World War One Weekly Wing #31- Army & Navy Store Co. Inc.

[cwnorma]

World War One

Weekly Wing #31

Army & Navy Store Co. Inc.

 

Background

 

As we noted in WWOWW #21, one great difficulty in collecting World War One era wing badges lays in definitively determining the manufacturer of bullion wings.  Bullion makers simply did not generally label their wares, or on the rare occasions they did, only did so upon their retail packaging—long discarded.  It is therefore unusual when modern collectors are able ascertain a specific maker of bullion badges.

 

Most collectors are familiar with the awkwardly named Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. if for no other reason than its often-reprinted catalog:

 

 

The Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. was among the larger of several such firms that were once fixtures of old Times Square in New York City.  Before the turn of the last century, several Army and Navy type stores took up shop along a part of 42nd St.  The concentration of Army and Navy Stores was high enough that in the 1910s and 1920s, the block came to be known as Times Square’s Army and Navy building.  Prior to WW1, the walk-in store fronts of various New York firms specializing in military and navy surplus such as Bannerman’s, W. Stokes Kirk, and The Army & Navy Store Co, Inc. provided working class New Yorkers cheap, work clothes along with museum-like exhibits of military curiosities.  The largest firms like Bannerman’s and W. Stokes Kirk could use their substantial resources to pursue military contracts, however smaller firms such as the Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. could only chase walk-in retail and mail order catalog trades.  All that changed with the outset of War.  With onset of large-scale mobilization, several firms turned from dealing in obsolete military surplus to outfitting the immense military seemingly springing up over night to defeat Germany.

 

The Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. itself was fairly unremarkable amongst other Times Square army and navy concerns.   Several stores around it outlived it and there are still army and navy stores like Kaufmann’s in and around Times Square today.   In fact, with the drawdown of the military after the war, the owner of the Army & Navy Store Co. Inc., G. Russell, more or less abandoned the army and navy business in the 1920s, and changed the firm's name to Russell's Incorporated to concentrate on selling sporting goods (no relation between Russell's Incorporated and Russell Athletic):

 

 

Research did not reveal when Russell's Incorporated went out of business however, the Times Square location of the Army & Navy Store Co. Inc., 245 West 42nd St, should be familiar to many tourists and most New Yorkers; today it houses the Yankees Clubhouse:

 

 

As for the Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. catalog, there is a page well known to wing collectors:

 

 

Apparently, Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. sold, or resold sterling silver I Scheuer/NS Meyer type Reserve Military Aviator (WWOWW #15) and 1st Type Observer badges along with distinctive embroidered; Military Aviator, Reserve Military Aviator, and 1st Type Observer Badges.

 

Little information is available about the firm’s own production capability.  It is likely Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. was solely a retailer and embroidered badges marketed by the firm were manufactured by some other, as yet unknown, New York company.  Regardless, the badges illustrated in the catalog are quite distinctive from other American-made embroidered World War One era wings and until information comes to light indicating a more exact manufacturer, it is safe to call this unique wing the Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. wing.

 

Associated Airfields:

Hazlehurst/Lufberry/Roosevelt Field, Minneola, Long Island, and various other Air Service activities such as the Air Service Photography School in Rochester

 

 

Description

 

Reserve Military Aviator badge.

 

Manufacture. A somewhat unique American-made embroidered badge.  Design wise, Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. badges are much more understated than other World War One era wings such as WWOWW #29 or #30.  Each wing is characterized by a first row of feathers picked out individually in silver bullion, joined with a one-tier shoulder of feathers also constructed of smooth silver bullion. Individual feathers are delineated with lines of fine black thread throughout.  A single elbow-shaped row of smooth silver bullion, constructed in a double-strand helix, runs along the entire top and side of each wing

 

The shield is quite square with only moderate points at the top and bottom.  The chief contains 13 small "stars" executed with faceted bullion in an x-configuration affixed atop a field of horizontal rows of smooth silver bullion.  To give the appearance of “stripes” the field portion consists of alternating vertical columns of smooth and faceted silver bullion.  The chief and field portion are separated by a single row of smooth silver bullion.

 

The shield perimeter is bordered by coiled bullion wire.  Both wings and shield are moderately padded.

 

The US consists of gold bullion coils configured in a two-strand twisted helix with no apparent serifs or periods.

 

Mountings.  The RMA badge is mounted on a roughly half-moon shaped thin metal plate.  Unusually, small holes have been drilled around the perimeter of the plate and the badge is stitched fast though those holes.  Remnants of a maker’s label or price tag are evident but alas, the label’s contents are lost to time. The maker made no effort to lap or otherwise protect the backing cloth as the badge is simply cut and sewn to the plate with the raw material edge visible at the perimeter.  The simple catch and hinge/pin assembly are of the “jeweler repair” type, mounted atop an ovoid base, and soldered to the back plate.

 

Prior to researching The Army & Navy Store Co. Inc., I had incorrectly assumed (probably due to the near ubiquitous reprints of their catalog) that the firm was larger or more impactful.  It turns out that they were merely aggressive advertisers and not really a competitor with the likes of Bannerman or W. Stokes Kirk.   Were it not for the long reprinted catalog for collectors, Army & Navy Store Co. Inc., would no doubt have joined hundreds of similar defunct army and navy stores nation-wide and faded into obscurity. 

 

Prior to finding this example, I had never before seen one of these Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. badges.  I would be especially interested to see if there are any more  Army & Navy Store Co. Inc. badges out there!