July 28, 201411 yr #1 I just bought this awesome WW2 "US" marking stamp. Metal serif letters, metal handle. OD green painted wood, marked "1942". Measures exactly 12" wide. I am assuming this is for equipment of some kind, but I have no idea what would need a stamp of this size. Any ideas? I'm thinking maybe big tarps or shipping containers, vehicles, etc. Also, stupid question, but were phillips screws widely used during the war? I know they only came out in the late 30s. The ones on this are painted over with the original paint so I am assuming they are period, was just curious. Thanks!
July 28, 201411 yr Author #4 Super cool! I'd be running around the house stamping everything US right now. Haha, that was my first thought when I got it!
July 28, 201411 yr #6 Hmmmm....my neighbors super annoying dog would be US property if I had that thing!
July 28, 201411 yr #7 That is very cool. Maybe it was used on tents and vehicle canvas. That was my thought too. -dave
July 29, 201411 yr #10 It's green so no doubt some military purpose but I can't think of anything that was marked that large. Sort of makes me think of the old mail bag markings, large enough to read from a distance. Neat whatever it is.
July 29, 201411 yr Author #11 Thanks guys! I'll definitely be using it to stamp some stuff! Do you think they used a brayer to ink this up or some kind of other inker?
July 29, 201411 yr Author #13 Stamp out some T-shirts with it and I'm sure it will be a big seller! That's what I'm hoping to do! I think the oversize nature of it will make a unique shirt.
July 29, 201411 yr #14 I think if you make some shirts and sell 'em for $10-$20 you will make a FORTUNE -Dave
July 30, 201411 yr Author #15 I think if you make some shirts and sell 'em for $10-$20 you will make a FORTUNE -Dave Then I still have the same question as I did in another thread I started...would I get in trouble legally for using this on a shirt? Although I find it unlikely that they could possibly have a trademark on the letters "US".
July 30, 201411 yr Author #17 I dont think the government can trade mark letters. -dave Well, you can trademark a word, but ya, it seems pretty unlikely that "US" could be trademarked. Especially a stamp make 75 years ago.
July 30, 201411 yr #18 I don't see any difference between this and shirts with the US flag on them as far as legality.
July 30, 201411 yr #21 From a word usage perspective, it's a relatively recent phenomenon to use abbreviations without the periods. US instead of U.S. I can't imagine a stamp being made during WWII that didn't include the periods.
July 30, 201411 yr Author #22 From a word usage perspective, it's a relatively recent phenomenon to use abbreviations without the periods. US instead of U.S. I can't imagine a stamp being made during WWII that didn't include the periods. I guess the periods could have been added after the fact. This is definitely WW2 vintage. And I think I do have some random bags and such that are stamped US from ww2 and do not have the periods. Also, some of the Navy marks with US in them didn't have periods in WW2 (the inspector's stamps, etc.) But I know that this was most likely not used for the Navy.
July 30, 201411 yr Author #24 The US marking without periods was pretty common in WWII Thanks for posting that! Was just trying to find some of the bags I have with that mark. I thought it was pretty common too.
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