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HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MILITARY INSIGNIA COLLECTORS

By: E.F. Seis A.A. Littman, D. Sexton

The American Society of Military Insignia Collectors was originally conceived in the mind of John J. Eagen, its first president. Eagen was a kind and gentle man who lived with his mother in Niagara Falls, New York. Early in 1936 he placed a small inquiry in the New York Guardsman inviting persons interested in exchang-ing insignia to contact him for the purpose of forming a club. The 12 men who responded to the ad formed the nucleus of an organization that was to become the "Trading Post": the basis of today's Society. Although John Eagan was a patch collector, or "rag picker" as some would have it, he readily welcomed those who had al¬lied interests, such as the study of history and the collection of distinctives (or crests as they were incorrectly known then and still are today). John Eagen served as the Society's first president with Ken Popp of Buffalo, N. Y., serving as secretary; there were no other officers.

The Society's first publication was a three-page mimeographed bulletin, sent to subscribers on a monthly basis in exchange for postage stamps. The bulletin consisted of whatever information the handful of dedicated collectors could furnish.

In 1938, Captain Al Littman initiated a group purchase plan that enabled members to acquire insignia at regular intervals and at reasonable prices. After Littman and many of the other original members were called to active duty following Pearl Harbor, however both the Society and the purchase plan were suspended for the duration of the war.

John Eagan carried on as best he could during World War II. While there were few new distinctives to collect between 1942 and 1945, patch collectors reaped a harvest of hundreds of new designs. The dearth of distinctives was due to the ban on their manufacture because copper was needed for the war effort. One development that arose during the war was that many men and women who had never heard of insignia prior to Pearl Harbor now found themselves in possession of colorful pieces of metal and cloth of which they were extremely proud. Because of this, at the end of the war the "Trading Post" had grown to a subscriber ship of 250. Men and women wanted to know more about insignia other than their own. A great deal of this enhanced interest was attributable to the famous National Geographic issue of 1944 entitled "Insignia and Decorations of the U. S. Armed Forces," which illustrated shoulder sleeve insignia, medals and other types of emblems.

Throughout the war years, John Eagen had sent a mimeographed three-page monthly newsletter called the "Coffee Pot" to all "Trading Post" members. Consisting mostly of chitchat and news from the home front, the "Coffee Pot" helped mem-bers stay in touch with one another by giving their locations and reporting on their activities. By this means Eagan managed to lay the foundation for the postwar revival of the "Trading Post."

It was not difficult to see that a more permanent type of organization would be needed after the defeat of Germany and Japan. In the fall of 1946, John Eagen appointed three members as a committee charged with the responsibility of reorganizing the "Trading Post" into a truly international society with a new name and a new constitution and by-laws with which to govern it. The three were Al Littman, Norman Case and Edward Seis. Long arduous hours were spent writing drafts and sifting suggestions sent in by members. The committee's findings and final draft were submitted to the membership in the August 1947 issue of the "Trading Post." It was ratified and became the first constitution of the new "American Society of Military Insignia Collectors." The former name of "Trading Post" was retained as the permanent name of the principal publication of the new society.

A movement for the development of an insignia appropriate to the Society was initiated at the same time. A number of excellent designs were submitted and it was only with great difficulty that the selection was finally narrowed down to two: one proposed by Frank Martlncik and the other by F. B. Koepnick. The final selection was in favor of Martincik's, whose insignia featuring a frontier trading post against a compass rose remains the Society's emblem today. The rose symbolizes the international nature of the Society's membership.

Two other momentous innovations also occurred in 1947. The Society held its first National Convention in New York on August 4 and 5 at the Admiral H. B. Wilson Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Ed Seis, who subsequently became president of the Society, organized and hosted the convention. Members returning from Europe stopped by to help make it a huge success. Lt. James Maxwell and Capt. Connors brought with them heretofore unseen plastic insignia made in Germany and Italy and insignia like the 278th and 1001st Engineer Bns. and 573rd AAA Battalion. The other innovation was the beginning of the all important series distinctive insignia catalogs. With painstaking care, Lt. Col. Al Littman drew the infantry insignia on stencils, because at that time the Trading Post edited by CWO Oscar Stonberg only consisted of a few mimeographed pages.

The mimeographed Trading Post, which was eagerly awaited by the membership, was mailed every month, beginning with the May 1947 issue. 1947 also saw John Eagen reelected as Society president, while Dr. Sidney Holmes and Oscar Stonberg were elected vice president and treasurer respectively. Not to be outdone, in 1947, western members of the Society held their first convention at the Barbara Hotel in Santa Barbara, California, from November 15-16. Bill Mills and Dr. J. P, Green continued to organize and host the California convention for the next several years.

In January 1948, Edgar Goodman attempted to organize a group purchase plan for shoulder patches. This effort failed to come to fruition because there were not enough members to buy the 225 patch minimum required by the manufacturer. This did not discourage Edgar from becoming editor of the Trading Post in June 1948. In November 1950 he initiated the move, which was a giant step for the Society, to convert the Trading Post from a mimeographed issue to an eight page offset printed issue. The next issue, January 1951, doubled to sixteen pages, and a few months later doubled again to 32 pages.

In May of 1951 an election occurred which led to John Eagen's retaining the Society presidency and to the election of James Sawicki as vice president and William (Edgar) Goodman as secretary editor. For administrative purposes, the Board of Governors was comprised at this time of the president, vice president and representatives members from three zones eastern, central and western within the continental United States. As it was the most populous, the eastern or Zone I had three representatives, the central or Zone II, one, and the western or Zone III, two. Those elected to the Board of Governors were:

John Eagen continued to serve as president until March of 1957, when he was succeeded by Al Littman. Littman served until December 1970. Edward Seis of Long Island succeeded Al Littman as Society president in 1970 and was in turn succeeded by Col. James F. Greene, in 1975. Successive vice presidents during this period were James A. Sawicki, Dr. Sidney G. Holmes (1954-57), Lt. Col. George Pappas (1957-63), Lt. Col. Beatrice M. Dare (1963-67), Lt. Col. John Rafferty (1967-70) and Mr. Stanley J. Blake (1971-75)

In 1957, this system was expanded from three to five zones, with one representative from each. Area representatives who served as members of the Board of Governors in 1960s in¬cluded Albert McFadden, Frank J. Parisi, Ernest Caro, Frank Martincik and James J. Maxwell

At the Staunton, Virginia, convention in 1965, Lt. Col. John Rafferty was appointed to head a committee to review and make recommendations for the Society's reorganization in order to increase membership participation in its leadership. His report at the Aberdeen, Maryland, convention the following year led to the reorganization of the Society into six areas, roughly corresponding to the then-six continental" army areas. Each area was to be headed by a vice president who would represent the area as a member of the Board of Governors. Society members serving in Europe were originally part of Area III, but were subsequently organized into an independent area (VII). It is interesting to note that originally each area was to have consisted of approximately equal numbers of members.

As a result of Colonel Rafferty's recommendations, the Society Constitution was completely revised. The committee that drafted the revised document was the same one that had written the original Constitution, except that Sgt. Major Ernest E. Bora replaced Norman Case. In the election of 1967, following ratification of the new Constitution, the results were:

As Edgar Goodman had his hands full as editor of the Trading Post, he requested replacement as Area II vice president. Gilbert McFadden, the runner-up in the election, was chosen for this role. The pressure of other responsibilities also forced Al Baker to resign; he was succeeded by Edwin T. Wheatley. Scott Hughes, who had been elected head of Area VII (the European Group) when it was part of Area III, was subsequently succeeded by M/Sgt. James H. Nixon when the area became autonomous.

Four years later, in the election of November 1970, the following members were chosen to be area vice presidents:

As for the Trading Post, it steadily improved in content, format, quality of illustrations and quantity of information during this time. In fact, its quality and enhanced stature led to its inclusion in service libraries.

The Trading Post remained a 16-page, bimonthly journal until the end of 1954. However, due to the illness of his wife, Edgar Goodman resigned as editor in the spring of 1952. He was succeeded by the recently married Bart Ruggiero of Queens, N. Y., who resigned when his bride objected to the time he devoted to the Trading Post. Fortunately, an improvement in Mrs. Goodman's health allowed Edgar to take on the chore of editing the Post once again. He celebrated his return by doubling its size to 32 pages. Edgar Goodman accomplished another "first" in January 1954 when he published the first of the Society's separate insignia identification catalogs. This was the Infantry Catalog, which has been followed periodically by those other branches down to the present.

The improved Trading Post even attracted national attention. The Department of the Interior requested the Society to provide distinctive insignia for the newly created national parks which had been former army posts utilized during the Indian Wars. The insignia were of the cavalry units which had garrisoned the forts. Then as now, American consulates have referred foreign collectors requesting information about American insignia to the Society. The Society has similarly continued to help veterans and their families with information on and even specimens of insignia.

The Trading Post switched to a three month publication schedule beginning with the July-September 1957 issue, and has remained quarterly since then.

In August of 1958, Colonel George Pappas became editor. During his tenure many catalogs, including some still in use today, were published. He was succeeded in March 1961 by Colonel Merriam, who introduced the first of the special front covers and photographs to the Post. Plagued by ill health, Merriam resigned in January 1963. His successor, Lt. Ernest Taylor chose to feature coats of arms of the various service schools on the front cover, a move which significantly improved the attractiveness of the Trading Post.

Fred Maitiand succeeded Taylor as editor of the Post with March 1965 issue. A glutton for punishment, he lived up to his promise to get the journal out on schedule. By October 1968 the editorship had devolved once again on Edgar Goodman. Others who have served the Society as editors of the Trading Post since then include Percival Pereira, Cecil Smyth, Chris Aleck, Mike Knight and Jim Greene. It was during Aleck's tenure that the practice of including a color center section in the Post was inaugurated.

Ed Seis, and Stanley J. Blake succeeded Al Littman and John Rafferty as Society president and vice president respectively in 1970. Colonel James F. Greene, Jr., and Richard W. Smith in turn succeeded them in 1975. Greene oversaw the Society during several difficult years and inaugurated the Newsletter in a move to improve the Trading Post by focusing it on in¬signia only. By 1986, when Greene left the presidency, the leadership of the Society had passed into the hands of a new generation. Michael Heidkamp and Cecil Smyth were elected president and vice president respectively in 1986. Simultaneously the first generation of area vice presidents had given way to Bob Learmonth (Area I), George A. Petersen (Area II), Richard W. Smith (Area III), the late Leon W. LaFramboise (Area IV), Steve Johnson (Area V) and the venerable Rick Burns (Area VI). In 1990, Don Sexton was elected Society president with Michael Heidkamp as vice president.

During the late 1980's the Society was incorporated under Ohio law, and the position of National Adjutant was made appointive rather than elective by constitutional amendment. The Society's foreign members were also enfranchised in 1986 as a result of amendment of the Society Constitution. Another notable development was the recognition of the Society as a non-profit and tax exempt organization in 1992.

In its 60 years of existence, The American Society of Military Insignia Collectors has grown from several do-zen members in the pre-Pearl Harbor era to 1,200 in the spring of 1971 to over 3,100 today. What began as a mimeographed news sheet has been transformed into today's 72-page Trading Post and the bimonthly Newsletter. Whatever its trials and tribulations (and they have been numerous) the Society has always progressed. Hopefully, the Society will continue to be characterized by innovation in the 21st century, and the hobby of collecting cloth and metal insignia will continue to thrive in the post-Cold War era as it has since its inception by a small band of enthusiasts of 60 years ago.