All images in The New Found Photography are from my own private collection. I do not reblog or use any photos from any other source. All photos are either original prints or prints made from negatives in my collection. Remember, you can always click on an image to see it in a larger window.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
U. S. Army Air Force
This one is the full 8x10, heavy, double weight, fiber paper print meant to be displayed in the silver frame on the mantle piece.
I had a couple of threads to pursue on this photograph. There is an embossed studio mark on the bottom of the print, part of which is visible. "FRANKLIN DUNCAN, HOLLYWOOD, GR 1037." I thought it would be easy to find something on Mr. Duncan, but sadly, I struck out on that front. I tried Franklin Duncan, Hollywood, California, as well as Franklin Duncan, Hollywood, Florida and couldn't find a thing. Who ever he was, he was skilled, but not necessarily talented. I've seen a very similar pose on many a print. Even when I was working as a professional photo printer, and I'm way too young to have been working in the World War 2 era, this pose showed up all the time.
The other thread, the shoulder insignia on the young man's uniform. I recognized it as the mark of the United States Army Air Force, organized in 1941, disbanded in 1947, with the founding of the separate Air Force we know today. I had hoped to find out who were the officers and who were the enlisted men. Pilots, co-pilots, and navigators were the officers, like out lieutenant, while gunners, and mechanics were the enlisted men. The one position I'm not sure of, bombardier.
Nice looking woman.
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