Cursed Pirate Girl and Naval Covers

In celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day !!!

2013.10.11 NY Comic Con

Coming into the 2013 New York Comic Con, I made my way to Jeremy Bastian's table early. The previous year Bastian graced one of my first day covers with a gorgeous rendering of a sea creature, as he did not have time in his schedule to provide a cursed Pirate Girl sketch. Ever gracious Bastian accepted my request and provided the above sketch of the Cursed Pirate Girl. I finally picked up a copy of the book at the 2014 NY Comic Con and found it amazing. The artwork is so detailed, I had to go back to see what I originally missed...

1936.08.09 USS Ohama
M Fay Muridge (ACE 99) sketch

M Fay Muridge and her sister Slyvia were both members of Tacoma' USS Porposie Chapter #23.
Fay was a commercial artist who worked in a Seattle department store. Fay created many cachet designs for several ship covers. It has been noted that here interest was in creating the artwork more that in the covers themselves.

The Art Cover Exchange - in 1935 Leonard J. Turley formed the original Art Cover Exchange. The idea was to send a cover with a handmade cachet to a member to receive one in return. Using ingenuity, members mailed covers from post offices with names like Bald Knob, WV with appropriate artwork on their envelopes. Designs were done for birthdays, holidays and special events. Most important was the cover and the friendly exchange. The Art Cover Exchange is still in operation...

USS Omaha CL-4 was was launched on Dec 14, 1920, two years after being laid down and wasn't commissioned until Feb 24, 1923. the Omaha joined the Atlantic Fleet and was used for training visiting ports throughout the world. During the Second World War, the USS Omaha continued to patrol the Atlantic Ocean, assisting in the capture of the German blockade runners Odenwald and Rio Grande, sinking a third the Burgenland.

The USS Omaha was decommissioned in 1946....

Comments