Mystery Military Pamphlet Found in Wall of Portsmouth Theatre
Zhana Morris is the Production Manager Historian for The Music Hall, an historic theatre in Portsmouth, NH. She contacted me recently in hopes of finding information on a military pamphlet (shown here) that was discovered in the walls of the theatre during restoration.
Morris wrote, "I am not trying to get a value, just some information on the date of the piece and have had no success in standard Google searches and the like. Are there any resources you would suggest? It is a U.S. Army and Air Force Recruiting Service brochure from what looks like WWII or Korean war era. I'd be interested in confirming the date and if possible, to find out if these pamphlets were used for a specific recruiting mission, as we found a stack of them, and I would be interested to know if there was some sort of event at the theatre specifically for the recruiting mission."
I promised Zhara that I'd share the brochure with my audience in hopes that someone might be able to answer her questions. I'd also asked her for more details to help solve the mystery.
Here's what she provided: Things on the inside of the brochure that may help determine exactly when this was from include:
- Images of WWII era soldiers and information about what you can do in the infantry, including pay scales for various ranks, starting at approx. $75/month for new recruit privates.
- There is a possible date of July 24, 1951, on the back, though I am not sure if it is a date or part of a printing number or something.
- The USAF didn't officially exist until 1947, two years after WWII officially ended, so I am guessing that it is geared towards the Korean War which officially began in 1950.
If anyone has information, please leave a comment here, or contact Zhana directly by email at zmorris@themusichall.org.
