(WORLD WAR TWO) Scrapbook letters and photographs of a Coast

Sale 2533 - Lot 268

Price Realized: $ 312

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(WORLD WAR TWO.) Scrapbook, letters and photographs of a Coast Guardsman who served in the Pacific Theater. More than 200 items, various sizes and conditions; the scrapbook quite worn but the contents generally sound and many could be easily removed. Vp, bulk 1943-46

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Snowden Taylor (1924-2019) was a Manhattan resident who enlisted as a coxswain in the United States Coast Guard in 1943. He spent much of his service aboard the USS Aquarius, a Navy vessel staffed and crewed by Coast Guard men, which saw heavy fire in the Pacific theater, disembarking soldiers for the invasions of several islands including as Guadalcanal and Leyte. Taylor's scrapbook includes a signed photograph of boxer Jack Dempsey, a handmade banner reading "Luzon Invasion 77," mimeograph orders and "plan of the day" for the 31 January 1944 Battle of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands; a color plan of "Indentification Flags, Lights & Insignia" dated 25 February 1945; and much more.
In addition, this lot includes 139 letters and cards written from Taylor to his mother from 1943 to 1946, most still in their original stamped envelopes bearing naval censor marks. Although Taylor was unable to provide much combat detail, his letters are lively and full of human interest. For example, his 28 December 1944 letter describes at length his exploration of a small deserted island on shore leave, and his 27 February 1945 letter notes that "during the invasion of Luzon one of the troops left a little bag in my boat. He must have forgotten it in all the excitement"; Taylor describes his efforts to track down the owner and return it. Also included are a series of 65 numbered copy-print photos of the Aquarius crew and adventures sent by comrade James C.A. Connor in 1967, each 3 1/2 x 5 inches, accompanied by a detailed key and two letters dated 1967 and 1986. Finally, the lot includes a rolled copy blueprint of the official 1944 plans of the USS Aquarius; Taylor's "Ancient Order of the Deep" certificate from 1944; a formal 13 x 10-inch portrait in uniform; and a fragment of a second nicely captioned scrapbook including a group shot of Taylor and others, "September 1944 on the U.S.S. Aquarius, en route to invasion of Pelelieu, Palau Islands." Taylor later attended the Stevens Institute of Technology and taught physics there until his retirement.