front spirits, the Hearst Publications offered a series of ultimately 250 individual stamps with full color representations of insignia along with five separate mounting albums to the public. The first album was published in February of 1942 by the Los Angeles Examiner and then followed by other Hearst Newspapers.
The albums each cost 15 cents and contained 50 insignia designs. Newspaper readers could clip black and white copies of the insignia from their newspaper and then redeem them for the full color copies by mail.
The Hearst stamp promotion was, by far, the most widespread use of the insignia designs on the home front. It was followed secondly by a series of matchbook covers each bearing a different insignia design.
Despite the fact of the wide spread use of the designs were being used for commercial purposes, Walt Disney Productions freely allowed their use, without royalty, in hopes of promoting home front spirit.
The "Other" Designs:
Walt Disney characters were well established as part of the popular culture of the United States during WWII. It is not surprising that Walt Disney characters were locally adapted by airmen. Most frequently this adaptation was for aircraft 'nose art' which appeared not only on the aircraft but, in many instances, also on the flight jackets of the crew.
Notable is the photographs and memorabilia from the "Snow White" Squadron as well as other instances of aircraft nose art and flight jackets. |