Sunday, December 13, 2020

Treasures from My Shelves: The Bluejackets Manual

I remember telling you that occasionally I'd share a treasure from my shelves, and it's definitely time to do it again. Today, it's my grandfather's copy of The Bluejackets Manual that he was given upon entering basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. There's even a website devoted to these "bibles" for Navy personnel.

One of the first things I did when I brought this book home to Phoenix was to lie it spine down on a table and let go... wondering where the book would fall open. Now I'll show you some of the pages that must have concerned my grandfather the most.

It doesn't look like much, just sitting there on my desk, does it?

My grandfather's handwriting inside the cover.

As you can see, it's the 1943 edition.

My grandfather wanted to know when to salute fast.

He also wanted to know how to pass inspection for his hammock and other gear.

This is the page the book fell open to first. I imagine that it would be important to be able to read signal flags.

From how the book responded, my grandfather also needed to know about these tools.

A tip-in inside the back cover. Rather ironic that a mask is also our best friend in 2020, eh?

 
My grandfather's copy of The Bluejackets Manual is a window into a portion of his life that, once he returned home from fighting in the South Pacific during World War II, he wanted to forget. There is so much information in this book that I find something new every time I open it. It will always be one of the treasures on my shelves.

19 comments:

  1. What a treasure, Cathy! I love it that you have that keepsake. And it's got your grandfather's writing in it, too! It's good that you can still reach out to him, so to speak.

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  2. A treasure, indeed, a keepsake and a historical document!

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    1. I'll bet the most recent Bluejackets Manual is a bit different from this one!

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  3. How very interesting! And what a good idea to let the book 'tell' you what was most important for him to know. Thanks for sharing about it, Cathy!

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  4. So interesting, Cathy! There is something special about having a piece of handwriting from a loved one. I have kept something from each of my grandmas. One is a list of books my grandma had borrowed and who they belonged to. A couple of them belonged to me so my name is written in here handwriting. The piece from my other grandma is a note she had attached to a piece of jewelry she gave me.

    What a precious piece of history. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I have books that were gifted to me from my mother and grandmother that have their handwriting inside. Just seeing their handwriting brings back so many memories.

      Something tells me today's children probably won't have the same sort of memories since we all seem to be dependent upon keyboards.

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  5. What a great memento of your grandfather, Cathy. That really IS a treasure. It is the little things like that book that best give the rest of us a feel for what it must have been like to be caught up in that whole struggle. Thanks for sharing it.

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    1. You're welcome, Sam. May we never know another conflict like it.

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  6. This brought tears to my eyes, how your grandfather and his brothers in WW2 and facing the horrors they saw and had to deal with. No wonder he didn't want to deal with it after he arrived hom.
    I wish I had mementos of my grandfather's. He came here in 1907, fleeing anti-Jewish pogroms in Poland/Russia occupied. He was in ill health and died in 1952. I have one photo of him in his cigar store in the Newark, N.J., train station.

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    1. At least you have that one photo. Does your family have stories about him?

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  7. How wonderful to have that! I was just doing some Christmas baking, with the thought of how much I treasure the recipe cards written by my mother and grandmother (my father's mother). So I have a sense of what you must feel when you see your grandfather's inscription. Thank you for sharing this with us!

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    1. You're welcome, Kate. It's odd how significant, how evocative, a person's handwriting can be.

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  8. My grandfather was quiet, modest person. I did meet him when I was very young and remember he was a kind person. My mother adored him.
    He was very helpful to her in many ways when she was a young adult, and later on. It was because of his generosity, although a fairly poor person, that we got a modest house in Queens when I was a young teenager. He had no money when he passed away, but he had saved money and put it in savings bonds, I think, and gave them to my mother who held on to them for years.

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  9. He was lovely and kind. When I was about five or so (and my mother let me outside alone -- in the middle of Greenwich Village), she looked out the window and I was gone. She looked for me and I was around the corner in the tailor's shop, talking to him.
    She was angry and almost ready to spank me, and my grandfather talked her out of it, said she should be glad I was OK. She told me that story.
    (Why I was outside alone in NYC I can't figure out, but in those days people did that, more trusting.)

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    1. It wasn't a problem where I grew up either, but then I grew up in a little farm town. I remember being five or six, walking the three blocks to my grandparents' house. (When I got there I was supposed to phone my mother to tell her I'd arrived.) About a block into my journey, a car stopped and this woman offered me a ride. I didn't know her from Adam, and I said no, thank you. She proceeded to tell me that she knew my grandparents and that she'd known my mother since before she was born. I just looked at her from the relative safety of the sidewalk and replied, "Yes, but I don't know you." She thought it was so funny that she hurried home to phone my mother. My mother was proud of me.

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  10. Good for you. Very good thinking by you and also training by your mother.

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