Hand-illustrated cover
Object Details
- Description
- Jack Fogarty painted a self-portrait of himself daydreaming -- the army khakis are in stark contrast to the dapper clothes in his fantasy about civilian life. This illustrated envelope with return address APO 184-Los Angeles, CA (Desert Training Center, Yuma, Arizona) has no postage and no postal or censor marks and may have been delivered by Fogarty himself while his pen pal Mary MacDonald was visiting Yuma and staying in a nearby hotel.
- Jack Fogarty served with the US Army’s 98th Evacuation Hospital during World War II. While working in the hospital’s administrative office, Corporal Jack Fogarty struck up a life-long friendship with Chief Warrant Officer John MacDonald and his wife, Mary. Jack and John both wrote regularly to Mary as the war took them to the Pacific Theater. John MacDonald also served as a censor for the unit, and the illustrated covers by Jack Fogarty bear MacDonald’s censor stamp and signature. In his correspondence with Mary, Jack filled the envelopes with scenes in watercolors, ink, and pencil. The illustrated covers show Jack’s life at the Desert Training Center in Yuma, Arizona, and his overseas service in New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. In addition to illustrating his personal correspondence, Jack contributed artwork to the 98th Evacuation Hospital’s newsletter, The Bulletin. After the war, Fogarty’s artistic career took him into acting and his prolific correspondence with friends sometimes included illustrations.
- References:
- Fogarty, John. Little Boy-Short Trousers-Eaton Cap: This I Remember. AuthorHouse, 2005.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- c. 1944
- Object number
- 2012.2006.22
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper; ink; watercolor
- Dimensions
- Height x Width: 3 15/16 x 7 1/8 in. (10 x 18.1 cm)
- Place of Destination
- Arizona
- Place of Origin
- Arizona
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_2012.2006.22
