Military Memorabilia – Emergency Signaling Mirror/2

Posted on November 10, 2014 by kathy

I found this Emergency Signaling Mirror among some of my Hoskins grandparents’ belongings. This is the ESM/2. The other side is the mirror.

I assume this was part of the equipment given to my uncle, Albert Hoskins, who served in the Army Air Corp in 1944. Unless, Uncle Don, you brought this back from Korea?

The hole on the lower left was for a lanyard to go through so that it could be worn around the neck or otherwise secured.

The video below is a US government training film about the use of an ESM.

Here are a couple of links with additional pictures and information:
U.S. Militaria Forum
Anaspides.net C-1 Survival Vests

And a bit of trivia … The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has in its collection an ESM given by Julia Child:

Julia Child kept this signaling mirror in her kitchen junk drawer as a reminder of her service in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Such mirrors were issued to members of the military, merchant seamen, and others, like OSS personnel, serving abroad. Julia’s OSS duties took her to India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and China in 1944-45.

This mirror is model 40653, manufactured by General Electric. Small and compact, it could be used to signal for assistance over a 10-mile distance. Instructions for using the mirror are provided on the device, which also includes a braided lanyard for wearing around the neck.

Did Grandma or Grandpa keep this ESM in a drawer like Julia Child – as a reminder of their son’s service?
Did the youngest brother in the family play with it as a boy?
Do you have an ESM among your family’s memorabilia?

“Coldbar” Bars Cold

Posted on November 9, 2014 by kathy

Well, I hit a wall today. I challenged myself to post something every day for the month of November (but I didn’t start until Nov. 5th). Five days in and I had nothing. I searched prompt ideas, looked at photos on the computer and my phone, tried to research something I had started …. In other words, I’ve spent way too much time today trying to come up with something simple that I could do in just a few minutes! Ugh!

I opened up one of my grandmother’s scrapbooks and found that almost everything in it were holiday craft and party ideas. One loose newspaper clipping caught my eye.

This was not the item Abbie was saving for future use – on the back is an idea for a Christmas decoration. But I was more interested in this uniform today, perhaps because Veteran’s Day is this week.

A really quick google search (because I’m out of time!) turned up a few snippets of info.
1. This is a press release photo from 1952. See photos on ebay.

2. The Library of Congress Veterans History Project, has a letter from a soldier dated February 22, 1953 which contains the following:
Well, I’m back in the “CW” truck. It’s 6 pm now I’m on until 10 tonight. I’m on a “Coldbar Team”. We’re supposed to check the “Coldbar Uniform”. That’s a plastic suit guaranteed against cold weather. It’s about 3/8 inch thick. When wearing it, all a person need wear are his “T”-shirt and shorts. After I wear it for awhile, they want my opinion of it.

3. This newspaper article describes the money and research time spent to keep American military forces warm and dry during the Korean winters. The suit is described as a “foam-rubber-like petroleum derived plastic – polyvinylchloride …. made under the trade name Ensolite. ….When the body becomes over-heated through strenuous exercise the wearer merely opens various slide fasteners to allow sufficient cold air to cool the skin surface.”

Any Korean War veterans out there who observed the use of the coldbar uniform?

Sepia Saturday – Miners who Fish

Posted on November 8, 2014 by kathy

Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.

When posting the prompt photo for this week, Alan suggested that we might consider miners or anglers with fishy tales or three men. It’s hard to tell that these men are miners when not dressed for work and no mine in sight, but the source of the photo, the Provincial Archive of Alberta reveals their identity by the photograph’s title: “Miners’ fishing trip.”

My grandfather, Thomas Hoskins, was a miner – as was his father, his wife’s father, some uncles and cousins and assorted in-laws. He left school after completing the 8th grade to work in the coal mines in Mystic, Iowa.

And he loved to fish.

Here he is as an older man, many years removed from the mines. You can see his fishing rod beside him.

Like the men in the prompt photo, Grandpa is reclining on a hillside and doesn’t appear to be actively engaged in fishing. Perhaps it’s all about the the fresh air, the sound of the water, the time just to relax above ground in the light of day – fresh fish for supper an added bonus or perhaps a necessary source of food for the family.

My uncle told me that Grandpa once took him down in a mine so that he could experience the total darkness and stifling confines and the ever-present sense of danger. My grandfather did not like working in the mines and when he found an opportunity to leave the coal mines in Mystic, he moved his family to another town where he worked in a meat processing plant.

I can imagine that fishing was a pastime enjoyed by many miners.

Lake Rathburn May 30,1971

Please wade on over to Sepia Saturday to enjoy some other fine fish tales.