DESCRIPTION: This scarce and colorful mid-20th-century souvenir textile celebrates Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, presenting the installation as a principal proving ground of American air power during the early Cold War. A pictorial map of Florida labeled “Air Proving Ground Command” anchors the design, surrounded by illustrations of jet aircraft, test pilots, target vehicles, and specialized facilities. The textile combines cartographic imagery with promotional aviation art, adapting a souvenir-scarf format widely used for U.S. Air Force bases in the 1950s.
The aircraft depicted represent the forefront of U.S. Air Force technology in the supersonic transition era. Shown at mid-left is a B-52 Stratofortress, identifiable by its long straight wings and eight-engine configuration, symbolizing strategic bomber testing. At upper left appears a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, recognizable by its needle-like fuselage and extremely short wings, while at upper right is a Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, distinguished by its pure delta wing and nose intake. Also depicted is a Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, a swept-wing fighter-bomber widely used in weapons and systems evaluation during the mid-1950s. Additional imagery of test pilots and supersonic tow targets reinforces Eglin’s testing mission.
The dating of the textile is supported by both the aircraft selection and the prominent reference to the Climatic Hangar, a facility completed at Eglin in 1954 and widely promoted in subsequent years for extreme-environment testing. The inclusion of the F-102, operational from 1956, and the F-104, which entered U.S. Air Force service in 1958, establishes a firm late-1950s timeframe, while the F-84F reinforces a mid-to-late 1950s context. The absence of later aircraft types or space-age imagery associated with the 1960s further supports an early Cold War date. These elements place the textile most convincingly in the late 1950s, circa 1958 to 1960.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1959
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Gulf of Mexico
CONDITION: Excellent.
 No damage. Bright and shiny finish. Near bottom right corner of the scarf is sewn on top of the edging for about one inch.
COLORING: Bright and bold.
ENGRAVER: 
SIZE: 29
" x
28 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 
PRICE: $365
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