Collection of 8 Original WWII and earlier US Military Holiday Dinner Menus: 1929-45

U S. Army

Ephemera and pamphlets

U.S. Army and Navy holiday dinner menus and related materials, 1929 to 1945, document organized communal life, ceremonial observance, and institutional identity within the American military across the interwar and World War II periods. The group includes menus for Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Armistice Day, and Navy Day, situating the material within official holiday programming that reinforced morale and unit cohesion during both peacetime training and global conflict. The presence of menus from the 189th Field Artillery at Fort Sill in 1940 and later examples from the U.S.S. Pine Island, including those produced at Sasebo, Japan, places the archive within the geographic expansion of U.S. military operations from domestic bases to overseas occupation zones. The inclusion of named rosters and autograph signatures connects these printed artifacts to specific service members, documenting how collective identity and hierarchy were formalized and commemorated through shared meals.

Archive of eight original military holiday dinner menus and four printed cloth napkins. United States and Japan, 1929 to 1945. Menus measure approximately 7 x 5.5 inches and are printed in paper wrappers with illustrated covers. The earliest menu, issued for the 189th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Thanksgiving 1940, includes an ornamental napkin, a printed roster of personnel, multiple autograph signatures, and a “wooden certificate” voucher redeemable within the Cherokee Strip region. Additional menus originate from the U.S.S. Pine Island for Independence Day, Navy Day, and Armistice Day observances, including examples produced at the Sasebo naval base in Japan. Menus list standardized holiday meals including roast turkey, baked ham, potatoes, and pie. The archive also includes four cloth napkins from the 70th Service Squadron, dated 1929 to 1931, each approximately 14 x 14 inches, printed with thematic imagery such as turkeys, cornucopias, and holly leaves, and bearing full rosters of personnel organized by rank. The 70th Service Squadron was stationed at March Field, California, a major Army Air Corps training installation during this period.

Military holiday menus functioned as both practical documents and ceremonial objects, recording foodways, hierarchy, and unit composition while reinforcing institutional traditions across dispersed service environments. The continuity of menu design and meal structure across years and locations reflects standardized provisioning practices, while the inclusion of rosters and signatures preserves individual participation within collective settings. The presence of materials spanning prewar Army Air Corps units and wartime naval operations, including occupation-era Japan, provides a longitudinal view of military culture across a period of rapid organizational and geopolitical change. Light wear consistent with handling; overall very good condition.

Item #18683

Price: $880.00