1917-1918: Noble Wilbur Curry
The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, thus entering World War I just 19 months prior to the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. A draft was created, war funds were raised through various means, and American servicemen were mobilized to fight on the allied fronts in Europe. The War had been in progress for three years. My great uncle, Noble Wilbur Curry, was 23 years old, unmarried, and eligible as a Class 1 draft candidate. Written records show that he was immunized in 1917, trained, and sent to France with the rank of Private in the U.S. Army, Battery C on June 12, 1918. The steamer arrived at the port of LeHavre, France, by June 28. This is the date of the first sketch in Noble's Skizzenbuch (Sketchbook), an illustrated journal of his active duty in France and Germany. When his artistic talent became evident to his commanders, he would become the battalion artist, keeping a record of battles and marches in his Skizzenbuch.
Above, a detail from one of Noble's battlefield sketches that was published in The History of Battery C by Frank L. Zimpher, published in 1919 by F.J. Heer Printing Co.
Ruined country and village on old Verdun Front. October 18, 1918.
Battery C fought at Verdun, France, but not in the historic 1916 battle that took place there. In Noble's Skizzenbuch, he wrote that the first shot was fired on October 6, 1918. Above is one sketch he made of the Verdun area. All the sketches in his book were obviously done quickly, but with skill. No doubt he had but a few minutes to capture a scene. A deft way of working quickly served Noble very well.
A week before Armistice Day, Noble recorded a grim scene in his sketchbook, and this written account:
Nov. 3, 1918. Zimpher [author of the book about Battery C] and I slept in a small dugout in the foreground of this sketch after a day's travel through this shot-up country. The Yanks drove [the German soldiers] through here at a Hell-gait a few days before we arrived. An American buried in the foreground. A German shell bursting near a road on the left.
Above: this comprehensive battle drawing, the detail of which is at the top of this page, was completed in 1919. Another particularly fine drawing in this series, drawn from an interesting perspective from above and behind, is shown below (blue areas at the bottom are reflections in the framing glass).
Following the armistice, Battery C and many allied troops participated in the "March to the Rhine." In this drawing, weary foot soldiers, horses, and riders trudge to an old bridge that will take them across the Rhine river. On November 26, 1918, Noble wrote:
Stopped in small town (Brouch) near here a week or more. Slept in hay mow. Fine sleeping, but very miserable in daytime--cold and wet, no place to go and warm up. Wood very scarce. Men hungry half the time--poor food supply. Getting better now. This march to the Rhine is harder and more tiring than days spent at the front.
Noble would spend five additional months in Germany, France and Luxembourg after crossing the Rhine on December 14, 1918. He continued to make drawings in his sketchbook, and possibly completed the more developed drawings for The History of Battery C. The last entry in his sketchbook is dated April 4, 1919. Noble returned to the U.S. on May 22, 1919.
My heartfelt thanks to Georgeanne Curry Frawley and Mary Curry Shirley, Noble's daughters, for access to his artwork. To family members and other readers: please comment with corrections and additions if they are needed.
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1917-1918: Wylie Warren Curry
At the time war was declared on Germany, the economy in the United States was healthy and the Progressive Era was affecting both social and industrial elements in significant ways. The war had not yet sapped resources from the country because of the late entry into the European war. It was this healthy economy that allowed my grandfather, Wylie Warren Curry, to find work as an artist.
Above, a rendering of the stylized bust of Chief Obbatinewat, the logo for Shawmut Bank, established in Boston in 1836. This bank was widely recognizable in Greater Boston over the next century and a half.
In 1917, Wylie was a married man of 28 with a 3 year-old child, my Aunt Jean. He would have had a temporary deferment from the draft. Employed as an illustrator for a company that made jewelry, cast medallions and enameled metal pieces, his skills at rendering dimensional images became finely honed. His skill at lettering was probably learned both in school and on the job, but as a lettering artist myself, I admire his artful lettering design integrated with his illustration. Grandpa once told me that for this kind of work, he would sometimes use a brush that consisted of one hair.
The age of the automobile was in full gear in 1917. Winther Motor Trucks, a new company in Kenosha, Wisconsin, began production of a rear-wheel drive truck. Whether Wylie designed the original logo I don't know, but here is his rendering of it for die makers to follow in producing the metal piece that would be mounted on the trucks. Below, a full-page ad for the new trucks appeared in The Literary Digest of March, 1918.*
Right: the Schwinn bicycle company was thriving in Chicago in 1918, producing both motorcycles and bicycles. An Admiral model is still being manufactured by the company. Wylie's rendering of this headplate was probably from this era, but I haven't yet located an example of it on a bicycle. The Celtic-inspired capital "A" creates a strong central logotype in a balanced design.
In 1919, Noble returned to Ohio after the war, and my grandfather would become a father for the second time, to Charles, my father. Noble married in 1923, and would become a father to Georgeanne in 1924. Both brothers would continue working as artists, but their philosophical differences about the role of art in earning a living would eventually inpact their relationship and contribute to driving them apart. In my next installment, I will focus on their lives and artwork of the 20's.
*Image courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society
