herk115
Active Member
Folks, I just can't seem to stand an A-2 without a patch, so I purchased one of the "Naked Lady" Air Transport Command patches for wear on my ELC RW. The patch itself is fascinating. Though not made in wartime, it was made by RKO studios in Hollywood ca. 1955, languished in a prop house for decades, then wound up in the hands of a collector who sold it to me on Ebay last week. RKO made numerous repro WWII A-2 patches during that same period, for I have purchased several of them from the same vendor in the last few years.
The problem is, this being the "Naked Lady" version, I've got to be careful where I wear it. I live in California and if I lived in Los Angeles of San Francisco I would have no problem about wearing this patch any time, anywhere. Unfortunately I live in Bakersfield, which, to engage in understatement, is a conservative, redneck, almost puritanical town. I'm not kidding when I say I could be arrested for wearing this patch here. So after a few day's though, I've come up with the following: if outdoors in a public place, I will wear this jacket and patch where ever and whenever I please. If indoors on private property (i.e. a restaurant) and not in my own house, I will remove the jacket so as to respect the feelings of others about public nudity, even public nudity crudely drawn on a piece of cloth. But under no circumstances will I censor or deface this patch by putting a bathing suit on the naked lady. Remember, this possibility of forced censorship or even arrest exists here in the USA, "land of the free."
So anyway, I decided to put it to the test. I wore the jacket to a take-out restaurant tonight. I peered inside before entering to make sure a male clerk was on duty, then strode in confidently wearing the patch. The clerk handled my order and took no notice while engaging in polite banter (he's a young guy about to head off for U.S. Marine Corps boot camp). As I waited for my order, I was suddenly surrounded by four or five ladies. Most took no notice, but a mother with her daughter turned around to look at me, did a double take, looked back at the patch, glared at me, then whispered something to her daughter (maybe ten or eleven years old), and the daughter turned around and looked at the patch! Okay, Mom, if the patch is so obscene and harmful to our puritanical society, why did you tell your sensitive young child to turn around and look at it? Nothing came of it, I took my order, and left.
My point: have any of you ever experienced problems wearing your A-2s in public with risque patches or nose art, and if so, how did you handle it? To see the jacket and patch as I wore it tonight, go here: http://www.jetgouge.com/A-2%20Jackets.html
Cheers,
Larry
The problem is, this being the "Naked Lady" version, I've got to be careful where I wear it. I live in California and if I lived in Los Angeles of San Francisco I would have no problem about wearing this patch any time, anywhere. Unfortunately I live in Bakersfield, which, to engage in understatement, is a conservative, redneck, almost puritanical town. I'm not kidding when I say I could be arrested for wearing this patch here. So after a few day's though, I've come up with the following: if outdoors in a public place, I will wear this jacket and patch where ever and whenever I please. If indoors on private property (i.e. a restaurant) and not in my own house, I will remove the jacket so as to respect the feelings of others about public nudity, even public nudity crudely drawn on a piece of cloth. But under no circumstances will I censor or deface this patch by putting a bathing suit on the naked lady. Remember, this possibility of forced censorship or even arrest exists here in the USA, "land of the free."
So anyway, I decided to put it to the test. I wore the jacket to a take-out restaurant tonight. I peered inside before entering to make sure a male clerk was on duty, then strode in confidently wearing the patch. The clerk handled my order and took no notice while engaging in polite banter (he's a young guy about to head off for U.S. Marine Corps boot camp). As I waited for my order, I was suddenly surrounded by four or five ladies. Most took no notice, but a mother with her daughter turned around to look at me, did a double take, looked back at the patch, glared at me, then whispered something to her daughter (maybe ten or eleven years old), and the daughter turned around and looked at the patch! Okay, Mom, if the patch is so obscene and harmful to our puritanical society, why did you tell your sensitive young child to turn around and look at it? Nothing came of it, I took my order, and left.
My point: have any of you ever experienced problems wearing your A-2s in public with risque patches or nose art, and if so, how did you handle it? To see the jacket and patch as I wore it tonight, go here: http://www.jetgouge.com/A-2%20Jackets.html
Cheers,
Larry