Uncle Sam (96) Gum, Inc. (R157) United States

1941 Uncle Sam (R157)
Gum Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Series Title: Uncle Sam
Country of Origin: USA
Type of Card: Gum
American Card Catalog No.: R157
Manufactured by: Gum, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Packaged with: Uncle Sam Chewing Gum
Number of Cards: 96
Numbering: 1 to 96
Card Dimensions: 1½ × 3⅛ inches
Circa: 1941
Checklist: Download

Background

The “Uncle Sam & Uncle Sam’s Home Defense” series is made up of two separate subsets. Both sets were issued by Gum, Inc. in 1941 prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into World War II. The first subset titled “Uncle Sam”, consists of 96 cards, sequentially numbered from 1 to 96. They depict various scenes from the four branches of United States military; Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The cards themselves are arranged in four subsets: (1) Uncle Sam — Soldier, (2) Uncle Sam — Sailor, (3) Uncle Sam — Airman, and (4) Uncle Sam — Marine. The set itself is rather benign in content and subject compared to its contemporaries such as the Horrors of War and The Nightmare of Warfare. Both of these sets depicted the horrible events and more graphic details of what was happening in the world at that time. On the other hand, the Uncle Sam and Uncle Sam’s Home Defense series were more directed towards the United States preparedness for hostilities, and concentrated on the various training aspects of the U.S. Armed Forces and Civilian population. The color artwork in both sets is pleasing to eye, with good coloring. The “Uncle Sam” set has the American Card Catalog reference number R157.

The 48 card “Uncle Sam’s Home Defense” subset, followed the “Uncle Sam” set in 1941. The set was sequentially numbered from 97 to 144. This particular subset is devoted to the civilian activities in preparation for warfare. The series is also very pleasing to the eye, and is interesting from the historical perspective of what United States citizens were doing in preparation for hostilities in 1941. The “Uncle Sam’s Home Defense” subset has an American Card Catalog number of “R158”. This subset is more difficult to obtain since the production of the cards came under the jurisdiction of wartime restrictions on resources. However reprint cards of the series are available.

Image-Guide

The following R157 “Uncle Sam” Image Guide contains images of the fronts and backs of all 96 cards in the set. Behind each thumbnail image is a 600-dpi image that you may access. Some of the card images were obtained from lower-grade scans and scaled up to full-scale images. All of the thumbnail and the 600-dpi images have been computer enhanced for presentation purposes.

“Uncle Sam — Soldier” (Cards 1 to 12)

“Uncle Sam — Sailor” (Cards 13 to 24)

“Uncle Sam — Marine” (Cards 25 to 36)

“Uncle Sam — Airman” (Cards 37 to 48)

“Uncle Sam — Soldier” (Cards 49 to 54)

“Uncle Sam — Sailor” (Cards 55 to 60)

“Uncle Sam — Marine” (Cards 61 to 66)

“Uncle Sam — Airman” (Cards 67 to 72)

“Uncle Sam — Soldier” (Cards 73 to 78)

“Uncle Sam — Sailor” (Cards 79 to 84)

“Uncle Sam — Marine” (Cards 85 to 90)

“Uncle Sam — Airman” (Cards 91 to 96)

Checklist

1941 “Uncle Sam” (R157) Gum, Inc. (96-cards) CHECKLIST
№	x	Card Title
1		“You’re in the Army Now”
2		Drill with Arms
3		Learning to Shoot
4		Sham Bayonet Charge
5		Gas Discipline
6		The Infantry’s Supreme Duty
7		Parachute Troops
8		Field Artillery
9		Anti-Aircraft Crew
10		The Armored Force
11		Field Maneuvers
12		How to Tell an Officer’s Rank
13		The Training Station
14		Semaphore Signals
15		Salute to Authority
16		“Over the Mounting Main”
17		“On Watch”
18		Navigation
19		Knots and Hitches
20		Man Overboard!
21		Fire at Sea
22		Abandon Ship!
23		Target Practice with the Turret Guns
24		War at Sea
25		What Is a Marine?
26		While Scaling and Marine Recruit Depot
27		Shore Rifle Practice
28		“Turned Over for Duty”
29		Shore Duty
30		Sea Duty
31		On Foreign Soil
32		Gunners at the Secondary Batteries
33		The Landing Party
34		Landing Force in Attack
35		Jungle Expedition
36		“Telling the Marines”
37		Can You Take It?
38		Flight Instruction
39		Use of the ’Chute
40		Take-Offs and Landings
41		Gunnery in the Air Corps
42		Stunts in Combat
43		Formation Flying
44		Blind Flying
45		Learning to Dive-Bomb
46		Torpedo Bombing
47		Air Photography
48		Planes at Sea
49		“Digging In”
50		Barbed Wire Tactics
51		Parachute “Attack”
52		Ski Troops and Patrols
53		Engineers Building Bridge
54		Cavalry Charge
55		Life on a Submarine
56		Submarine Dive Drill
57		Loading a Submarine with Torpedoes
58		Submarine Torpedo Practice
59		Submarine Battle Drill
60		“Abandoned Submarine” Drill
61		Keeping “Fit”
62		Motor Convoy Drivers
63		Field Radio
64		Riot Duty
65		National Disasters
66		Machine Gun Practice
67		Catapult Take-Off
68		Lane a Smoke Screen
69		Safety Measures
70		The “Side Slip”
71		The Bombardier
72		Men with Wings
73		Streamlined Drill
74		Guard Duty
75		Rifle Air Defense
76		Crew of Pygmy Scout Car
77		Anti-Tank Team
78		Jujitsu for Military Police
79		Carrying the Wounded
80		Destroyer Duty
81		Inspection Aboard Destroyer
82		Destroyer Torpedo Drill
83		School for Divers
84		Blinkers Signals
85		Cargo Net Loading
86		Forming an Ammunition Line
87		Trench Construction
88		Pitching Hand Grenades
89		Marine Mountain Battery
90		Marines Sky Troops
91		The Loop
92		Prone Defense Gunner
93		High Altitude Pilots
94		Bomber Rescue Craft Tactics
95		Patrol Duty
96		Night Bomber
n/a		1¢ “Uncle Sam” Wrapper

1¢ Wrapper

The R157 “Uncle Sam” 1¢ Wrapper has red and white horizontal strips with a drawing of “Uncle Sam” surrounded by five stars. The stars are labeled: (UL) “Soldier” (UR) “Sailor” (LL) “Airman” (LC) “Civilian” and the lower right (LR) “Marine.”

Special Thanks

A very special thanks to Greg Morris for supplying us with needed card scans.

References

John A. Shupek: Card images from the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.
Greg Morris: :7/12/2020 email with card scans.