U.S. History: Family Artifacts from WWI

-Anyone who has been reading for awhile will know that I, like most men it seems, have a soft spot for military garb and artifacts. Predictably, my interest in such items is increased tenfold when they have a familial connection. I had dinner down in Portland the other day with my dad and grandmother, who happened to have a couple boxes of her father's things, most which were from his time in France during World War I. Everything she had, old journals and letters, dance cards and photographs, were things I'd love to have in my collection. But I've got nine aunts and uncles and 40+ cousins that all deserve a piece of our grandpa/great-grandpa's stuff, so I tried not to be greedy and picked out something that I really wanted; his first set of dog tags. In addition to the tags I selected this Army Air Service (a very early predecessor of the Air Force, est. 1918) pin, and an American Red Cross pin. Though I wear dog tags often and believe them to be one of the few masculine forms of jewelry, I'll resist the urge to actually wear this pair for fear that that the nearly 100-year-old canvas string would break. I might rock the pins sometime though, but I fully expect some streetwear kid to ask me if that A.R.C. stands for Alife Rivington Club.   more